Page 46 of The Other Half

“Cool. I gotta run, I’m supposed to be in detention right now.” She winks at me and gets up from her seat. “Text me.”

I nod and watch as she struts out of the cafeteria like we just had a completely normal conversation. I guess for Amber it was normal.

I blink away the tears that are starting to form as I imagine Oliver kissing some other girl he just met at a party. We hadn’t even been broken up for an entire day, and he already found someone new to make out with? Did he sleep with her? The thought instantly makes me sick to my stomach. He probably did. I know that before me he slept with a lot of girls, and it sounded like he never gave much thought to it.

What if I really was a conquest like Amber said way back when we first started dating? It’s entirely possible, seeing as how he looked entirely unbothered by our breakup while it was happening. I expected some kind of emotion from him, but there was none, he almost looked bored.

Sleeping with him meant everything to me, and as far as I can tell it didn’t mean jack to him. I glance over at the table he and his friends are sitting at. He’s laughing and cutting up with them as if this were a normal day like any other. I expect him to notice me staring at him, but he never looks my way.

I sigh and try to pick at my maybe-edible lunch. On the bright side, I have something to do on Friday. I figure Amber wouldn’t ask me to hang out unless she really wanted to, and now she certainly has no reason to be jealous of me.

Chapter 37

Oakley

Amber: I’m here

I run down the stairs and open the door. Even though it’s about 30 degrees outside, Amber’s wearing a cropped cable-knit sweater that shows off her belly button ring, and the ripped mom jeans she wears most days. I like her style, even though it’s not at all what I’d pick out. It’s too edgy for me, but I wish I could pull it off.

“Hey, girl!” she exclaims, walking into the foyer. “Holy. Shit. This is your house? We should’ve been chilling here this entire time. Instead of nasty Oliver’s house.” She makes a disgusted face.

I laugh, even though it still makes me kind of upset that she’s talking about him in that way. I shouldn’t feel protective of him anymore, I should be agreeing with her. He went off and slept with someone else hours after breaking up with me.

My mom walks in the foyer, carrying a glass of champagne. “Oh good, your friend is here! I’m Oakley’s mom.” She smiles warmly at Amber. “I’m so glad she’s finally having a friend over.”

“Nice to meet you,” Amber says, eyeing her glass of champagne. “That looks delicious.”

My mom laughs, “It is. Want some?”

Amber’s eyes light up like my mom just said the magic words. “Um yeah, thanks.” She turns to me and whispers, “Oh my god, your mom is SO cool.” And gives me a thumbs up.

I giggle. My mom has always been “cool” in my friends’ eyes. She’s a lot like the mom from Mean Girls, she enjoys being a part of my friend group. Sadly for her, I’ve never had much of a friend group.

After Amber gets her glass of champagne, and I refuse a glass for myself, we head upstairs. She looks around at my room, her eyes scanning my antique collection. “Interesting stuff you got here,” she says before taking a sip.

“Thanks,” I know my room is a little bit weird. I guess most girls my age aren’t really interested in antiques or old records. I can’t help but remember when Oliver saw my room for the first time, he was pleasantly surprised. I miss that.

She sits down on my bed and uses the remote to turn on my tv, she sips her champagne again as she scrolls through Netflix.

I hear a crash come from downstairs.

“What was that?” she asks.

“Um, I’m not sure.”

I hear my dad’s voice yelling an obscenity, and then listen as his feet stomp up the stairs and he slams a door.

“That your dad?”

I look at her, expecting to see confusion on her face, but it isn’t there. “Yeah,” I say.

She nods, turning her attention back to the tv. “Mine’s the same way, total dick all the time.”

“Really?”

“Oh god yeah, always yelling at me about something. He’s ex-military so he’s super strict sometimes. It’s annoying.” She laughs and rolls her eyes.

I’m a bit surprised, I figured her parents were really laid back considering that she seems to do whatever she wants, but I guess she’s just rebellious. “I’m sorry your dad is like that, too. I know it sucks.” I say earnestly.

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