Page 36 of If the Stars Align
Sam grabs a tissue and hands it to me with a sympathetic frown. “I’m sorry, Sunny. I feel like an asshole. I’ve been told that I have a hard time sugar-coating things.”
I laugh through my tears. “It’s okay. I like that you have no filter.”
She smiles with relief. “Okay, good. And don’t worry. I’m sure there are plenty of other guys out there who can make you come so hard you?—”
“Sam!” I shriek, setting my gigantic mug down on her coffee table and hiding behind my hands. She’s quiet, so I peek at her through parted fingers.
“What?” she says with a devious smile.
“I’m never telling you anything again.” I toss a mustard-colored throw pillow at her and we both laugh, and it feelsso good that, before I know it, we’re having a full-blown pillow fight. It’s the happiest I’ve felt in weeks. We’re giggling so much we don’t even hear her roommate walk through the front door.
“Just so you know, this is very cliché,” she says out of nowhere, which startles the hell out of me and Sam.
“Oh my god, Claire!” Sam exclaims, clutching her chest and resuming her laughing fit as she hops off the couch to give her roommate a hug. “Well, you just missed the pillow fight, but you’re right on time for braiding each other’s hair and prank-calling cute boys,” she jokes as she joins me back on the couch. “Claire, this is my friend Sunny I’ve been telling you about.”
Claire’s deadpan expression shifts instantly, and she’s beaming as she leans over to give me a hug. “I’ve heard so much about you, Sunny! I’m excited to finally meet you!”
“Same here!” I say, suddenly self-conscious about my tear-streaked cheeks. “I don’t usually have mascara running down my face like this, but I’m kinda going through a breakup…or something,” I explain with a wry laugh as I pat my eyes with a tissue.
“Hence the pillow fight,” Sam chimes in.
“I’m so sorry,” Claire says to me with a tilt of her head.
“Yeah, she’s been hung up on a total player and deserveswaybetter,” Sam elaborates. Then she cranes her neck to see if I need more tea—I don’t.
I frown. I worry that Sam is right, but I still don’t want to believe it. I mean, the connection Dex and I had wasn’t a figment of my imagination. Was it?
“Seriously,” Sam says more gently this time, “I’m sorry about you and Dex. But if you want to come to this party with me andClaire tonight, there will be tons of theater majors there. You’ll have your pick of broody actor types to date.”
“Thanks.” I sigh. “But I think I need to take a break from guys.”
And that’s exactly what I do. As a junior and a resident assistant this year, I have a dorm room all to myself, which makes it easy to immerse myself in schoolwork. I shift my focus back to where it was always supposed to be, I guess—getting into Northwestern Law School.
I can’t bear the possibility of running into Dex in Beachwood during breaks from school, so I tell my mom I have to stay on campus and study. She doesn’t take the bait at first. She hates the idea that I won’t be coming home, even though she’ll very likely be at work. So I tell her the truth: I don’t want to see Dex. Nowthatshe understands. So instead of me coming home, she visits me for a weekend here and there, when she can.
At least now she won’t accuse me of not “keeping my eye on the prize.” I officially make it to April without so much as kissing a guy. My grades are impeccable, and my mom is thrilled, particularly when I tell her I was offered a job doing data entry for a legal research project on the Chicago campus.
“It’s an interdepartmental study focusing on the mental health of children in the juvenile justice system,” I explain to her over the phone.
“Oh Sunny, that’s going to look great on your law school application! I’m so proud of you,” she says while stifling a yawn. It’s a Saturday morning and she just got home from the hospital. “See, I told you Dex was a distraction. Look how far you’ve come this year without him.”
My stomach lurches. I’m silent.
My mom yawns more deliberately this time. “Well, I’m going to get some sleep, sweetie. Long shift last night. I’ll talk to you soon. Enjoy your weekend,” she says, then hangs up.
I put down the phone and just stare at it for a minute before I log onto my computer to check my email. I’m expecting some forms to fill out for my new job, but I only have one new message.
And because my mom’s unsolicited comment about Dex hit me like a punch to the gut…
And the Universe apparently has a pretty twisted sense of humor…
That message happens to be from Dex’s dad.
John Dexter.
My heart thumps wildly seeing his name in my inbox. The subject line reads, “Summer.” I click open the message, my hands trembling.
We hope you’re well, darling. Just a note to say that you’re most welcome to intern at my office again this summer, if you think that would be a worthwhile opportunity for you. Wishing you the very best, always. John
