Page 8 of Love and Other Chances

Chapter four

“Hiiiiiii!” I sing as I join the video call with Amaya and Lana. I’m only two minutes late to our weekly scheduled call, but my best friends are two of the most punctual people I know. “I didn’t miss out on anything important, right?”

“Unless you count recapping a case study analysis as important, no,” Lana responds with a smirk.

“Definitely not,” I reply. “I mean,youare important to me, and I know it’s important to you, so it’s adjacent to important to me. But I don’t need a recap.”

Lana laughs as Amaya asks, “So? How was the first small group meeting? You texted and said it was fun, but give us the tea.”

I’ve prepared myself for how I should answer this question, debating whether to mention Brooks or not. But preparation has failed me. My mind goes blank, and I break eye contact with the screen as I pause before answering. “It was . . . great!”

“You hesitated,” Lana points out, literally pointing at me.

“Why the pause?” Amaya asks.

I make apffftsound. “No need to overanalyze a little pause. My brain is tired, that’s all.”

“Liar,” Lana instantly assesses. “Your eyes darted to the left before you answered. There’s a whole textbook’s worth of explanation hiding behind that hesitation.”

Having best friends can be so annoying sometimes. Like when they know you well enough to recognize your tells and love you enough to call you out on them.

“Sigh,” I say, dropping my chin to rest in my hand.

“Did you justsay‘sigh,’ Teeg?” Amaya asks. “This is more serious than we thought.”

“It’s not that serious!” I exclaim. “Joy and Caleb rounded up a great group of people my age, and we had such a good time! Got to know each other and ate good food and played some fun party games, and these totally seem like people I will want to hang out with a lot!” I keep my voice chipper and fast-paced as I fly through the sentence.

“But?” Lana asks.

“Well, there was onetinycurve ball I wasn’t expecting,” I reluctantly admit, fiddling with a lock of hair. My best friends stare at me, unspeaking. They know I won’t be able to stand the silence.

“So, as it turns out, one of the people Caleb invited to join the group is a guy who moved to town a few weeks ago. And he’s someone I knew from high school.” I shrug.

“Teegs . . .” Lana prods, no-nonsense tone engaged.

“Fine, it was Brooks. My ex-boyfriend from high school.”

They both gasp. And I at least feel validated by their shock.

“You’re kidding me,” Lana responds.

Amaya is slowly shaking her head. “Theonlyguy you dated in high school? That one?”

“Well, if there was only one guy I dated, then by process of elimination, yes, it would have to be him,” I say with an eye roll.

“I’m just shocked by the pure odds of this happening,” Amaya muses.

“I know, right?!” I reply. “Totally crazy.”

Lana is studying me intently, so I smile at her. “I’m fine, Beef.”

“Being on a video screen isn’t the same as sitting next to you on the bed in our AOPi room,” she sighs. “Be honest, Beef. How are you?”

“I’m really fine,” I half lie. Although, if it’sgoingto be the truth, that makes it not really a lie, right? “It caught me off guard to see him again without warning, but I’m so over him. I mean, that was high school. Forever ago. So much life since then. I’m totally great with it.”

Lana eyes me like she’s weighing my answer on Lady Justice’s scales.

“I really am looking forward to spending more time with the group and getting to know everyone. You were right about me needing some friends my age. I’m feeling better already after one meeting.” I lay the positivity on thick. “Now, I want to hear how that big pitch went thisweek, Amaya. I’m not pretending to understand exactly what it was for, but tell us about it as though I understand every word.”

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