Page 102 of Always Us

“Yeah. I came by to get Harper.”

“You look great!” She smiles really wide, staring at my face. “Something’s different. You look more mature or something.”

“Really? I don’t feel any different.” The wind blows hair in my face and I secure it behind my ear.

“Oh my God!” She grabs the hand I was using to fix my hair. “Did you get engaged?”

“I got married. Last summer.”

“You did not!” She keeps hold of my hand.

“I did.”

“Why didn’t Harper tell me?”

“I don’t know. I guess she didn’t think about it.”

The truth is I told Harper not to tell anyone at Moorhurst because I don’t want them to know. I don’t want the people here gossiping about Garret and me or trying to find out stuff about us. I just want them to forget about us.

Jasmine’s attention quickly switches to my ring. “This ring is gorgeous! And it’s huge.” She drops my hand. “Wait. Who did you marry?”

“Garret.”

“Garret Kensington? After he did all that stuff? Trashing hotel rooms and the drugs and crashing all those cars?”

I shrug. “He’s changed since then. And I love him so I had to marry him.”

“I get it.” She grins. “You like a bad boy, huh? I do, too. Only usually you can’t get one to marry you.”

“I gotta go, but it was good seeing you, Jasmine.”

“You, too. Say hi to Garret for me.” She gets into her car, which is in the parking spot next to mine.

Walking in the dorm, I instantly smell whatever odor I could never identify but didn’t like. It’s like a mix of dust and old building smell combined with nail polish remover and assorted perfumes. Not a pleasant smell, but it’s better than the guy’s floor, which smells like beer and sweat.

As I knock on Harper’s door I see a girl coming out of my old room. She has black hair with neon green stripes in it and piercings on her face. She’s dressed in all black; black cargo pants, black tank top, and a black hoodie. She doesn’t at all look like the typical rich, preppy Moorhurst student.

“Jade, you’re early.” Harper pulls me into her room and hugs me. “I feel like I haven’t seen you forever.”

“I know. It’s been too long.” I stand back and look at her. She looks pretty, as always, wearing skinny jeans and a white sweater, her hair straight and slightly longer than when I saw her last. Her arm’s in a sling, tucked against her side.

“How’s your shoulder?” I ask her.

“It’s fine, but I can’t really move it so it’s hard to do anything, like get dressed or do my hair. I used to have Sean—” She stops herself.

Before she broke up with him, Sean would help her get ready every morning. He even helped her with her hair.

“Anyway, I have to get the girls on the floor to help me now.” She fakes a smile but I can see how much she’s hurting. She can’t hide it from me.

“So who’s the girl who has my room now?”

“Sydney. She’s a freshman. She’s the Kensington scholarship winner this year. Didn’t Pearce tell you about her?”

“No. I didn’t even think to ask. I’m kind of surprised he picked her.”

“I know. She’s got the whole goth thing going, but she’s really nice. And super smart. Like genius smart.”

“How do you know she’s smart?”

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