Page 32 of Fireworks & Forehead Kisses

“Take a seat.” She held out her hand. “Carmen will be with you shortly.”

I nodded and did as I was instructed.

As soon as I lowered down into the plush waiting room chair, my phone dinged. I opened my clutch and exhaled a huge sigh of relief that I’d gotten the notification now and not in the middle of the interview. In my nervousness, I’d forgotten to turn it off.

Before I was even able to get my phone out, it went off two more times. I assumed it was just my SATC girls wishing me good luck, but when I pulled it out and looked at the screen, I saw I had two texts from people I went to high school with and three from people I went to middle school with, all of whom I hadn’t heard from in years. They all said basically the same thing. They were checking in and asking if I was okay.

Why would they need to check in with me?

Why would they ask me if I was okay?

Before I could answer that question, a couple more messages popped up that were alarmingly similar from two other classmates. My mind was racing, trying to figure out what was going on. As I was puzzling it together, a few of the pieces clicked into place, and I realized the one thing all of these friends had in common with me was that they were all friends with Jenny, too.

Alarm bells went off in me.

Something happened to Jenny.

Was she in an accident?

Was she hurt?

Was she alive?

We’d lost contact after high school. She’d taken a gap year and gone backpacking abroad, and we never really stayed in touch after that. I’d tried, but she’d been distant. I pulled up her phone number to call her when I saw a text message from her. It was ten words.

Jenny:I’m so sorry… I’m here if you want to talk.

She was sorry.

What could she possibly be sorry about?

“What is going on?” I said under my breath.

“Excuse me?” the receptionist asked.

I glanced up. “Oh, um, nothing.”

My heart was going a mile a minute. My palms were damp. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. My breathing was shallow.

When I looked back down at my phone, I saw a notification of a text with a new voice note from Garrett. I pulled my AirPods from my purse and put them in my ear. Well, I tried, but when I put the left one in, my hands were shaking so much, it fell to the floor. I picked it up and managed to put it in on the second attempt. Then, I pressed play.

“Hey Ash, I’ve been trying to get a hold of you. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. If you want to talk, I’m here.”

Find out this way?

Want to talk?

I’m here?

What the fuck was going on?

My mystery was solved when I opened the text from Stasia, who was mine and Garrett’s college roommate. She answered our Craig’s list ad the first week we moved to San Francisco.

Stacia:What the actual fuck?!

Below that there was a link to an Instagram post.

I clicked on it and saw that it was a combo engagement and pregnancy announcement for Garrett and Jenny.

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