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Summer 2010—Seattle
“ARE YOU SURE you want to go all the way to Walla Walla for college, Low? What’s wrong with University of Washington?” my friend Zoe asked as she messed with her hair in her bathroom mirror. “I mean, you already live in Seattle, and I just got this amazing apartment and need a roommate, so it’s perfect.”
“And I’ve never left Seattle, which makes it not so perfect,” I countered. “Besides, it’s only four hours away. I could’ve been like Hayley and gone to the East Coast.”
Zoe turned to give me a horrified stare. “And I would’ve hated you. Come on, I already have two years at UDub under me. I know everything so you don’t have to learn it the hard way.”
I laughed and looked back up at the ceiling from where I was lying on her bed. “I love you, and I’m going to miss you, but I need some space from Seattle for a while. Besides, it’s already official. I got my packet today with my dorm and all that.”
If I was being honest¸ it was the farthest my parents could get me to go. I wanted to stay in Seattle, but my mom had seen right through that. Knox. For how hard a time they’d had with letting Hayley go away, they sure as hell wanted me to get away from here because of him.
My parents didn’t have a problem with Knox; they just thought I was going to miss out on life because all I wanted was to make it to my eighteenth birthday so I could be with him. And since that birthday was a few short months away, they thought I wouldn’t be focused on academics and all that came with being independent.
I wasn’t about to say they were right.
“Hey, does this look okay?” Zoe asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I turned my head and lifted an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah? You’ve been wearing it for the past couple of hours.”
“I know, but I want to look comfy without looking gross, because I don’t want to look like a skank.”
A short laugh burst past my lips. “Wow, I didn’t know all this thought went into what you wore around me for sleepovers, Zoe. I’m touched. Really.”
“Hush your face. Okay, so don’t be mad . . .” She trailed off, and my face fell.
“Zo!”
“He just texted me—it’s not like I’m gonna say no to him!”
“Who is he? And what is it you’re not saying no to?” I asked as I sat up. “I thought we were gonna veg and watch movies.”
She held up her hands to stop me. “We totally will . . . after. And he is—” She cut herself off and her eyes widened when there was a knock on her door. “Here. He’s here. But don’t worry, he knows that I have a friend here, so he brought a friend.”
“Oh nice, so now I won’t be a third wheel. I’ll just be the pity double date.”
Zoe scoffed. “It’s not like that; trust me. He’s just a guy I hooked up with a week ago.”
“Oh my God, wait! How do I look?” I hissed as we walked into her living room.
She stopped walking long enough to give me a once-over and a thumbs-up, and then continued to the door. I barely had time to glance in the mirror near the door before she was opening it, and my breath came out in a hard rush.
Knox.
I wasn’t sure if time had stopped or if we were just experiencing the most awkward silence as we stared at each other. Because even though I’d talked to him the previous day and seen him the week before, and he was now standing feet from me . . . he was standing there because Zoe had a guy coming over that she’d hooked up with.
My stomach dropped and my chest felt hollow. I hated our situation now more than I ever had. I hated even more that Zoe, my slutty friend, had had a taste of the man I loved.
Graham stepped up behind Knox and, the second his eyes landed on me, breathed a low “Shit.”
That one word fit this situation so well, and I suddenly wanted to laugh, and cry, and throw up. Hopefully not the latter in front of everyone.
“Low,” Knox whispered. There was a hint of a smile on his lips, but I didn’t understand what could be amusing about this.
All I could manage was a nod, which was probably a good thing since I wanted to yell at Zoe that he was mine.
Graham groaned then looked over to Zoe. “You didn’t say your friend was a minor.”
“Wait, you guys know her?” Zoe asked.
