Page 85 of Your Fault

He walked off while I sat there thinking about how I’d like to knock his lights out.

Sophia walked so close to me that I had trouble focusing on her words. But the end of the phrase was “… I’ll be the one having to pay for it, understand? So control yourself, because I’m not about to lose my job over something you did!”

I ignored her deliberately and walked out, slamming the door.

How was I going to go home and tell Noah I had to go to San Francisco with the same girl she was jealous of and that our parents wanted to hook me up with?

35

Noah

My mother’s silence wasn’t a good sign. It felt like the calm before the storm, and that worried me. I went on packing my bags, getting the last few things, while Jenna sat there counting off all the bad things that were going to happen to me if I went to live with Nick. That was when I realized I would have to start ignoring all her thoughts about our relationship.

Jenna was in anti-romance mode. Since she had split with Lion, she had gone from crying like a baby to adopting a hard-core feminist attitude, and all she could talk about was how women didn’t need men by their sides to go on with their lives, and in today’s world, you were supposed to enjoy your life without being tied down. For several days now,fuck Lion!had been her favorite phrase.

“I was so excited to think that you and me were going to be at the same school, going out at night and pledging at the same sorority and doing all the stuff freshmen do,” she said, helping me box up a couple of things.

“I’m still going to college, Jenna. I’m just going to sleep at my boyfriend’s place instead of in a dorm.”

Jenna rolled her eyes. “Like Nicholas would ever let you go out partying till dawn.”

“Nick’s not my father. I can go wherever I want,” I replied sharply.

“You say that now, but once you settle in, you’ll turn into one of those friends you never see because they spend all their time with their boyfriends.”

I laughed shrilly. “Like you until just a few weeks ago?”

Lifting a book, she looked over at me. “Breaking up with Lion is the best thing that could have ever happened to me,” she said, and I could tell she was trying to convince herself more than me with that remark. “I do what I want now. I don’t have to fight with anyone, except for my stupid little brothers. I don’t have to feel guilty for being the person I am. I got a sweet dorm setup. We shelled out for the private kitchen… Speaking of, you know what I bought myself today?” She hitched up her long tight skirt just slightly. “See these sandals?”

I nodded. I could tell she needed to brag.

“Know what they cost me?”

“No. I don’t want to know either,” I said, folding a blanket to put it away.

“Try six hundred bucks. That’s right! I dropped some cash on these sandals, and I probably won’t even wear them after a few weeks because it’ll be cold and rainy, and I won’t want to get my toesies wet…”

“Smart,” I said, playing along unenthusiastically.

“It is smart because you know what I’ve learned watching my ex-boyfriend work like a dog just to keep the garage open and pay his rent? I learned money doesn’t grow on trees, I learned a lot of people have it hard, but I also realized, if they were me, they’d do the same damned thing. So why am I going to be the idiot who doesn’t take advantage of being born into money? I’vegot everything I want, right? I can buy what I want, choose what school I want to go to, plus, you know my dad just bought a private plane? You heard that right, so if you ever want to go anywhere, just let me know… I’m a millionaire, and for now, money is all I care about…”

Her voice cracked at the end of that phrase, but she dried the lone tear that rolled down her cheek, pointed the book she was holding on to at me, and said coldly, “I’m absolutely fine.”

Like me, but unlike many others, Jenna didn’t like to show her feelings. If one of us cried, that meant we were really doing badly, and I could tell she must have been feeding herself a pack of lies if she now found herself crying in front of me.

“I know you don’t want to talk about it, Jenn, but this is temporary. Lion loves you more than anything, and you know—”

“Don’t go down that road, Noah,” she cut me off. “We’re done, and I’m not getting back on the merry-go-round. We’re from different worlds, so drop it. All I want to hear about right now is how drunk you and I are going to get every Friday and how many hot guys we’re going to meet.”

I didn’t want to remind her that I was taken, so I let it go. She needed to feel she had a fellow party girl at her side, so I’d let her think that. In moderation, of course.

She left soon afterward, and I called Nick. We hadn’t talked since the night before, and I needed to know what time he was coming to pick me up the next day. I had more things to take over, and I needed his strength and the space in his Land Rover.

It went straight to voice mail, and I left a message saying I needed him to come over the next day and he should call when he had the chance.

Just as I was about to undress, shower, and go to bed to spend one last night at that house, my mother appeared. From her face, I could tell an argument was coming.

“I was hoping you’d come talk to me and tell me that what you said over dinner was just a very tasteless joke.”

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