Page 38 of The Last Dance

I burst into a laugh. I forgot he called it that. Which if you think about it, it kinda fits.

‘Go to class.’ I groan through a laugh. ‘I’ll be fine.’

‘I’ll bring you a chocolate chip cookie later – will that make things better?’

‘Do you even have to ask?’ I roll my eyes and shove my way into the girls’ bathroom.

A girl with hair as dark as a night sky and skin as creamy as a porcelain doll is sitting on the radiator, reading a book.

‘Studying in the bathroom?’

She nods. ‘People irritate me. I mean, did you see the girl out there getting dumped?’

I glance back towards the door, wondering how I missed that.

‘No. Sucky.’

‘Yeah, I didn’t quite catch her face, but I know crying when I hear it. It was that Henry Decker guy… you know him, right? The one every girl seems to want to date?’

I nod, my eyes wide with embarrassment.

She hops off the radiator and makes her way to the sink next to me. ‘You’re in Biology with me, right?’

I glance at her again. ‘Oh, yeah. How’d you do on your paper?’

‘C minus. You?’

‘Ugh… a D. What an asshole.’

‘What an asshole.’

We say the last phrase at the same time, both of us laughing after. Instant friends.

*

And in case it wasn’t clear,Iwas the crying girl she thought was getting dumped. Not exactly one of my finest moments. We laughed later about it.

‘Apparently, the site isn’t doing well, and Jimmy is now depending on me to help save it.’

‘That’s not a tiny detail.’ Claire glances over at me.

‘I know. I lied. It’s so much pressure. What if I fail? I’ll be the one responsible for all of us losing our jobs.’

‘Partially. I mean, it’s not like you did it on your own. Jimmy had to play a part in this at least a little. Good management is critical and we both know he doesn’t qualify. But, you know, you’ll never know how capable you are if you don’t at least try. If it all goes to shit, you’ll at least have given it your best shot.’

I nod. ‘Thatistrue.’ She’s right. She always is. She somehow always sees the bigger picture when I focus on a tiny detail and spend my time blowing it way out of proportion. ‘Now for the bigger problem…’

‘Oh, my God.’ She laughs. ‘You are hopeless.’

‘Trust me,I know. You have no idea how often I thank my lucky stars that you are always willing to talk me off the cliff. Anyway, I’m going to Karmen’s later to chat about more story possibilities. Is that weird?’

‘Not for me.’ She shrugs. ‘I dunno, though. Is it? I think besides Henry you’re the only one that can answer that question. Are you ready to start seeing him again?’

‘You make it sound like we’re dating.’

She stops walking and narrows her eyes at me. ‘Yousleptwith him. You pretty much barricaded yourself in your apartment, crying into an ice-cream container while you ran on that damn treadmill, for weeks after he left. I’d say it qualifies as a break-up.’

I try not to think about that month in time at all. Besides the ten pounds I lost from all the running, there was no other silver lining during that period in my life. I’ve filed it in the ‘never coming back to the surface’ bin internally. After he left, I kind of gave up. Not on life, but on him ever being in my life again. I knew things would never be the same and all I ever wanted for Henry was for him to be happy. I may hold a bit of hostility towards him but if he seems happy without me, so be it. I’m happy too. I’ve moved forward in life and left behind the feelings I can’t handle.

---