Page 45 of If the Stars Align
Asher takes my hand and squeezes it. “It’s okay,” he whispers. “We’re fine.”
But I don’t feel fine at all. My heart is racing, and my palms are sweating, and—I just applied to law school for goodness’ sake! What if I get arrested? What will my mom say? Why am I drunk at a park with Asher and his brothers in the first place?
Suddenly I’m questioning everything.
“City parks close at 11:00 p.m., and it’s 2:16 a.m.,” the loud officer roars thunderously once we’re all on the sidewalk.
“I’m so sorry, sir, we’re not from here,” Eli interjects with wide-eyed sincerity. I hold my breath.
“Is that right?” the older officer shouts. The younger one twiddles his thumbs.
Eli sighs. “Yeah, our dad was in the Air Force, so we moved around a lot.”
The older officer looks up, and his face softens. A little bit. “Air Force, huh? My Grandpa Joe was in the Air Force. A fine man, he was,” the officer continues with a faraway look in his eyes. “I bet your dad’s a fine man too.”
“Very fine, sir,” Eli says with a solemn nod. “Very fine indeed.” Asher gives Eli a look that could kill.
The loud officer is silent. He looks over at his partner, who just shrugs. “Alright,” the older one says gruffly. “For your dad’s sake, I’ll let you go. But don’t let me catch you out here again,”he bellows as he and the younger officer start to turn away from us. I smile at Asher, and he gives me a huge hug.
And that’s when Isaac throws up.
Eli, Asher and I all look at him, our eyes wide with horror, then turn to the officers. The loud one purses his lips angrily and is about to say something when Eli springs into action.
“You know, Isaac here is planning to enlist soon? He gets real nervous just thinking about it. He wants to make our dad proud, but he’s afraid he isn’t man enough.” Eli glances down at the pool of vomit on the sidewalk and crinkles his nose. “It makes him sick to his stomach sometimes.”
Isaac is staring straight ahead with vacant eyes while the loud officer looks him up and down. “Time to man up, son!” he finally hollers. He’s so startlingly loud, I gasp.
The officers get in their car and drive off, leaving Isaac still staring into space and the rest of us completely dumbstruck. Then Isaac starts laughing.
“Well played, man,” he says, patting Eli on the back. Eli takes a theatrical bow. Asher stares at them stonily, but I breathe a huge sigh of relief.
“Thank you,” I mouth quietly to Eli when he meets my gaze. He winks at me.
We get home at three-thirty in the morning, and by the time we’re in bed, it’s four. Asher falls asleep right away, but I can’t get my mind to stop racing, so I get up for a glass of water.
When I walk into the kitchen, Eli’s there, wearing only boxers and eating leftover stir-fry he found in the fridge. “You okay?” he asks as I fill up a glass.
“I can’t sleep. I still feel shaken up.” Before I know it, tears are falling from my eyes.
Eli wraps his arms around me and holds me the way Dex used to when I was sad—with one hand on the small of my back, and the other on the back of my head.
And that’s when I lose it. I bury my face in Eli’s neck.
And I know it’s not just our run-in with the cops that has me distraught.
It’s the way Eli Abadie charmed every single person we met tonight. The way he had the audience in the palm of his hand when he was singing karaoke. Even the smell of his cologne. He smells just like Dex did, our very last time…
It’s been 546 days since I’ve seen him. And I’mstillnot over him.
But kissing Asher’s brother won’t help.
So I wipe my tears and go back to my boyfriend’s bed.
Asher got his acceptance letter from the University of Chicago School of Social Work today. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that he’d get in. I mean, it’sAsher. Who in their right mind wouldn’t want him?
I haven’t heard from Northwestern yet. All of the law schools I’ve gotten into so far are out-of-state. I haven’t given much thought to what will happen if Asher and I don’t both end up in Chicago. Maybe I’m being overly optimistic, but I did really well on my LSAT, and I have a nearly perfect GPA. I’m sure I’ll be getting good news from Northwestern any day now.
I bring a bottle of champagne to Asher’s to celebrate, and we drink the entire thing while eating the delicious risotto he made us. Then we end up in his bed. Afterward, he holds me and kisses the top of my head over and over again while we watch the snow fall outside his window. I’m drifting off to sleep when I hear his voice.
