Page 19 of Just Friends

At my dumbstruck expression, she laughs. It’s light and musical, like a melody drifting on the wind. “I’m kidding, Alex. You’re incredibly obvious.”

My hair is like smooth silk against my fingertips as I push a hand through it. Suddenly, it feels like my skin is stretched too tight, the soft music and quiet murmurings of other patrons too loud in my ears.

“Does she know?” I ask, finally voicing the question that’s been buzzing around in the back of my head since Adam called me obvious yesterday morning.

Lucy squints. “Who, Hazel?”

“Yes!” I say loudly enough that the calico near my feet gets annoyed at my volume and walks away.

“No, Hazel doesn’t know,” Lucy says, and my heartbeat returns to normal. “At least she’s never mentioned it to me, but I don’t think she’d be putting you through this if she knew.”

This, at least, makes me feel somewhat better. If she’s known my feelings all this time and just hasn’t brought it up to spare me the humiliation, I’d have to start looking up realtor requirements in a remote corner of the world, preferably somewhere without Wi-Fi or phone service.

“So what’s your plan?” Lucy asks, waving away the cat in her lap so she can reach into her bag.

I grip the back of my neck with my palm, squeezing hard to relieve the tension building there. “That’s why I’m here. I don’t really have a plan.”

“Mm,” Lucy mumbles, not looking up at me as she digs through her bag.

“What are you looking for?” I ask as the still damp black cat stands and moves directly in front of my face. We’re nose to nose now, and I’m sure he’s memorizing the smell of my soul so he can find it in the afterlife.

“Aha!” Lucy yells, waving a mushroom-printed notebook like it’s a white flag. She swats at the black cat, ushering him off the table. “Callisto, get down.”

My brows arch. “That cat’s named Callisto?”

Lucy rolls her gray eyes heavenward. “No,” she says, her voice lowering to a whisper. “They named him something basic like Oreo, but isn’t Callisto so much better?”

I have a feeling my opinion doesn’t actually matter here, so I just nod.

She flips to a half-filled page and turns back to me, resting her chin in her hand. “First things first. Tell me how you feel about Hazel.”

“I’m in love with Hazel,” I say, and it honestly feels like a weight being lifted off my shoulders, the first deep breath after being underwater for too long. It’s a thought I haven’t allowed to take shape in my mind, but it’s been burrowing deep into my soul for ages, since a hot summer day with ice cream cooling our hands and sun warming our skin.

It’s the first time I’ve said it aloud, and now that I have, I want to shout it from the mountaintops.

Lucy sighs, her eyes wide and dreamy. “That was lovely. Could you try clutching your chest and saying you burn for her?”

“What?”

She sits back, sliding the notebook across the table. “Never mind. Before we get started, read this.”

I stare down at the dainty scrawl on the page, uncomprehending. “Someone who can make him laugh. Someone who can bring him out of his shell. Someone messy. Someone creative.” Looking up, I meet her expectant eyes. “What’s this?”

“Who does that sound like to you?”

My gaze flickers over the list again, reading through the bullet points. “Hazel.”

Lucy’s grin is wide, spreading across her face like a flower blooming in the sunshine. “Hazel wrote that list. She said those are the qualities you need in a partner.”

A flame of hope catches in my chest, burning through me like wildfire, and I read over the list one more time with fresh understanding.

“Oh,” I breathe.

“She wants you,” Lucy says, snapping my attention back to her. “Even though she doesn’t know it yet.”

She reaches for the notebook, pulling it back across the table, and flips to a blank page. Retrieving a pen from her bag, she scribblesThe Planat the top.

“Let’s figure out how to make her realize it,” she says. “Have you watchedEmma?”

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