Page 93 of Ours
“It’ll be fine, bro,” Derek tried to reassure him. “Just let her down easy. Use the end of school as an excuse. It’ll suck, but once it’s over, it’s over.”
“I know, I know.” Nic watched Amy walk into the diner, not having noticed them seated in Derek’s car. “Alright. Here I go.”
“I’ll chill out here. Give you guys some privacy.” The two boys exited the car together, though Derek stayed put, leaning against the side. “I’m right here if you need me.”
Nic nodded and walked toward the diner’s front doors, looking for Amy once he was inside. He spotted her at a booth in the corner and waved when she noticed him before walking over.
“Hey.” Nic smiled at her but thought better of leaning over to kiss her hello, given what he was about to do.
“Hey.” Amy smiled back but said nothing else.
“So…” Nic really wasn’t sure how to do this. “I, uh, wanted to talk to you about some—”
“It’s okay, Nic,” Amy interrupted, covering one of his hands with her own. “I know what you wanted to talk about.”
“You do?” Nic was a little hesitant to continue.
“Yeah.” Amy gave another small smile. “You want to break up.”
“Oh. Uh…” Nic stared at Amy wide eyed.Is it that obvious?
“It’s okay, Nic.” Amy squeezed his hand. “I think we should break up, too.”
“You do?” Hearing that out loud stung, to Nic’s surprise.
“It’s been really great these last few months.” Amy squeezed his hand again. “But we both know this was never about getting serious.”
“Uh… Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Nic said with more dejection than he expected. She wasn’t wrong but … he never saw himself on the opposite end ofthisparticular conversation. “I didn’t mean—”
“It’s okay, Nic. I was doing it for the same reasons.” Amy teased and gave him a wink. “Don’t look so sad. A few months from now, you’ll have an entire campus of girls to work your way through.”
“Heh, yeah, I guess you’re right.” Nic chuckled. At the current moment, he wasn’t quite sure what exactly was in his future.
“It’s been fun, Nic.” Amy stood and kissed Nic on the cheek. “You coming to the end of the year party? I’m headed there now.”
“Not sure yet,” Nic answered. “It’s been a weird week.”
“Aww. Well, I hope I see you later. Bye, Nic.” Amy gave Nic one last smile before heading for the door and leaving Nic alone at the booth. A few moments later, the door opened once again, and Derek walked in, taking Amy’s former seat.
“How’d it go?” Derek checked in with his bro. “She didn’t look too broken up when she was leaving.”
“Dude.Shedumpedme.” And Nic was still processing it.
“Oh. That’s a good thing though, right?” Derek figured he got off lucky. “No messy break up.”
“Yeah, I think?” Nic sounded dumbfounded. “I just wasn’t expecting it.”
“That’s been going around lately.” Derek picked up the menu from the table. “Wanna get a burger?”
Nic looked down at his own menu. “Yeah. I could eat.”
Just a few miles away, in one corner of Hartford State Park, the end of year party was kicking into gear. A few dozen soon-to-be-graduated teens had shown up in their cars, backseats filled with all sorts of snacks and supplies for one last night of high school debauchery. Cory and Jackson were there, wandering the perimeter as the festivities began.
“Having fun yet?” Jackson asked Cory as he watched two football players tap a keg.
“Oh yeah.Loads.” Cory took a sip of his drink—just a soda.Why did I even come to this thing again?
“I think I might have a load for ya.” Jackson spoke loud enough for only Cory to hear.
