"Thanks, LaLa, real nice," I said.
She reached over to pinch my cheek, but I batted her hand away."Oops, someone is touchy about this subject."
"I think it's sweet that you're still holding out hope," Jules said."It's very romantic.Delusional but romantic."
"You're both a couple of buttheads," I said.
"Oh, we're sorry, sweetie," Stella said.They both took hold of my arms and led me toward the house.
My phone rang.I paused to pull it out.
"If that's my mom," Stella started.
I shook my head."Nope.It's Lacey."I grinned at them.
"No way," Stella said.
I shrugged and walked away to answer it.My heart was racing as I swiped my thumb across the screen.
"Hey," I said and swallowed hard, waiting for her voice to come through the phone.
"Hey," she said softly.Music and voices thrummed somewhere in the distance.
"Thought you couldn't talk."I had no idea why I started out like an asshole, but I was blaming the fucking hurricane of feelings rushing through me.
"I wandered away from the group for a second.If this is a bad time?—"
"No.It's fine."I'd been dying to talk to her, and now there were no damn words in my head.All I knew was that the woman on the other side of the call was the woman I'd loved since we were in the third grade.That had never changed for me, but it had obviously changed for her.
"I can hear music," she said."It's way better music than what's playing at my party."
"Cru and Mac threw me a party cuz I—" I stopped there, not wanting to sound like a damn braggart.
"Because you won the regionals.I saw your picture.That's what made me think of you."
"Yeah?"The music got louder, so I walked farther from the house."Cuz I think of you almost every day.No picture needed.I've got that face of yours, that body of yours, memorized like it's etched in my fucking mind."My emotions were getting the better of me, but I couldn't seem to stop them.
"I didn't mean to upset you with my text," she said.
I closed my eyes and pictured those incredible lips of hers—lips I'd kissed a thousand times—so close to the phone."You didn't upset me.I hear you're getting married this weekend."It seemed there was no way for me to not act like an asshole during this conversation.
"I shouldn't have called," she said.
"Don't hang up.You never let me—I never got to tell you what happened that night."
"You didn't need to.Everly told me everything.She told me you kissed her and pushed your hand under her skirt, but she told you no because she didn't want to hurt our friendship."
A laugh shot out of my mouth.
"Right.Glad you think that's funny," she said tersely."And here I was romanticizing about the boy I left behind.Have a good life."
"Wait.No, don't hang up.You're doing it again.You hung up on me last time, too.I never touched Everly.I couldn't stand her.She came on to me."
"Right."
"So, you believe her over me?I loved you.Everly was just using you to keep relevant in the popular group."
"That's really nice.Were all my friends using me?And here I thought people genuinely liked me.Oh my gosh, thanks for clarifying and thanks for reminding me that you can never go back in time.We were in the past, and now I have a future."
