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She sighs, but doesn’t meet my eyes or argue with me. Dakota eats quickly and gulps down a glass of pop and goes back to her bed. She turns over on her side and doesn’t make a sound.

I eat until my greedy stomach is full and bloated, and then I lie back on the mattress and stare at the ceiling until my eyes burn for sleep.


Chapter Thirty-three

THE NEXT MORNING IS COLD, colder than I expected it to be. I leave the hotel to get us Starbucks while Dakota is still sleeping. Since I moved away, they built one with a drive-through out by the mall. Living in New York, I forgot how much I’ve missed drive-through anything. I miss being able to drive through somewhere and get pop, candy, toilet paper. It’s convenient and laziness at its finest, but it’s one of the few things I miss about the Midwest.

To my uncomfortable surprise, the person who scans my phone at the window is Jessica Reyes, a girl I went to high school with. Come to think of it, I went to elementary, middle, junior, and high school with her. She looks the same, just a little less alive. Her eyes have bags under them, and her smile isn’t as bright as I remember it once being.

“Oh my God! Landon Gibson!” she says in a slow, drawn-out voice. I smile, not sure what to say. “I heard you live in New York City now! What’s it like? I bet it’s just crawling with people everywhere, like it is in the movies. Isn’t it?”

I nod. “Yeah, it’s pretty crowded.” I want to turn the conversation away from myself the best way I can. “How are you?”

She leans a little farther out of the drive-through window. “I’m good. I got a job here, and they give me good insurance for me and my boy. I have a little one now. I had him right after we graduated. Do you remember Jimmy Skupes? He’s the dad, but he doesn’t help me any.” Her face scrunches up in disgust, and I try to imagine Jimmy Skupes, with his baggy jeans and frosted-white-tipped hair, as a father.

Living around strangers for the last two years has made me realize that not everyone discusses every detail of their lives in a simple conversation. It’s weird to be back to a place where overshare is the norm. If I logged in to Facebook right now, I would find out what Jessica had for lunch, or why she and her boyfriend broke up. I would be able to watch her life through a screen. The thought is unnerving.

“I’m glad to hear you’re doing well.” I can see the drinks I ordered sitting on the counter just behind her, but I get the feeling she isn’t going to hand them over just yet.

Jessica says something to one of her coworkers, then turns back to me. “I heard about you and Dakota breaking up.” Her eyes turn to a pity-filled green. “You were always too good for her. I never liked her anyway. Her brother was much nicer. Man, why couldn’t she have been the one—”

“Jessica.”Whether she likes Dakota or not, she doesn’t have the right to say such a disgusting thing. “I really have to go.” I nod to my drinks behind her.

She nods back and tells me to stay strong. After settling the drinks into the car’s cup holders, I tell her to have a good day; the things in my head I really mean aren’t something I ever want to say to a woman. Gripping the steering wheel tight, I drive back to the hotel, and when I open the door, I find Dakota pacing across the room from wall to wall, her small body looking like she might fall over any second.

“Landon, where were you?”

I set the drinks down next to the TV and turn to her. “Getting us some coffee. I thought you would still be asleep when I got back. I didn’t want to wake you up.”

Dakota nods, and I can see the physical change in her body now that I’ve explained myself. “I thought you left.”

I shrug. “Where would I go?”

“Back to Brooklyn,” she says quietly.

I push my straw against the table and tear the wrapper off. “Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t just leave you here in Michigan.” I take a sip of my Frappuccino, and Dakota grabs hers. I was tempted to get an Americano, but something about the dreary sky over this town stopped me from bringing my New York drink here, and this choice feels nostalgic.

“Guess who I saw.” I turn to Dakota, who’s now sitting on her bed with her legs crossed. I make sure I don’t keep my eyes on her for too long or think too deeply about her only wearing a T-shirt

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