Page 134 of Late Fees

Tilly

My hands trembled as I threw on the outfit I’d planned to wear for the party. I didn’t even bother to apply my make-up or take my hair out of the towel. Rushing back to the living room, my stomach dropped when Wyatt was nowhere in sight, and Ronnie was staring at the front door.

“Where’s Wyatt?” I asked, glancing at the chair. His backpack was gone.

“He said he needed some air.”

“Oh, shit,” I said, closing my eyes tight and pinching the bridge of my nose. My skin felt hot to the touch, and adrenaline shot through my stomach.

“What the hell, Tilly?” Ronnie said, looking betrayed. “You’ve been dating him since spring break? I’ve talked to you so many times since then!’

“I know, I just—” I said, struggling to find the words. “It’s just so new, and I—”

“That’s bullshit. You’ve been with him for over a month. What, did you think I wouldn’t be happy for you or something? I love Wyatt, you know that!”

“No, I do, it’s just…shit, I can’t think straight,” I said. “Give me a second, okay?”

“Fine, whatever,” Ronnie said in a huff as she walked to my couch and flopped down onto the heavy cushions.

“Do you know where he went? Is he going back to his dorm?” I asked, frantically running to get the phone from the vanity table in my bedroom.

“He didn’t say,” Ronnie grumbled.

I dialed his number. No answer. Not even the roommate, who never seemed to leave the room.

“Shit,” I said, walking back to the living area, feeling like the walls were closing in on me. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“It’ll be fine, just…slow down. And tell me why the hell you didn’t mention him. It’s been weeks, Tilly. Seriously.”

“I was going to tell you a few weeks ago, when we had donuts on the phone. Remember?”

“Yeah, and?”

I leaned against the wall of the hallway. “Well, you were really upset…you’d just talked to your coach, and I just didn’t want to make things, you know, worse for you…”

“Don’t go there, Tilly. Don’t do that.”

“What?”

“No matter what’s going on with me, you know I’ve always wanted you to be happy. And you know I love Wyatt. Hell, I’m the one who told you to go to his house, remember?” Her voice was stern, flinty. It made goose bumps rise on my arms. “There’s absolutely no reason you couldn’t have told me. Don’t put this on me.”

She was right.

I’d screwed up. Badly. She deserved better…and so did Wyatt.

“So, are you two, like, together-together? Like not seeing other people?”

“Yeah.”

“Tilly, that’s amazing. Why on earth would you keep that a secret?”

“I don’t…it’s just…” I said, walking back to the living room, phone still in hand as I sat in my olive-green armchair. “I wanted to tell you. I did! But it’s like I keep thinking it’s just too good to be true. He’s back, and we’re, like, ridiculously happy.”

“Then you should be shouting it from the rooftops!”

“But there are these other thoughts in my head. Like it’s going to end at any second.”

“Why do you think that?”

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