Page 67 of More Than Pen Pals

“I don’t know.” I twirl my fork in my fettuccine. Suddenly I’m no longer hungry.

“Let me get this straight. She told you her ex wants to get back with her, but not whether she wants to get back with him.”

“Correct.”

“That’s cold, man.”

“She didn’t mean to tell me anything about it.”

“You gotta find out.” He stabs his fork toward me.

“I can’t ask her.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re not supposed to talk about the ex to each other.”

“That’s dumb.”

“It’s what we agreed on.”

“And she already broke that agreement.”

He’s right. It’s not fair that she got to tell me about Glenn, but I can’t find out what she wants to do about it.

“I’ll ask Glinda,” he says.

“You’ll do what?”

“I’ll ask Glinda what Leslie’s doing about the ex. She’ll know.”

“You’re not asking Wendy.”

“Why?”

“We’re not in junior high. And stop calling her Glinda. One of these days you’re going to end up saying it to her face.”

“Whatever. She won’t care. It’s a compliment. Speaking of junior high, are you prepared for tomorrow night?” he asks.

“About that …” I grin at him.

He sits up straight. “You told Mom you’re not going?”

“I value my life. I’m going.”

“Then what?”

“I saw Melissa today.”

“Ash, I swear you are the most frustrating person on the planet.”

I raise my eyebrows at him.

“If you were a normal person,” he explains, “you would’ve told me about both Leslie and Melissa hours ago. But no, you gotta keep it all to yourself.”

“Sorry.”

“You’ll get better with practice,” he says, “like right now. Tell me how in the world you managed to see Melissa Teague today.”

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