Page 16 of Tiny Fractures

“Good,” I reply, blink once, and turn to leave.

***

“Did you have a good time tonight?” Vada asks me as she winds her way through my neighborhood and toward my house. “I honestly think you fit right in.”

“I had a fantastic time.” The evening really did go better than I had expected, given I haven’t been to any sort of party in months and had sworn off gatherings like that in an act of self-preservation. “Everyone is so nice!”

“Especially Ronan, huh?” She grins, wiggling her eyebrows.

I shrug. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Vada huffs, rolling her eyes hard. “Oh please, don’t think I didn’t notice you check him out constantly tonight.”

The heat rises to my face, and I’m glad that the interior of Vada’s car is dark. “I was just looking around.”

“Hey, Kitty Cat, it’s all good. And, if it makes you feel any better, he was checking you out constantly, too,” Vada says, nudging my arm with her elbow.

“Really?” I hadn’t noticed except for the few times when our eyes met. I guess I’m not only obvious, but also oblivious.

“Uh-huh! What do you think of him? Pretty hot, huh?”

“He’s really nice,” I say, acutely aware of the soft fabric of Ronan’s warm hoodie caressing my skin.

“Nice? Oh, come on, Cat! Don’t hold back on me.”

“Fine,” I concede. “He’s hot! They’re all hot,” I say, downplaying how attracted I am to Ronan; I cannot allow myself to go there. “But, is there something between Ronan and Cheyenne? I get a weird vibe from her, and then when you made that comment about her not seeing anyone, she kind of looked at Ronan and she got all defensive.”

Vada doesn’t respond right away; she wrinkles her forehead and presses her lips together. “No, not really,” she finally says.

“Not really?” I prod.

Vada is silent for a few seconds before she takes a deep breath. “Alright, from what I know from Summer—and obviously just watching Cheyenne and the way she interacts with Ran—Cheyenne definitely has a thing for him. My understanding is this has been going on basically since Ran and Stevie moved back from Montana almost two years ago. Cheyenne has tried to get closer to Ran, but he always deflects. Ran has never made a move on Cheyenne and always tells me he isn’t interested in anything romantic.”

“So, it’s unreciprocated feelings from Cheyenne. That’s rough, especially when you’re around that person so much.”

“Yeah… sort of.”

I raise my eyebrows at her. “What does that mean?”

“Well, I guess like a couple of months ago, Ran and Cheyenne did hook up. I told Ran it was a stupid thing to do knowing how she feels about him, but he was adamant that it didn’t mean anything. And Summer told me that Cheyenne told her that Ran said—sorry, I know this gets convoluted—that he wasn’t interested in a relationship and that Cheyenne assured him it was ‘just sex.’ And I guess it was fine and they actually hooked up again a couple of weeks later, but…” Vada shrugs, sighing.

“Now it’s not fine?”

“Right. I warned Ran that sleeping with her, regardless of what she said and their intentions at the time, was stupid because—I mean, I’m a girl, and I know I would say it didn’t mean anything, too, but then I’d still secretly hope that being intimate would somehow change his mind, you know? Anyway, it didn’t work, and now Cheyenne is hurt and it’s really awkward. And I know Ran feels like shit about it because he didn’t want to hurt her. I know he warned her, but then he still gave in to her for ten minutes of pleasure and, really, he should have known better. Never sleep with your friends if you don’t intend to take it further!”

I can tell she’s frustrated by the situation, and I certainly understand what all the tension was about earlier in the evening.

I nod in agreement with Vada’s frustration. “That stinks,” I murmur, not really knowing what else to say. “Were they pretty close before all this went down?”

I got the impression that although the group is tight knit, there are still two factions.

“I mean, is Cheyenne as close to Ran as I am? No. He’s one of my closest friends. Usually it’s Tori, Shane, Zack, Steve, Ran, and me in one huddle, and Drew, Cheyenne, and Summer in another, with Summer sort of buzzing between the two groups because Zack is her boyfriend, but Cheyenne is her best friend. Some of us are closer to each other than we are to the others, you know?”

Again, I nod. This makes sense to me. When I lived in North Carolina I had a large circle of friends—or what I thought were my friends. I was closest to my friend Julie, while others—though they were people I hung out with regularly—weren’t those that I actively sought out to spend my time with. It took no time at all for them to turn against me once things fell apart.

Vada pulls up to the curb directly in front of my house. “Sorry to unload on you. I get protective of Ran, and Cheyenne bugs me.”

I shake my head. “Don’t even worry about it. I really had a great time tonight, and yes, Ronan is cute,” I admit to her and myself shyly.

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