Page 68 of Two Who Live On

She didn’t know the half of it.

“Here.” Chanelle slid the rum & coke toward me, condensation already dripping down the frosted glass.

“Thanks.” I took a sip.

“Your boyfriend’s annoying.”

“Damn clairvoyants.”

If I knew Milo, and I very much did, this was his version of whatever pop culture reference he’d stolen to put two people in the same setting—and what? Reconcile? We weren’t exactly fighting. A tiff. Minor argument. It’d blow over soon enough. Then again… I gulped my drink, hoping the burn in my throat would keep me silent. Maybe he saw it turning into something different down the line. Maybe he simply wanted me to keep my one work friend. Maybe he didn’t want to choose between the two of us because he loved me but obviously liked Chanelle’s personality better.

“Maybe I’m overthinking it,” I muttered.

“Huh?”

“Talking to myself or thinking aloud. Not sure.”

Chanelle’s expression softened. “I’m sorry about Jamie’s actions during the showcase.”

“It’s not your fault. He’s a real piece of work.”

“You have no idea.”

“Also, I might be slightly kind of sort of maybe just a little bitmisdirecting my frustration—for I don’t even know really how many things—toward you.”

“Is that an apology?” Chanelle smirked. “I’m going to need another drink if that’s your version of an apology.”

“I’m sorry. I’m an asshole.”

Chanelle grinned. “Forgiven. I was a bit of an asshole myself. I could’ve given you a heads up instead of letting the mass email to everyone inform you.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“You’re hard to talk to, yet for whatever fucked up reason, I enjoy your opinion more than other people’s. Don’t let that go to your head.”

“I know you only like me because when we’re standing in front of the kids, you get to be Miss Happy Sunshine while I’m the evil storm cloud of tests and extra work.”

“Exactly.” She chuckled. “We’re basically a brand.”

I chugged the rest of my drink, keeping up with Chanelle, who had finished hers and ordered a double, while we sat in silence.

“I also could’ve fought harder for Tara and her overlap. I’m sorry.”

“We’re just doing the best we can, right?” I clinked my glass against hers.

She took the empty seat, and the awkward silence looming between us vanished, breaking away and taking the bitterness in our hearts with it.

“This isn’t gonna be one of those things where we have to hug it out or something?” I frowned.

“Absolutely not.” Chanelle nudged me with her shoulder. “Unless you wanna.”

“Absolutely not.”

She cackled, flooding this solemn bar with a bright delight unlike any other.

We sat together for hours discussing all the utter bullshit the academy had thrown at us this year. It was nice sharing awful classroom horror stories no one else would truly appreciate or understand.

I downed my drink, smiling and groggy and listening to whatever it was Chanelle said. Something funny, probably. It was getting harder to keep my head up, but the smile wasn’t a struggle.

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