Page 89 of Date with Destiny

‘I know, Gin.’

I wait, barely breathing, and at last, she turns slightly to me.

‘I’ll be honest, I was really angry with you back then.Reallyangry. I was madder with you than that cow, Mindy.’

‘I get it,’ I nod. ‘I was, too.’

Despite that, she keeps going. ‘You were my best friend.’ There is pain in her voice. ‘And you just disappeared.’ I stay silent, knowing this is important for her to say. ‘I struggled to trust people when I got to the new school; I thought they’d abandon me, too. I felt like I’d lost everything.’

I don’t say that I felt the same way.

Flo audibly swallows, before continuing. ‘But Mum made me meet with a counsellor, and she was great. I worked through it. She helped me understand that you were just protecting yourself. That you were just as scared and lonely as me.’ I give a small nod, trying not to cry, as she adds, ‘It took me some time, but I realized that being angry was just hurting me. It was self-destructive.’ She pauses. ‘I forgave you. Idoforgive you. We were just kids.’

The tightness in my chest loosens.

‘Thank you,’ I say at last.

She smiles. ‘I better get these idiots home.’ She waves at her dogs, calling them in. I nod again, not trusting myself to speak. All this guilt – years of it poisoning a part of me – has lifted. My heart feels light and grateful.

I’ve accomplished prediction number five – the person I thought lost forever.

As we say our goodbyes, she gets this weird little smile on her face.

‘My brother really liked you, you know?’

‘Zach?’ I reply dumbly, feeling strange about how often people bring him up around me. She rolls her eyes, laughing and flicking her fringe again.

‘He kept on at me for weeks about meeting up with you and talking things through.’ She pauses. ‘Like I said, I’d forgiven you a long time ago, but I also didn’t want anything to do with you, obvs.’ She shrugs an apology and I nod afair enough. ‘But he kept saying what a great person you are now and emphasizing how much people change after the age of twelve.’ She frowns, amused. ‘I get the impression he thinks you’re a bit wonderful.’

‘He does?’ I reply, confused.

‘Don’t worry,’ she adds quickly. ‘He’s over it now, he’s not going to ask you out. He knows you’re taken.’

‘Taken?’ I say, shocked. ‘I’m not taken. I’m single!’

She hooks the lead onto the dogs’ harnesses, barely glancing up. ‘Oh?’ she says disinterestedly. ‘He said you were in a relationship.’

As I walk away, I can’t stop thinking about her words.

Was Zach just trying to reassure Flo? Make sure she knew he wasn’t interested in her traitor former friend?

It’s not like I can ask him. I’ve made a movethreetimes now. I can’t ask him yet again why he doesn’t like me.

And either way, like Flo said, he’s over it now. Too much has happened. It all got so complicated: exes hanging around, lying cheats, me on mushrooms claiming to be a unicorn.It would’ve scared anyone off. Never mind the weird extra layers of history I have with his family.

I get it. I understand. It’s not going to happen.

It’s time to let it go.

CHAPTER FORTY

HOW DID IT GO??????????????????

It’s been an hour since I sent the message. I should’ve heard something by now. A horrible feeling is creeping over me. What if Sonali said no? There’s no way, is there? She wouldn’t have said no – it can’t be that.

So why haven’t I heard?

I should’ve added more question marks. Hold on.

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