Page 11 of Every Little Thing

“Dani come around and start hitting on your girlfriend, and you had to get away?” I said, and she laughed lightly.

“It doesn’t actually bother me, you know, when it happens. It’s not that I just stick it out well and stay strong for her sake. It just… doesn’t register as something that bothers me.” She paused, shifting her weight onto one foot. “Do you think that’s weird?”

“Weird… probably strictly in that it’s not how people typically are, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.” I turned back to the stream with a sigh. “Kind of wish I were that way. Things would have gone a lot better with Annabel. You two are a much better fit, though, so… I guess I’m glad.”

She rolled her eyes. “Please. As if it was ever about Annabel in the first place.”

I hung my head. “This is you harassing me about Paisley again, isn’t it?”

“You’ve already told me how you feel, so… there’s no use trying to hide things. What’s more relevant is the reason you’re staying so withdrawn from… you know, everything. Like you’re guilty and conflicted about connecting with people right now. What happened?”

I rubbed my forehead. “It’s just… some stuff with the bakery. Don’t worry about it.”

“Mm.” She looked down. “If you ever want to talk about it, you know it’s safe to tell me. I’m not a gossip.”

She really wasn’t, that was the thing. I could trust her not only to keep it secret, but to listen patiently and with care. So why on earth couldn’t I bring myself to tell even her?

“Thanks,” I said, after a pause. “What about you, though? I haven’t had a chance to properly chat with you since the new semester started. How’s it going?”

“I took too many writing-intensive courses at once, that’s how it’s going,” she said with a wry laugh. “I’m stretched a little bit… thin.”

“Priscilla, being an academic overachiever. Shocking. Well, if Annabel’s ever bringing a girl over and you need somewhere else to stay and study, you can hang out at my place.”

“Thanks,” she laughed. “I really appreciate how you were there for me through so much… stuff, last semester.”

“Swimming going okay?”

“It’s been really exciting. I’ve been having private coaching once a week with someone from the Olympic division. It’s intense, but…”

“Doesn’t that mean you have three coaches at once?”

She beamed. “Yeah, two at once is nothing new for me, but three at once is one hell of an experience.”

I blinked. She furrowed her brow.

“I really could have worded that better.”

“I’m sure Annabel would approve, though.”

“I mean, it’struethat we’ve had—”

“I don’t want to know.”

She laughed, turning back to the stream below us. “It’s a lot going on, and yeah, I’m exhausted. This is the first time all month I’ve gone out anywhere fun. But… I’m enjoying it, you know?”

I gave her a long, studying look. “You know… you still never really said if you actuallywantto go to the Olympics.”

“Mm. I’ve been thinking about it, you know?” She shrugged, turning around and leaning backwards against the railing, casting her gaze up to where the canopies of the trees were in half-bloom swaying overhead. “And honestly, I don’t know either. But what I do know is that I want to try. I don’t know if I actually care about the Olympics, but I do know that I… I want to find the limits of my abilities. And to go as far as that will take me. So the Olympics are more a means than an end.”

“Huh.” I turned and sank back against the railing next to her, following her gaze up, watching the strips of darkening sky through the trees. “That’s pretty smart.”

“I try.”

“Any idea what you’re doing after graduation?”

Her smile faltered. “Um… I’m still figuring it out.”

I shrugged. “Your life has changed a ton in the past year. It makes sense you wouldn’t know how to plan for the future.”

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