Page 30 of Summertime Friends

It’s all coming back to me. How could I forget Emerson’s best friend’s name is Natalie? I don’t forget things about her. There isan entire portion of my brain that is reserved for her; storing facts and memories like that is its only function. But I forgot this?

I’m instantly disappointed in myself.

“How do you know her?” Chloe asks.

I debate saying that I don't. “Work,” I go with, a nice partial lie. Emerson didn’t show up to the meeting today. Her coworker informed me that she was sick.

She didn’t look sick when she was standing out here, though.

I glance between Natalie and Chloe.

Natalie appears unbothered by what’s happening, almost as if she doesn’t care or this isn’t a surprise.

But Chloe. She knows something. I think.

“I’ll go make sure Emme is okay.” Chloe shakes her head at Natalie, stands up, and rushes after her.

Quickly, I’m on my feet. As I head after Chloe, my socks catch on the wood floor, causing me to slip.

In the hallway, she stops me with a tattooed hand on my chest. Her eyes are closed, and her lips are turned inwards.

“You’re him.” Chloe opens her eyes and looks me up and down.

I nod. I’m unsure what she means, but I do my best to infer.

“My best advice for you right now is to either sit back down in the living room, not between another girl’s legs, or I don’t know. . . leave?”

“She’s engaged,” I let out.

“And I have black hair. Thank you for stating the obvious. But that doesn’t matter—”

“How?”

“She still loves you.” Chloe shakes her head and continues speaking, but I’m caught up in what she says. She loves me? Does Emerson still love me?

That’s. . . that’s impossible. To still love me means that Emerson had to love me already.

Chloe points in the direction of the living room. A herd of giggles and sighs come from the space, and I can only assume one of the boys gave a cute recoupling speech.

“Go,” Chloe demands. Her dark eyes are piercing and add a quite scary fierceness to the look she is giving me.

Before following her advice, I say, "She’s having a panic attack." Chloe nods, understanding my concern and warning. I walk back to the living room and sit down where Chloe was previously seated. Natalie glances over at me, but I avoid her gaze.

15

EMERSON

Now

I used to laugh at people who believed in fate. Then I met Liam, and he changed my mind. In those years, I thought that the world planned for us to meet.

That same group also tends to forget about fate's negative side—just how cruel it can be.

Is this my punishment for how we ended? Is fate’s feelings upset that I moved on and found someone else, even if that person is a lifesaver to keep me from drowning in the depths of my fears? Or is this fate’s cruel joke, playing on the thin string of hope that is Liam and me that I’ve clung to?

The shock of him being in Chicago the past year has barely settled. What am I supposed to do with this now?

Looking at him, it’s not fear or confusion. It’s betrayal.

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