Page 100 of Elusion

Jess sighs. “I’m sorry. I figured you wouldn’t stick around, so why say anything? And then the longer I waited, the weirder it felt to bring up. I mean, how do I even start that conversation? Remember that girl you ignored until she went away? The one who really liked you but—”

I put my hands on her shoulders and dip my head so we’re eye-level. “Yes, that would have worked.”

Callie comes in then. I never give her a chance to glare, cross her arms, set her jaw, or anything else. We both know what she expects me to do, so why put off the inevitable?

On my way out of the kitchen, I kiss her forehead. “I’ll fix it.”

A ghost of a smile forms. “I know,” she says.

Of all the things I never thought I’d do, this is easily in the top ten.

Man up, son.

Door number one upstairs in the dark hallway of ex-hook-ups reveals nothing but Felicia’s belongings. An open bathroom door leaves me with only one other option. I knock. Vanessa is sitting on the floor next to the bed when I go in. The only light comes through curtainless windows, and I can’t tell for sure in the dark, but hopefully, no sniffles means no crying. I shut the door behind me and get on the floor next to her.

“Your hair’s curly now,” I say in a lame attempt at conversation.

A lack of response makes me question whether her hair was always curly, and I, being such an enormous jackass, never noticed. But I am ninety-seven percent positive I am one hundred percent correct in my observation. She has straight brown hair that matches her eyes, a beauty mark on one of her cheeks—or maybe on her chin? She majors in business. No. Biology? Her last name is Ramos, but in all fairness, I know that one because it’s also Jess’s last name.

Jesus.Since meeting Callie, I’ve spent precisely thirty seconds of my life thinking about this girl, and that was only after Benji and Johnny brought her up. I avoided her and forgot all about her the second a new distraction came along.

Exactly what I planned on doing to Callie.

The possibility of never being with her sends me spinning. I climb off the floor and pace. I nearly trip over a box but recover and alter my path. Vanessa needs an apology, and a nonsensical mess of an apology she will receive.

“I’m sorry, Vanessa. I should have handled things differently with you. You deserve better. And I meant what I said about not wanting a girlfriend at the time. It sort of just happened, purely on accident. I never even realized it was happening until it was too late. In fact, I’m almost certain I was the last to know. One day, you’re just enjoying a morning run without clothes on, and the next, you’re chasing a girl—thegirl—all over campus.”

“What?” she asks.

“Never mind. It’s not the point.”

She fidgets, distracting me for a moment, but I find my way back into my rant.

“As I was saying, the more I think about it, the more I understand that, without her, we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. I would probably still be the pre-Callie version, but then the whole alternate-universe thing happened, and I changed into this Jordan. The one who feels bad about how he treated you and other girls. Did I apologize for that yet?”

“Uh,” she says, and I take it as a yes.

“Good, because I am sorry. I understand now how it feels to have someone just disappear. During me and the girl’s temporary setback period, I was completely miserable until she wore my face on her chest, but that’s neither here nor there.” I stop and face in her general direction. “Are you still with me?”

“I think so.”

“All right, I thought I might have lost you with the face part.”

“Yeah, that went in an unexpected direction.”

The perfect quote to sum up my life as of late.

Vanessa gets up and turns on a bedside lamp. Clear eyes and a lack of redness verify she hasn’t been crying. The light also reveals a beauty mark on her cheek.

Point for Waters.

She sits on the edge of the bed, and it dawns on me that being in a closed bedroom, alone with a girl not named Callie Henders, makes me uncomfortable. I need to move this along.

“So, do you forgive me?” I ask.

She hesitates but then looks up. “Do you promise not to pace anymore if I do?”

“You have my word.” I put my hand over my heart, adding a grin for effect.

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