Page 152 of Always Us

“Garret, are you there?” Sean asks.

“Yeah. So Harper got there this morning?”

Jade bolts up. “Harper’s there?”

I nod. “Sean, can I put you on speaker? Jade wants to say hi.”

“Sure. You’re on speaker, too.”

“Hi, Sean,” Jade says. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Jade.” Harper giggles.

Jade grabs the phone from me. “Okay, what’s going on there? Are one of you guys going to explain?”

“I showed up at Sean’s door this morning,” she says.

“In a red dress and a green bow,” Sean says. “Best present I ever got.”

We hear them kissing. Jade and I look at each other, confused.

“So you’re back together?” Jade asks.

“Yes,” Harper says, followed by more kissing sounds. “And I’m not leaving.”

“I wouldn’t let you even if you tried,” Sean says. More kissing sounds.

Jade looks even more confused. “You mean you’re staying at Sean’s place until you go back to school?”

“I mean I’m staying here. In California. And I’m moving in with Sean.”

“I don’t understand. What about school?”

“I was waiting to tell you guys because I wanted to tell Sean first.”

“Tell us what?”

“I’m transferring to UCLA. I applied a few months ago when I was feeling homesick, just to see if I could get in. And I did, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to transfer. But I decided it’s a better fit for me. I miss California. And I really miss Sean.” More kissing sounds.

“You’re seriously moving to California?” Jade jumps off me, taking the phone with her. “I can’t believe you kept this from me!”

“I had to know for sure before I told you. And then I wanted to tell Sean.”

I hear Sean again. “I didn’t even know she applied.”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Harper says. “Not even my parents.”

“We’re gonna come see you guys all the time.” Jade’s so cute when she gets this excited. I pull her down on my lap and kiss her.

“We’ll drive up and see you guys, too,” Harper says. “Oh, and Sean’s boss wants him to work at his Santa Barbara restaurant this summer, so we’ll be even closer to you guys.”

“We could get a place there on the beach,” Jade says. “It’ll be just like last summer. We could be neighbors again!”

Jade and Harper start planning it out. I don’t know what Jade’s thinking. She knows this thing with Andrew isn’t settled yet, so she shouldn’t be making plans like this. I think she’s caught up in the moment or maybe she thinks this means the issue with Andrew is over. Maybe it is.

“I’ll be right back,” I whisper to Jade as I get up off the couch. She nods as she continues to talk to Harper.

I search for my dad and find him in his office. He has the TV on, turned to a news channel. Updates are scrolling on the bottom of the screen. I catch Andrew’s name scrolling by, but I didn’t see what it said.

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