Page 67 of Your Biggest Downfall
“For me?” I hesitated.
“Yes. Your friendship means so much to me, and I want to talk about that night. I want to make sure...”
He didn’t need to finish the sentence; I knew he wanted to make sure I was okay.
“Okay,” I whispered, even though every instinct screamed that this was a terrible idea.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at your house in half an hour?”
“Okay,” I repeated.
A smile spread across his face. “See you soon, Supernova.”
“I cannot fucking believe you didn’t tell me about your mom. I had to hear it from Jeremy when he called me because Austin Hart was frantically trying to find you,” Luna shouted from her bedroom.
“I know.” I got up and peeked into her cluttered bedroom. Clothes were laid out everywhere. “Why does it look like you’re packing?” I asked.
She looked around at the strewn clothes and the opened suitcase and shrugged before returning to throwing more clothes from the closet onto the ground. “I am.”
“For what?” I asked, taking a step into the room to try and figure out what was going on.
“No.” She threw her hands on her hips. “If you don’t tell me important things anymore, then why should I?”
I sighed. “I’m sorry. I got the call and ran to my mom at the hospital. I didn’t call or text anyone, and when I got there, they were putting a tube down her throat. I planned on telling you what happened, but Austin came by, and I got distracted, so here I am.”
Luna put her hair up into a bun and then turned to me. “Fine,” she huffed. “I forgive you.”
“So, are you going to tell me where you’re going?” I asked.
“Yes. Jeremy, Dirks, and I are going on a boat. We’re going to cruise up and down Lake Michigan and spend the night in the marina.”
“Oh? The three of you? Together? Like a little ménage?—”
“Stop it,” Luna retorted. “We’re just friends, like you and Austin are.”
I narrowed my eyes at her, and she laughed, knowing full well none of us were “just friends” with any of the guys.
“Anyway.” Luna tossed a few dresses into a bag. “What are you doing this afternoon? How’s Mami?”
“Aunt Mae is taking her home. She’s getting discharged this afternoon. I’m going out for a bit too...”
Luna stopped, turned on her heel, and raised an eyebrow. “With Austin?”
“Yeah.” I walked back into the living room, grabbed a few essentials, and shoved them into the larger black backpack I liked to carry. “He wants to talk about that night.”
“Good.”
I was grabbing random things at this point—my hairbrush, toothbrush, toothpaste, in case I needed to freshen up.
“Hey, Luna.” My voice wavered, uncertain how to phrase what I wanted to ask. As I tucked the letter Austin had written me into my bag, Luna popped her head out of her room.
“What’s up?” she asked.
I couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes. I hesitated, feeling the weight of the question pressing down on me. “Luna,” I finally said, my voice barely above a whisper, “what if... what if there’s more to this thing with Austin? What if I actually want to date him, but... he just got out of rehab. He’s an addict. Is it even right?”
Luna’s expression softened as she stepped back into the room. She pointed to the small couch next to her bed. “Come here,” she said gently.
I walked over and curled up beside her, my head resting on her shoulder as she wrapped an arm around me. She gently ran her fingers through my curls, the motion calming my racing thoughts.
