Page 9 of The Summer We Played Pretend

“Don’t forget it.” She nudges me gently with her shoulder. “And you’ve nursed me through so many heartbreaks, so I think I owe you.”

It was true. Sara had broken up with boys more times than I can recall. That was the difference, though. She’d broken up with them. Sara’s heartache was usually over the fact she could never seem to find the right one.

It wasn’t because she’d just had her heart torn out, stomped on, and apparently tossed away in favor of Maisie Collins.

We lie there for a while and stare at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. Mom was thrilled when I bought them, reminding me that glow-in-the-dark stars were all the rage when she was twenty. When I first put them up, she came and lay next to me in the dark, and we just stared at them for hours.

I wish I could do the same with her tonight. Dad needs her, though. He’s barely able to make it out of bed this week, let alone go to work. I can’t worry her.

“You know,” Sara says eventually. “Brendan might have done you a favor.”

I turn to her, eyebrows raised.

“Think about it.” She gestures broadly with her hands. “You're brilliant, kind-hearted, and have this crazy passion for history that's gonna take you places. Maybe places without Brendan and his ego tagging along like excess baggage.”

“You think he has an ego?”

“Be real. He was hardly modest.”

I’d be lying if I said he was the same shy, nerdy boy I first met and fell in love with. In the last year of school, his acne cleared and everyone began to see what I always had—Brendan was a good looking guy.

He began to realize it to, I guess, but I never thought that was a bad thing. I wanted him to feel good about himself.

“Besides,” Sara continues, her voice dropping to an exaggerated conspiratorial whisper, “now you get to find someone new. Someone who'll geek out over old ruins with you and won't get jealous every time you ace a test or win an award.”

“Find someone who isn't threatened by my love for dead civilizations?” I quip, despite the pang in my chest at the thought of moving on. I’m not sure I can picture such a different future yet. I had it all planned out so perfectly.

“Exactly!” She waves her hands in the air as though summoning the perfect, hot, wonderful man to soothe away my heartache. “Someone better. Someone who gets you and all your Chloe-ness.”

“Chloe-ness, huh?” I let out a soft chuckle, shaking my head at her unwavering optimism. “Well, whoever this paragon of patience and virtue is, he's got some pretty big shoes to fill.”

“Girl, please.” Sara rolls her eyes playfully. “The only thing Brendan filled was his own ego. You'll see. You’re going to come out of this stronger—and with someone a thousand times better.”

I curl into her side. I don’t know if I can believe any of it but having Sara makes me feel like it’s at least a tiny bit possible for me to move on.

Then a realization hits me. “Oh God.”

She bolts upright. “What is it?”

“I have to see Brendan on Monday. He’ll be taking over from my shift.”

“Good. I know where I can find him and kill him then.”

“It’s going to be awful.” I cover my face with my hands. “Especially now I know he’s moved on already.”

“It won’t be fun,” Sara admits, pulling my hands from my eyes. “But you’ve got this.”

I draw in a deep breath, wishing I had as much confidence as Sara does in me. Fact is, seeing Brendan again is going to be awful and there’s no way of escaping that fact. Monday will officially be the worst day of my life.

Chapter Five

Jackson

“Chloe's upstairs,” Mrs. Davenport says the moment I step through the front door, her eyes darting to the tub of Ben and Jerry's in my grip. “Unless that’s for me?” she adds with a grin.

“Next time, Mrs. D.”

“There’s only one reason for ice cream,” Chloe’s mom says. “Has she…?”

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