Page 112 of Finding Jack
“I think my roommate situation just worked out. I’ll be out of your hair soon.”
“You’re not in my hair, but that’s great news. When are you moving?’
“Uhh…”
Something about the way he said it made me look up from the eggs I was cracking. “Are you about to tell me it’s going to be like a year or something? Because then maybe you’ll be getting in my hair.” A text sounded on my phone, but I ignored it while I waited for his answer.
“You should probably get that,” he said.
“Can’t.” I wiggled my fingers covered in egg.
He unhooked Shep’s leash, walked over to me, and gently steered me to the sink. “You really need to answer your phone,” he said and ran water over my fingers.
I washed and dried them while he headed down the hall, calling Ranée’s name.
“You’re being weird!” I called after him.
“Answer your phone,” he called back.
I picked it up as another text came in.
It was from Jack.
Even though I’d dried my hands, my fingers became impossibly slippery as I fumbled the phone trying to unlock it.
It was a selfie, showing only Jack’s flannel-clad torso—which I’d know anywhere by now—and his hand holding a cup of coffee and a small bag of Cheetos. But it was the background that dominated everything, because it was the front of my apartment building.
Before I could fully process what that meant, my phone vibrated with another text and a picture of Transcendent Seagull appeared. It said only, “You should buzz Jack up.”
I ran to the door and did exactly that, then turned and yelled Sean’s name down the hall, with a big, fat question mark behind it.
“Sorry, trying to keep Ranée barricaded in here,” he yelled back, muffled by her door. There were some thumps and a few Ranée curses.
A knock sounded at the door, and I flung it open to find Jack standing there. But it was Jack like I’d never seen him. The shirt and jeans were familiar, and so was the smile. Devastatingly so. But…
My hand flew to my mouth. “Your hair.”
He reached up to touch it, but there wasn’t much left. He’d cut it much shorter, trimmed around his ears and collar. “Linda did it for me. She wanted to leave some length in front, but I figured it would get in the way of the microscope.”
“You look…” Incredible. He looked even better than in my constant daydreams by a factor of infinity. “It looks really good. Linda must have loved it when you walked in.”
“She did. There was enough to send it to Wigs for Kids.” He shifted and cleared his throat. “Can I come in?”
“Of course. Let me just…” I took the Cheetos and coffee and set them on the table. “Um, should we sit?”
“Sure, great.”
It was such a stilted conversation, but I couldn’t wrap my mind around what it meant that he was here. We settled onto the sofa facing each other.
“So I—”
“Why are you—”
We said at the same time.
“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “You go ahead.”
I curled my hands into fists to keep them from fidgeting. “Why are you here, Jack?”
