Page 150 of Collision
“I stood by her through every failure,” Alex says.
“I did that too, you idiot!”
“You two…” I try to make myself heard, but they don’t give me even a sliver of their attention.
“I convinced her to dump my brother,” Tiffany continues.
“Oh, please! You’re also the one who convinced her to get with him in the first place. I still remember it, you know? My brother keeps asking me about you. You should give him a chance. Blah, blah, blah.” He mimics her voice and gesticulations.
“What? That’s not how it happened at all, you jerk!”
Tiffany throws her last two orange slices at him, he ducks to avoid them, and I find myself having to break up a loud citrus fruit fight, as though they were five-year-olds.
“Enough! What, did you two do crack before you came here? Stop it now!” I scold them. Both of them struggle to compose themselves, feigning indifference and refusing to give the other even a glance. “Now let’s all take a breath and try to be adults. You can’t seriously be arguing about this nonsense. You two are the other parts of me. I need you”—I look at Alex—“just as much as I need you.” I look at Tiffany and grin, trying to wipe that pout off her face.
“He started it.” She sniffs, looking away.
“All I did was tell the truth,” Alex retorts huffily. I give him a dirty look.
“The truth.” Tiff is immediately angry again.
I snap my fingers between the two of them. “Shall we start again?”
Alex rolls his eyes, sighs, and stands up. “I’m going to get a drink. Nessy, do you want anything?” I shake my head no. His eyes slide over to Tiffany, who has her back to him, and, after a few seconds of indecision, he asks her the same question. But she ignores him. He shakes hishead and goes to the counter. As soon as we are alone, I take advantage of the moment to ask Tiff what’s wrong. She seems way too upset for me to believe that it’s all about that stupid fight.
“Hey.” I take her hand. “What’s up with you?”
“He was provoking me from the moment I sat down,” she explains defensively.
“I’m not talking about you and Alex, I’m talking about you. Something’s going on, tell me about it.”
Tiffany sighs and slumps back against her chair. “This whole thing with my brother has me terrified. The situation at home isn’t the greatest, and I keep thinking that maybe I could have done something to help him before everything got out of control…”
“Tiff, you have nothing to blame yourself for. He was in the wrong. And it’s a lot to handle. But he finally did the right thing. I’m sure he’ll get himself together. He has realized that he’s lost his way, and that’s already a big step.” I give her a smile in the hopes of heartening her. And I make an effort to really believe my own words. Despite everything, I really do hope Travis rediscovers his best self.
When Alex returns, Tiffany seems to have calmed down and Alex has fortunately also laid down his arms. He sits down next to her and quietly hands her a small bottle of flavored water, the kind that Tiffany usually drinks during the day to keep herself hydrated. I smile at the cuteness of this gesture, even though they are like cats and dogs sometimes. “Truce?” he asks, smiling gently at her.
She looks sideways at him, trying to keep up an aloof air, but quickly gives in. “Truce.” She takes the small bottle of water, suppressing a smile, and stuffs it into her bag. Alex envelops her in a warm hug and everything returns to the perfect balance we had before.
I spend the rest of the afternoon in the library with Tiffany. The intent was to study, but we mostly wind up finishing our conversation. At one point, she gets a call from her father asking her to come back home. Her house is in an uproar these days; the whole Travis thing has turned her family upside down. His imminent departure was just the coup de grâce for them.
It’s almost eight o’clock, and because I’m starting to get a little hungry, I decide to head to the cafeteria to get something to eat before going home. I get in line and put what appears to be a Caesar salad on my tray, add a slice of toast to it, and pay for everything. Then I look around for a free table. I manage to spot one next to a small group of girls, and I step toward it. But as soon as they see me, they start muttering something to one another and laughing. For a moment, I’m afraid I have something in my hair or maybe a stain on my clothes, but when a girl with short curly hair gets up from the table to leave, I realize that Shana has been sitting across from her. She looks at me as though she’s trying to make me disappear with the power of her mind. I roll my eyes and turn around. The girl is stalking me.
Fortunately, I find another open table at the back of the cafeteria, away from those harpies. I’m about to snag it when someone behind me puts their hands over my eyes and presses their lips against my ear. For a moment, my whole body stiffens under that foreign touch.
“Did you miss me?” someone whispers in my ear. And a faint sound, barely audible, yet it makes me shiver. Whether it’s from pleasure or fear, I can’t really decide. An arm wraps around my waist and a wet mouth rests on my neck.
Oh my God. Logan is back.
And he’s kissing me.
Forty
With my heart beating wildly, I spin around, sending my entire dinner sliding disastrously off my tray.
“Dammit!” I curse under my breath. I crouch down and pick up pieces of chicken and lettuce that are scattered all around.
“Sorry,” Logan say, crestfallen. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He crouches down to help me pick up the rest of the food remnants. Fingers trembling with anxiety, I pull my hair out from behind my ears and, coward that I am, I use it to hide from his gaze.
