Page 34 of Heartstruck at Dawn
“You too.”But not that much.
I walked to my apartment, took a shower, and laid on my bed wearing my robe and a towel wrapped around my head. I couldn’t even count to ten when my doorbell rang.
You’ve got to be kidding me!
I marched to the foyer, completely annoyed about having to stand up from my bed and screamed when I saw who it was.
“BILLIE!”Sophie and Cecile yelled my name in unison and tackled me with a group hug.
“Oh, my God!” I couldn’t believe my eyes. I felt immediately embarrassed by my outfit or lack of an appropriate one. I pulled the towel off my head because I looked ridiculous. Aaron and David rolled their luggage inside with a smile on their faces and excused themselves. Aaron knew how close we were, but it didn’t take much to see how happy I was about the surprise visit.
I cried as we held each other.
“What’s wrong?” Sophie asked with a pout.
“Nothing! I’m just so happy to see you. This is the best surprise ever! But how—why?” I didn’t know how much I missed them until I saw them both standing in front of me.
“Your father thought you would appreciate us coming to see you,” Cecile explained. “We’re only staying until Sunday, though. It’s an express visit. We have to get back to school. And … Aaron said I should give you this.”
A note.
Just a reminder that you have friends, kiddo.
James
My father was trying to make up for taking Caleb away from me. He didn’t need me to send him an angry text to figure out I was probably not enjoying the situation. He obviously knew it. But even if I was still mad at him, he was undoubtedly on the right path to gaining my forgiveness. It was a grand gesture on his part.
“We’re going to have so much fun!” Sophie screamed with excitement.
“Do you guys want to go out and have dinner?” I asked, brushing the silly tears away.
“That would be great,” Cecile replied. “I thought we could go try some of that famous New York pizza everyone talks about.”
“Perfect. Let me put some clothes on. This is your room if you want to get yourselves settled. I’ll be right back.”
We quickly got ready and left.
Cecile looked over her shoulder and said, “There’s three of them now, huh?” as we walked to a nearby pizza place.
“They usually work in pairs,” I whispered. “I guess my father wanted to make sure we’re safe. He’s out of town, and it must make him feel at ease to know we’re well taken care of.”
“Oh no, we won’t be able to have a glass of wine!” Sophie complained, remembering we weren’t twenty-one yet.
“I know, it sucks,” I replied. “But don’t worry. There’s a party tomorrow, so you’ll be able to have your glass of wine there. It’s a couples costume party. CJ insists they’re going to be strict about it at the door. We’ll figure something out.”
All the Caleb drama and the bummer of knowing William wouldn’t come made me doubt if going was a good idea, but CJ would kill me if I didn’t. Not going wasn’t an option.
“Wehaveto go,” Sophie replied excitedly. “That sounds like so much fun. What are you planning to wear? We need to get costumes.”
“I don’t know yet. I thought we could buy or rent something tomorrow.”
“So, what’s been going on with you, Billie? Your father tells us he’s been worried about you ever since you broke up with Thomas. I thought you were feeling confident in that decision. Is there something else going on, or do you just miss him?” Cecile asked, then took a bite of her pizza.
“No, no. It’sdefinitelyover with Thomas.”
I hadn’t mentioned anything about William or Caleb. I’d been secretive about the whole thing, even with them. The only information they had about William was that I had a stupidly handsome and annoying neighbor that was slowly growing in on me. But that was it. They didn’t knowwhohe was or anything else that had happened.
“Breaking up with Thomas was messy, literally.” I explained how he kicked the artwork and pushed the flower vase the day I told him it was over for good.
