Page 11 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

Mrs Hunt’s eyes move from me to the box his voice is coming from.

‘Sorry,’ I say. ‘My brother.’ I scrunch my face, shrugging my shoulders.

‘Yes, I’ll pick you up,’ River continues. ‘But you can’t just blow this off. He needs to do the right thing. I’ll get Dad on him.’

‘No!’ I yell as I step into the elevator, scaring Mrs Hunt half to death. ‘Sorry,’ I say to her quietly. ‘No Mom or Dad. Please, River. I can’t cope with them right now. Give me some time. I’ll deal with it. I promise. I’ll figure something out.’

River’s silent on the other end of the line for too long.

‘Please, Riv?’

‘That fucker’s got one month before I step in.Onemonth.’

Mrs Hunt raises a judgmental eyebrow as River swears.

‘Sorry,’ I say again. ‘He’s crude as can be, no manners at all.’ I glance at the box. ‘Deal,’ I say to River. ‘One month.’

‘Wait,’ he says. ‘If you don’t want Mom and Dad to know you’re here, where exactly do you plan on staying?’

A minor detail I hadn’t yet considered. ‘With you?’

He laughs, suddenly stopping. ‘You’re serious? I don’t exactly live alone. Dax is here too.’

I forgot about Dax. ‘It won’t be for long. You think he’d mind?’

River sighs. ‘He’ll deal. It’s an emergency. You can stay in my room.’

‘No way are we sharing a bed.’

‘That’s a big no from me too, dumbass. I’ll stay with Summer for a few.’

‘Summer?’ I ask. ‘Who’s Summer?’

‘A girl I’m seeing.’

‘I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.’

‘How’s that feel to have the person you’re closest to in lifenottell you everything?’

Shame fills my insides like static. ‘I get it. I’m a selfish jerk. I know.’

‘As long as you know.’

I roll my eyes. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say, sincerely feeling bad that I’m interrupting his life because I can’t figure out how to be good at this adulthood gig. It’s just way more complicated than I expected it to be.

‘Just get your shit and get the hell away from that loser before he sweet talks you into overlooking his asshole ways again. Everything will work out. OK?’

I nod as if he can hear me, the tears surfacing again as the elevator doors open, Mrs Hunt stepping out. The doors slide closed again and the elevator continues onto the fourth floor where my apartment is.

‘Hello?’ River says after a beat of silence a tad too long.

‘OK,’ I half cry.

‘Jesus. You’re a mess.’

‘I know. It’s pathetic. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’ I start to cry again as I step out of the elevator.

‘Stop crying, Hols. You’re not the only one bad at life.’

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