Page 53 of Austen, Edited

Several people working at tables and computers shushed him as he went by.

He ran up and down the aisles, trying to figure out what back corner Tiffany had been talking about. There were several floors, and he hadn’t found her on the first or half of the second. The third corner he checked, he saw a girl with headphones on, her fingers flying across the keys, her back toward him.

He took a breath again, ready to ask her forgiveness. With a light tap on her shoulder, he cringed as she jumped and turned toward him.

“What are you doing here? You scared me.” She pressed a hand against her heart and took a few long breaths, staring at the floor while she did so.

“I just needed to talk to you.”

Her eyebrow raised. “And you thought now would be the best time? When I’ve got a paper due and I’m in the library?”

Greyson glanced around as the volume of her voice grew, and he was glad no one turned in their direction. He closed his eyes for a second and opened them again, focusing on the doubt etched across Abby’s face.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I didn’t text or call you back the past couple days. I thought you were dating someone else and got a little jealous.” He bit his upper lip, curious what she would say.

With a soft laugh, she shook her head. “I can’t imagine who you would think I would date.”

“I might have seen you getting into Jeff Summers’s car a few nights ago. I couldn’t believe you’d be associating with a guy like him, so I left. My pride wouldn’t let me contact you at all, and I feel awful about it now. I’m so sorry, and I hope you’ll forgive me.”

For several moments, she stared at him, her expression giving away nothing. When she moved her jaw back and forth, Greyson thought he might have a chance.

“What do you want from me, Greyson?” Her voice sounded more annoyed than anything, quenching the fire of hope. “You want me to say everything is okay? That we can go back to being best friends? Because I don’t think I can do that. You’ve left me so many times in the past two years that I don’t know if I can ever trust you like that again.”

“Abby, I need you to believe me. I feel awful about what I did to you when I left with Hannah and what I’ve done the past few days. I’m hoping that instead of just being best friends, that you’ll, um, you’ll be my girlfriend. I can’t imagine life without you, and now that I’ve finally realized how much you mean to me, I don’t want to lose you. I love you, Abigail Price.” He stopped for several seconds, surprised by the words he’d spoken. She was the first person he’d ever said that to, but he knew it wasn’t some passing feeling. “If you need time to think about it, I’ll give it to you. Just let me know what you need.”

She nodded, her eyes wide. “Time. Time would be good. Let me think about it for a bit and let you know.” She tried to look reassuring, but she may as well have snuffed out the hope in his chest like blowing out a birthday candle.

Greyson took a step back. “I can do that. You know my number, and I promise to answer this time.”

He walked out of the library, feeling as though he’d just lost the one good thing that had always been constant in his life. He’d come to Boston to get away from the memories and influence of Hannah, but what he’d gained in realizing how amazing his best friend was, how much he loved her and wanted to be with her, was even more painful now that she’d given him a lukewarm answer.

What he wouldn’t give for her to come running out behind him, to tell him she felt the same.

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