Page 98 of Glass Jawed
I laugh anyway, peeling his hand off. He groans again, this time slapping a fist to his own forehead.
“Fucking hell. I mean, Layla’s post was... shit. Shit, shit, shit. I’m so fuckingscrewed. Lucian, I looked...committed. What the fuck am I supposed to do?”
“About Layla?”
“Yes—NO! I want Vee to answer my damn phone.” He whines into his hands. “She has two reasons to castrate me now. One for knowingyou, and nowthis.”
“Harsh,” I say, chuckling. “But fair.”
It feels bizarre. Laughing.
I haven’t made this sound in weeks. I’m not even sure it still belonged to me.
But Liam groaning like a melodramatic sitcom husband is... comfortingly stupid.
“You’re notthatscrewed,” I add, after the laughter dies down. “You can fix this.”
“I don’t think Vee gives second chances. Hell, getting a first chance took months. You weren’t there, man. It was, like, a full audition. She grilled me over drinks, made me read feminist literature—”
“Good for her.”
“Yeah, and now she’s probably planning my evisceration with a group strike namedKillLiam, the Two-timer.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Clever branding.”
He groans—again. I think that’s his default for tonight and the foreseeable future.
But the lightheartedness fizzles fast.
Because his gaze drifts to me. Studies me. Quiet for a beat too long.
“You doing okay?” he asks, softer now. “I meanreally. You’ve been quiet about her. About... everything.”
I stiffen.
He doesn’t know. About what she said. About who I am.
Because I can’t say it out loud. I’m terrified it’ll stain the last person in my life who still sees me as something more than what I did.
So I dodge. Like a coward.
“I’ve been... existing,” I say finally. “Trying to do right. Even if it’s too late.”
Liam just nods. He doesn’t press. Maybe he sees too much. Maybe he’s too tired to pull.
Then, like it’s nothing, he says, “By the way, UofT’s convocation is in two days. You’re still on the guest list.”
Fuck.
My stomach lurches.
I forgot. Or maybe I purposely buried it under everything else.
She’s graduating.
Aarohi is fucking graduating.
Her name hits different now. It always has. But this time, it’s pride—and pain—in equal parts.
