Page 36 of The Odds of Happily Ever After
“Am I boring you already?” Max said.
I pressed send and faced him again. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad to see you out?—”
My phone rang. I winced and moved to decline the call, but Luna’s name flashed on the screen. I quickly glanced at Max,checking if he’d seen it. I could count the number of Lunas in town with one finger.
Luckily, Max was busy rolling his eyes and swilling down his drink. He waved his other hand, as if to saygo ahead.
“I’ll be right back.” I stood and walked to the entrance, accepting the call as I went. “Hello?”
“Is that music I’m hearing? And people?” Luna’s voice grew louder with every word. “Oh my God. Don’t tell me Professor Martins is out partying on a Friday night.”
“Why are you calling?”
“You texted me.”
“And . . . ?”
“You can’t textokayand not expect a call in response.”
“I don’t see the logic in that.”
“I needed to clarify what you meant. You didn’t exactly give me much to go by. Like, were you supposed to send a message before that one? Are you asking about my grades? My physical or mental state? Ate’s apartment?—”
“I was asking about you in general,” I interrupted before she could cite every possible question in the book.
“Why didn’t you just say, ‘how are you?’ Or if that’s too long, you could’ve texted letteruspaceo-k.”
My lips twitched. “Just answer the question, Luna.”
“Okay.”
I waited for a follow-up, but nothing came. “Is this your version of Tala’sfine?”
“My grades are good and I’m not losing my scholarship. Knock on wood,” she quickly added. “I’m not sick that I know of, and the apartment’s still in one piece. Nothing to worry about.”
“And your mental state?”
“Why do you ask?”
“You brought it up earlier. Then you addressed your physical state, but not the mental one.”
She went silent, and I could imagine her rolling her eyes. “I’m fine.”
“You realize I know what that means, don’t you?” It was what Tala often said when people asked how she was doing, despite her being anything but fine.
“Yeah, well, it applies in this situation. Besides, do you really want to hear me talk about my mental health?”
Actually, I did. The realization surprised me as much as it might have her.
“Ugh, sorry. That was snarky of me,” she said.
My brows pulled together.
“I’m trying to nail this adulting thing, and people keep asking if I’m okay, and it feels like everyone’s doubting me, and it just adds to the pressure, you know?” She blurted it out in one continuous sentence punctuated with a sigh.
Her sudden confession caught me off-guard. I’d gotten used to the animated and combative sides of Luna, but this—her vulnerability—was uncharted territory. Whether she intended to or not, she’d opened up to me and I didn’t want to treat that lightly.
