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It’s kind of funny. I never noticed how red she gets when she’s congratulated before but seeing it now, I remember some moments like this from when we were younger. I don’t think she’s ever liked being complimented or praised.
“It’s awesome,” Seth tells her. “We knew you could do it. You’re going to be done with that degree in no time.”
“You always liked to study. Looks like it paid off,” I tell her. “Congrats.”
“Thanks,” she murmurs, taking a bite of food and a sip of water before saying louder, “Dylan passed his exam, too, by the way.”
“He had an exam, too?” I ask, glancing across the table at him.
“The same exam,” Ryan says. “They’re both taking the same librarian course.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I study better with a buddy,” Dylan admits. “I have no idea what I want to do, but this way I get to study the same stuff as Secret and I’m liking it a lot more than the geology stuff I was studying with Cass before. It feels a bit more … I don’t know … relevant, or something.”
“I would have thought you’d be studying psychology or something like that,” I admit.
“Never say never,” Dylan says with a shrug.
“Well, congrats on passing the exam.”
“Thanks!” he says, smiling.
The conversation is light and easy for the rest of the meal, and it feels good just to be sitting in their company. Even if I’m kind of the outsider at the table, I feel welcome here.
I kind of don’t want to go home to my empty apartment where I’ll instantly feel paranoid and less than safe, but there’s no way I could ever admit to that.
I don’t want Secret to know I moved out here to be near her.
It would make her feel guilty, and she’s got nothing to feel guilty for.
I’m the one who lied to her for basically her whole life.
“I should get going,” I admit, once the dessert has been demolished and everyone seems to be more tired than talkative. “It’s getting late.”
“Okay,” Secret says. “But only if you promise to come back over tomorrow night.”
I smile. It’s an easy deal to say yes to.
“I promise.”
Chapter Eleven
Leanne
Seth walks me back to my flat, staying silent until we get to the outside of the building. That tense feeling that I get around him only gets worse under his unblinking stare.
“You were an alcoholic,” he says, stating it, not asking.
I nod slowly. “My life was a mess for a long time.”
“I know how hard it can be to get over an addiction.”
“You were …” I start, trailing off when he shakes his head.
“Dylan. He pulled off going cold turkey, but he backslid a couple times. If we hadn’t been on top of that, he might not be clean now.” He holds out his hand. “Give me your phone.”
“Uh …” I open my purse and riffle around before I find it. “Here.”
