Page 52 of Let's Talk About Love
“Um, well, not to be petty, but you left me first.”
“We went upstairs. You actually left the party. That is not the same thing.” She looked Alice right in the eyes. “I’m not going to apologize for having sex with my boyfriend when you fucking jumped ship the first chance you got because you couldn’t stand being alone for thirty minutes. Miss me with that bullshit.”
Alice’s jaw dropped. Unsure of what to say, she stuttered for a moment before mumbling, “I’m hanging up now. I’ll see you later.”
“Whatever.”
Alice set her phone on the table facedown. She stared at it like it would bite her before sliding it farther away with a single finger.
Did she really do something wrong? Because it seemed like that’s what Feenie implied—she had expected Alice to be there. But that hadn’t been the first time they’d disappeared onher. She didn’t want to be left behind (and sure, they always came back), but they didn’t really expect her to wait around for them forever, right?
CHAPTER
18
“So,” Alice said, watching Takumi make her tacos in the break room at the library. “Are you going to make me dinner every day? I’m not trying to get my hopes up or anything, butforeseeable futuremakes a certain kind of promise.”
“I could,” he said. “Then again, at that rate, you’d probably eat me out of house and home.”
“I’m a growing girl. I need my nutrients.” She smiled, resting her chin in her hand. “I do really appreciate this, though. It’s very sweet of you.”
“You’re welcome. I like cooking. You like to eat my food. It works.”
“Indeed. Cheers.” She held up her water cup before taking a sip. Would she ever do something like this for someone? She didn’t think of herself as a bad person, but she certainly wasn’t in line for sainthood. She remembered birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates, but random acts of kindness for the fun of it weren’t on her radar. Being thoughtful was a bit of a struggle.
“Did you do anything fun on your days off?” he asked. “Let me guess: it involved TV and not getting out of bed.”
“If only.”
She had spent them locked in her room, hiding from both Feenie and Ryan, whom she never ended up calling. Not even the gnawing emptiness of hunger would make her venture out. Around noon she’d overheard the beginning rumblings of a fight between them and slid out of the apartment before they noticed. Nine whole hours spent wandering the mall, eating everything under the sun like she had nothing better to do.
(She was convinced Cinnabon, akaThe Final Resting Place for Her Blood Sugar Levels, and Hot Dog on a Stick, akaThe Mother of All Lemonade Stands, existed solely for the purpose of providing solace to the emotionally weary.)
When Alice had finally meandered on home, all the lights were off, the house dead quiet. She had scooped up Glory and slipped back into her room.
The urge to pout was oh so strong. “Leaving the party turned out to be a bad idea.”
“What? Why?” He set her plate in front of her.
Alice filled Takumi in on the tail end of her video call with Feenie. “Everything is super awkward right now because I don’t want Ryan to keep feeling bad about ditching me since he actually acknowledged it, but if I talk to him, that means I’ll have to talk to Feenie, too, but the thing is, I really don’t feel like I did anything wrong. If I don’t talk to her, then she’s going to accuse Ryan of taking my side, so they’re going to fight and then of course he’ll take her side because he has to and I’ll be stuck on the outside.”
“Something tells me this has happened before.”
“Once or twice. Or ten times,” she said, cheeks full of tacos.
(Shredded pork, cheese, and extra sour cream—GoodGodit was amazing.)
“Tell me about them. What do you like most?”
“Ryan is the literal light of my life. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone as considerate and driven as him. He’s all-around amazing. And Feenie, well, she’s my oldest friend and soulmate. Her word, not mine, but I believe it,” Alice said before laughing at a random memory that popped into her head. “When we were little, people used to call us Ebony and Ivory, which is kind of offensive now that I’m thinking about it.”
“But she’s dating Ryan? And you’re okay with that?” The back end of her taco fell onto her plate with a small bit of it landing on her shirt. Takumi passed her some napkins.
“Oh, it’s not like a romantic kind of soulmate,” she said, dabbing her shirt. “Feenie’s pretty hardcore, but she has her sentimental moments. Once she said if reincarnation were real, we’d meet each other in every single life because nothing can keep us apart. We’re meant to be.”
He looked confused. “If you’re soulmates, aren’t you supposed to be in love with each other? That’s how it works.”
“I suppose itcouldbe romantic or whatever, but she has Ryan. They’re meant to be right now, but we’re meant to be forever, if that makes sense.”
