Page 27 of Edge of Unbroken

“Yeah, just yesterday, actually. Baby, thank you so much for the necklace.”

“Do you like it?” I wasn’t so sure about buying it for him, but I wanted to get him something meaningful.

“I love it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. God, I can’t even begin to explain how badly I miss you. Cat, that necklace… it’s the only thing I have of you here. My grandparents have my phone, so I can’t even look at pictures of you, and it’s driving me mad. Some days I wondered if I just imagined you, but then getting your letter, seeing your handwriting, holding that necklace… you have no idea how much I needed that.”

“I feel the same way, Ran. I mean, I obviously get to look at pictures and videos of you all the time, and I do… constantly, but I wish I could hear your voice more often; I wish you were here with me. I miss you so much. And everyone else misses you, too. Shane’s like, heartbroken. You’d think Tori broke up with him or something.”

“I feel really bad that everyone has to deal with this shit,” he says, defeated.

“You don’t have to feel bad about anything. You didn’t do anything wrong. We just miss you. Do we want you home? Fuck yes, but we need you to get better first,” I say sternly.

To my surprise, he chuckles. “I’m not sure I’ve ever heard you say ‘fuck.’”

I giggle. “Oh, sorry.”

“Don’t be,” he says. “It’s kind of hot, actually. And I’m pretty sure I drop f-bombs like beads at Mardi Gras, so.”

“Yeah, you kind of do,” I say, laughing now.

“It’s a bad habit. Feels too good to stop it. Although, you feel even better, so if you want me to stop, just say it and I will.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you stopped randomly saying the word ‘fuck,’” I giggle. “And I happen to love you just the way you are. You’re pretty perfect to me.”

“That works. Because you’re fucking perfect to me.”

“So, I just submitted a bunch of college applications,” I say, abruptly changing the subject.

Ronan gladly obliges. “Which ones?”

“Oh, you know, just Columbia, Brown, NYU, and the University of Montana.”

“That’s great. But I didn’t know you were so keen on living in Montana.” His tone is chipper.

“Only if you’re there.”

“Well, I’m sorry to tell you that you wasted your application fee then,” he says with a smile in his voice. “I won’t be going to Montana for college. My dad just told me I got into Columbia on early admission.”

My mouth drops open. “Oh my god, Ran, that’s great! Congratulations. I’m so proud of you. And I’m so freaking happy that you’re staying in New York,” I say. “Wait, you’ll actually be attending Columbia, right?”

“Yeah, part of the early admission offer is an agreement to withdraw all other applications if you get in, so I don’t really have a choice now. Honestly, though, I haven’t actually applied anywhere else yet; I haven’t really been able to focus on that, but that definitely means I’ll be in New York.”

“Great, that helps me narrow down my list a lot more.”

“Baby, you shouldn’t base your decision on where you want to go to college on where I’ll be,” he says. “Go wherever you’ll be happy.”

“I know exactly where I’ll be happy,” I say. “Wherever you are. But I decided to apply to Duke, too. My parents are Duke alumni, so—”

There’s a knock on the bathroom door. “Girl, I need to pee,” Julie calls to me.

“Who’s that?” Ronan asks.

“It’s Julie,” I say. “Apparently she needs to use the bathroom.” I get up to leave the bathroom and give her some privacy.

“Wait, are you in North Carolina?” Ronan asks.

---