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“That’s not that bad. Bryce and Sophie are doing it.”

“But Bryce is moving here eventually. They already have their plan. I don’t know where I’ll end up if I don’t take this, and I don’t know whereshewill, either.”

“Probably because you’ve only been together for, like, six minutes,” Jill said, laughing. “Maybe just talk to her, Enid. Do the interview, see how it goes, and if you get it, figure it out. God, why are lesbians like this?”

“I can’t wait until you get a girlfriend of your own and start acting exactly how we are right now,” Enid replied.

“Enid, you might end up hating it after you interview anyway,” Rory said.

“True,” Jill agreed.

“She’s turning twenty-one,” Enid shared.

“Okay?” Jill asked more than said.

“I wanted to plan something. Like, I was thinking about asking Candace if we could have a party there so Care could have her first legal drink.”

“What does that have to do with the job?”

“She’s not exactly happy with me right now,” Enid replied. “Iwasgoing to tell her, but I didn’t plan on dropping the bomb in the bar with a bunch of people around. I just wanted to do the interview first and have as much information as I could before she and I sat down and I talked to her about it.”

“Have the birthday thing,” Jill said. “Talk to her before, but let’s still celebrate.”

“What if she says no?” Enid asked. “Or dumps me before the party? That would be embarrassing.”

“She’s upset right now that you might be leaving. I think that means she likes you, Enid. She’s not going to dump you,” Rory reasoned.

“When I look at her,” Enid began. “For the first time, I can see my future, and it’s not work that I’m talking about. I was going to start my career and get settled before I even planned on trying to find someone, but I can see her next to me every morning, and I want that. I want to have breakfast with her and watch her sketch random objects around the house. I want to travel with her and watch her draw people, buildings, and landscapes while I run my hands through her hair. I want to sit at home with her and work while she’s next to me. I have never felt like that before, and it’s the scariest thing because it’s still so new, and I’ve never thought about much outside of school and work.”

“That sounds nice, Enid,” Rory said with a smile.

“It sounds terrifying tome,” Enid replied.

“I think it’s kind of supposed to,” Jill noted. “Not thatIwould know. But maybe I’ll be terrifiedandannoying one day, too.”

CHAPTER 30

“This is our first two-bedroom unit. It’s one thousand square feet and has a balcony but no fireplace. You also get the washer-dryer combo in the two-bedroom, and this one has the walk-in closets. Our eight-hundred-square-foot unit on the first floor doesn’t have the walk-ins or the balcony, but there is a patio,” the representative from the apartment complex said. “The courtyard is open to all, and you face the street in this unit, but the other one I can show you does face the courtyard. It tends to be a little quieter most times, but the kids do go there to play, so after school, it can get a little loud.”

“Thanks,” Jodie said. “Can we just walk around on our own for a minute?”

“Sure,” the woman replied. “I’ll wait outside in the hall. Just call for me if you have any questions.”

She walked back out the door they’d come in through.

“What do you think?” Jodie asked Caroline once they were alone.

Caroline looked around the empty apartment unit with the gray carpet that looked freshly cleaned and tried to picture herself living here.

“It’s nice,” she replied.

“Want to check out the bedrooms?” Jodie asked her but didn’t wait for a reply before she took off toward the one on the right.

Caroline just laughed and checked out the kitchen while Jodie made comments about the bedroom.

“The window faces the building across the street, so we would need curtains or blinds or something,” she said.

Caroline didn’t say anything in response as she opened the refrigerator and noted that there wasn’t a little squeak like there was whenever she opened Frank. She actually smiled at the thought and felt like a real adult, opening a full-size refrigerator that could be hers if she and Jodie liked the apartment. This was their first complex. They’d found three with available units that fit their price range that they wanted to check out, and they knew that they needed to do it as soon as possible because once more students started figuring out where they wanted to live for the fall semester, those units would go quickly. Caroline had finally gotten up the courage just that morning to ask her parents to pay her rent, and they had said yes but had given her a very tight timeline to find a place because otherwise, they had to pay for her room and board at the university soon to reserve her dorm room and meal plan.

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