Page 117 of The Pinkie Pact

And that was the way my Thanksgiving was going to be with Kieran and Kara. We had an absolute blast sitting around the coffee table, our plates piled high with all the food Kieran had cooked, joking around and telling stories.

I was so glad to see that everyone was in a good mood, despite all the craziness of the last few days and weeks. As I stuffed my mouth with one last helping of yams, I stole glances at Kieran who was once again across from me.

Kara suddenly jumped up when her phone rang and she saw it was Gen. She rushed into the hall to talk, leaving Kieran and me alone for the first time in a long while.

"This is so delicious by the way," I said. "Thank you for feeding us like this."

He beamed at me. "My pleasure."

God, those words spiraled through me, and I tried to ignore the feeling.

Frowning, Kieran suddenly glanced down at his phone, sighing then setting it aside. "My parents, wanting to talk."

"So you're not going to talk to them?" I ventured to ask him.

"No. At least not right now," he said, his face wearing a stubborn look. "Maybe later when Kara's done."

I nodded, taking a breath while wondering the best way to proceed with this conversation. "Do you—do you know how you're going to deal with your dad, um, going forward?"

His brows lowered over his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I guess... are you just never going to talk to him again? Like over winter break, it's going to be kind of hard, you know?"

With another sigh, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yep. I know. I don't really know what to do, to be honest. But I'm working—"

He suddenly stopped talking, making me beyond curious. "But you're what?"

Glancing away from me, he was deep in thought for a moment before finally turning back to me again. "Nothing really," he said, frowning.

It wasn't the first time in recent days I felt like he was not telling me something, and I didn't know what the hell to even think about that. When I'd asked him about the project that kept him so busy lately, he'd stumbled over his words, making me super suspicious.

What could he possibly be hiding? Was he talking to his dad again and didn't want to tell me? That thought made me feel absolutely sick. Could he actually forgive his dad so easily and dismiss the whole thing?

"Sorry," Kieran said, interrupting my thoughts. "I guess I'm still trying to figure everything out."

Kara came back then, all abuzz about her talk with Gen and how well it had gone.

The rest of the night passed quickly with us eating pie, then binging more Netflix, sitting on the couch all together just like we'd done before. But this time, I didn't reach for Kieran's hand, and I wondered if I ever would.

The Recital

Sky

As the coldness of December swept in, a chill crept into my heart because Kieran was definitely up to something, and I had no clue what. Every time I asked him, he seemed flustered, making me realize that Kieran was an awful liar. So eventually, I just stopped asking. And now, I was resigned to the fact that Kieran and I were over.

He still came around. He still called and texted me often. But because Kara and Gen were still rocky, she slept in our dorm room alone, and so did I. No need for the study lounge anymore. So Kieran also slept at his place now.

Something about that saddened me because we had been getting closer again during our study nights, especially sleeping in there together on our separate couches.

The end of the semester was coming up along with exams and the dreaded recital. Fucking hell, I couldn't believe the time for that was almost here. Back in September, it had seemed so far away. How was it December already?

I could tell Brie was nervous about it too, although when it was just the two of us practicing together, we rocked it. We both had it completely memorized, and not to brag or anything, but we were awesome together. Of course, she was way better than I was at the piano.

Part of me wished my dad could be there to see us. He would be so proud, and he would love to watch someone as talented as Brie. But Kara said she'd be there and that she'd record it for him.

Whenever I thought about it, I felt seriously ill. As much as I wanted to slow time down, it was like the universe played a cruel trick on me, and the days actually sped past until it wastheday.

Before I knew it, I found myself sitting next to Brie in a big room with floor-to-ceiling windows letting in the grayness from outside. One after the other, students pounded away at the grand piano right by the windows up on a stage which was just fucking fantastic because people could see us even better.

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