Page 66 of The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean

“Now you’re just trying to butter me up.”

“Is it working?”

Mom grinned. “Just go. We still have a lot of shopping to do.” Mom picked up a fuzzy white throw pillow and inspected it intently. What Mandy needed throw pillows for she had no idea. She also didn’t know why she needed Trojan bookends, but Mom insisted on buying those at their last stop. Now they seemed to weigh a million pounds as Mandy lugged the bags and fought against the flow of people around her. She should’ve left the bags with Mom.

Just like every other place in the mall, Starbucks was packed, so Mandy got in a line that extended well outside the coffee shop and down a store. Her caffeine addiction started in Europe with all the tea they would drink, and transferred over to the States when she got back. Tea wasn’t the same here as it was over there, and while she still enjoyed a cuppa, she also loved her espresso. And right now, a double-shot cappuccino was needed, so she didn’t care how long she had to wait, she was getting her fix.

When Mandy finally turned in to Starbucks, however, she froze. Isa, her mom, and Abuela sat at a table just on the other side of the small café space near the counter that held the sugar, creamers, straws, and napkins.

Mandy should leave. That was the first thought that went through her head—which was silly because it wasn’t like they were enemies. It wasn’t even like they hated each other, or at least Mandy didn’t hate Isa at all. But Mandy hadn’t seen Isa’s mom or Abuela in what felt like ages, at least not since that night on Mandy’s front porch.

The line shifted forward again, and Mandy’s feet shuffled with it. Isa and her family would probably be gone by the time Mandy ordered. They looked like they were finishing up anyway. As Mandy went to turn to look at the display of coffee mugs, and not at how Isa wore a new shade of lipstick, Mandy caught Abuela’s eye, who gave Mandy a sad smile.

Oh yes, she should leave, but now she’d been spotted. Now they would know she left. Mandy fidgeted with a coffee mug she plucked off the shelf to busy her hands. Twenty dollars? For a coffee mug? Were they out of their minds? Focus, Mandy. It was fine. You did what was best. That was what Mandy had told herself over and over since that terrible day more than two years ago now, and she still wasn’t 100 percent convinced of it.

“Need a Frappuccino fix, huh?”

Mandy fumbled with the mug still in her hands and spun around to find Isa wearing tight jeans with a flannel over a purple tank top and a smile—and not a sad one. “I haven’t had one of those in forever.” Mandy forced a chuckle. Oh god, she sounded nervous and anxious—which she was.

And the smile on Isa’s face was gone. Already Mandy was blowing this.

“I crossed over to the dark side,” Mandy attempted to joke.

“Coffee, huh?”

“Cappuccino. I got hooked on them in…” Real smooth, Mandy. She changed the subject. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Shopping,” Isa said. Was she nervous too? “Need to get some things before I head back to Boston.”

“Yeah. Same. I mean getting things for school, not in Boston of course…” Dear god, could she stop rambling?

“You’re going then. To college?” Isa’s eyebrows lifted.

“Yeah. Someone told me I could do anything, and so I thought what the heck.”

“That’s great.” Isa’s smile was back, and it was brighter than it was before. Mandy could stare at it all day, but instead she looked at the menu board.

“Where are you going?” Isa asked.

“Oh. USC.”

“That’s cool. Far enough to be away, but close enough to come home when you need to do laundry.” Isa chuckled.

Laundry. Mandy hadn’t thought about laundry. How did she do that?

“Nikki transferred there. NYU wasn’t for her.” Isa shrugged.

So she still talked to Nikki. Did she talk to anyone else? Did she tell them about what had happened between the two of them? Mandy kind of lost touch with everyone when she went away. And then when she got back, she wasn’t sure if they knew or what they knew so she just didn’t bother finding out.

“You should call her. Nikki, that is. She’s home for the summer.”

The number rattled off in Mandy’s head. Funny how some things you couldn’t forget. Like phone numbers even when you hadn’t used them for a while. “Yeah. I’ll do that.”

Isa did the thing where she lifted just one brow, and while Mandy knew exactly what it meant, it made the ache in her chest deepen.

“I really will. I swear.”

The line shifted again, and Mandy ordered her drinks and paid for them. To her surprise, Isa was waiting for her at the other end of the counter where Mandy would pick up her order. But before she could say anything, Mom pushed her way through the crowd with her overstuffed Pottery Barn bags. “I was wondering what was taking so long.”

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