Page 39 of Still Here Without You

“I know someone else like that.”Me. I’m like that, but where is this going?

“And when exactly is her flight?”

“This Friday at twelve forty,” I answer easily.

“And, whose leather jacket is she wearing?”

Fuck! “Okay,” I say and then pause. “Imightbe falling for her.”

Dylan smirks. “Yup.”

“Since when did you become the all-knowing one of the two of us?” I gripe.

Dylan’s face scrunches, and he sighs. “I have no fucking idea, but I don’t think I like it.”

I laugh at the uncertain look on his face until I remember the realization I just came to. I’m falling for Delilah. I went and did the one thing we said we wouldn’t do. Basically, I’m fucked.

Dylan eyes me curiously and then offers a sympathetic smile. “It’s only six months. It’s not the longest time people have been apart.”

“We’re not even in a relationship.”

“But you could be. I’ve seen the way she is around you. She feels the same way.”

I sigh, shaking my head to rid my mind of any false hope. He may be right, but it doesn’t change anything. Delilah doesn’t want to be locked down to anything when she leaves. She wants a clean start. Her exact words were, “I don’t want to be tied down to anything here. You never know what might happen in Paris.” Those words came out of her mouth. To me. It’s not the type of thing you say to someone you want a long-distance relationship with.But that doesn’t mean we can’t stay friends and then broach the subject when she’s back in six months…

“Yoo-hoo? Joel…”

“Yep.” I look up, but I’m still not really paying attention.

“I said your phone’s buzzing.”It is?

I look down at my phone in my lap, surprised to see that he's right.

Three messages pop up, all from Delilah. My chest tightens and I’m suddenly desperate to see her. Ignoring the fact that Dylan’s still staring at me, I lift the phone and read.

Del: My brain can’t take it anymore. I need it to stop

Del: Why do finals exist? Why can’t they just do a pop quiz at the end of each session and grade us on that? I’m the queen of pop quizzes. Well, except yours

Del: You may not be answering, but I don’t care. I’m coming over. I expect ice cream and good music. You need to get me out of this study funk

I jump up off the sofa with a huge grin on my face, moving toward the kitchen. I can feel Dylan’s eyes on me but continue on my path. First stop, ice cream…check. That’s lucky. Next, I turn off the TV and switch it over to music, still pretending that Dylan doesn’t exist.

“What the fuck, man? What are you doing?” he asks, joining me as I walk down the hall toward our rooms. I shoot off a reply to Del before going in search of clean clothes.

Joel: I guess you can come over, but there’s no chance I’m giving you ice cream.

“Who was the message from, and why are you being weird?”

“If you must know, it was Delilah. She’s coming over. So, I’m going to need you to disappear.” I don’t even look his way, but I can picture the smug look on his face when he replies.

“Well, isn’t this another turn of events? It’s usually you making yourself scarce for me.”

“I know. It’s about time you returned the favor.”

Quickly changing from the old shirt I’m wearing to one that looks somewhat decent, I spray some cologne, ensuring I smell like a forest or something.Woodsy tones, whatever the fuck that means.I’ve been told it’s a good smell, whatever it is.

Dylan takes a seat on my bed and watches in fascination. “What’s going on here?”

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