“Poppy?”
Shit.
“Poppy, open up. It’s me.”
I groan, hoist myself up with trembling legs, and manage to unlock the door before collapsing back down on the closed toilet lid, head in my hands.
Nova slips inside, closing the door behind her and locks it again, stepping carefully over my purse, which I flung across the floor as I got down on my knees by the toilet.
“Oh babe,” she murmurs, crouching over to me, tucking my hair back with one hand and rubbing my back with the other. “Talk to me, how you feeling? Is it food poisoning? Did you drink something weird?”
Too many questions…
“No,” I say, voice muffled. “I think I’m broken.”
Above me, my best friend laughs. “You’re not broken.” She’s quiet a few moments. “Um. So obviously I have to ask…” Her voice drops another octave. Barely a whisper. “Have you considered the fact that you might be… youknow.”
I freeze, forehead still pressed to the cool side of the toilet seat. My stomach clenches—whether from nausea or nerves, I’m not sure.
Nova strokes my hair. “Poppy. I’m not trying to freak you out, I just—this isn’t the first time you’ve felt like total shit lately.”
I don’t answer.
Because yeah, I’ve considered it.
Still not ready to say the words.
She nudges me slightly. “Do you want me to go get a test? I’ll tell the server we want the bill while you clean yourself up. You can wait here. We’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t know if I can pee right now.”
My best friend chuckles softly above me. “I didn’t mean pee on a test right this second; we can go back to your place where it’s private.”
I groan, dragging my hands down my face. “But what if it’s positive?”
Nova doesn’t miss a beat. “Then we deal with it. Simple as that.”
Simple as that. Like she’s not talking about potentially flipping my entire life upside down and shaking it until everything falls out. I just moved to Texas for pities sake!
“I don’t even know how this happened,” I mumble, immediately wanting to smack myself in the forehead because—duh. Iknowhow it happened.
I was there.
“Well. If you need me to draw you a diagram?—”
“Stop making me laugh.”
Nova continues rubbing my back and stroking my hair. “Look, we’re not doing anything until you feel ready. But just in case, I’ll run to Target on the way to taking you home.”
I squint up at her. “You’re always looking for any excuse to go shopping.”
“Guilty.” She shrugs.
“Ugh, why is this freaking me out so much?”
She pats me on the top of the head like a mother hen. “Because you’re human.”
There, there…
