Page 43 of Late Fees

“Tilly and I didn’t just go to high school together.”

“Oh.”

“I’m in love with her.”

“Whoa,” she said, wrinkles forming on her forehead as she looked up at the numbers, avoiding my eyes.

“I’m sorry—I just…I think you’re great, and I had fun hanging out with you.”

“That’s fine, you really don’t have to say anything else.”

“No, hear me out, okay? If you still want to go to the anime store, I’m all in. And if you want to be friends, I’m all in for that, too. But I had to be real with you. I’m not…free.”

“Free,” she repeated, and I nodded.

“Because you’re in love with Tilly?”

“Yes,” I said with a nervous, self-deprecating laugh. “I have been for years.”

“Does she know that?”

I shook my head. “I mean, I thought she did. But I’m not really sure anymore.”

The bell on the elevator dinged, and the doors opened. We both stepped into the lobby of her floor.

A look of skepticism crossed her face. “Is that why you agreed to hang out tonight? So you could go to Spotlight Video? So you could see her?”

“No, I swear. I didn’t even know she worked there…or that she even went here. Not until we walked into the store.”

“So, you’re in love with a girl that you didn’t even know went to this school?”

“I know it sounds…strange.”

“Yeah,” she said, sarcasm dripping from the word. “Just a little bit.”

“It’s a really long story—one I won’t bore you with right now, but basically…I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier tonight. It was just…weird.”

“I’m surprised you told me at all.”

I recoiled. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug. “In my experience, most guys aren’t as…direct, I guess. I mean, most of them won’t even break up with a girl—they just act like jerks until she does it for him.”

“Yeah, we, uh…we have a habit of doing that. But it’s something I’ve been working on…for a while.”

“Well, thanks for telling me, I guess?” she said, sounding like a question and a statement all in one. “And one day, I hope you’ll tell me the whole story. As a friend.”

Relief drifted through my body. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt Marissa. She was sweet and pretty. And if I wasn’t completely in love with Tilly, I’d probably want her to be my girlfriend.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Maybe you can tell me on the way to the anime store?” She raised both eyebrows.

Stunned, I scratched the back of my head. “You mean you still want to go?”

She nodded. “Yeah, sure. I mean, I don’t meet a lot of people who love anime. And selfishly, I’m kind of dying to see that store.”

“Cool. So, friends, then?”

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