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“Oh, I’m most definitely sure that wasn’t because of you, Finley.”
“Yes, it was.”
“No,” I held, “it was because of me.”
Finley furrowed her brows. “Why?”
Everyone broke off into private conversations by then so I proceeded to tell her everything I felt for Cricket, how badly I had fallen for her and how she rejected me.
Finley laid a hand on my shoulder briefly. “I know what that feels like,” she said, smiling at me in understanding.
I squeezed her hand in camaraderie. “Thanks.”
Her hand fell back into the water and we sat there in silence. “Do you still like Ethan?”
“Uh, yeah, I guess I never really got over him. Is that pathetic?” she asked.
“No, I don’t think so. Actually, I was sort of in love with a girl in high school. Her name was Sophie. She was incredible,” I said, thinking back on her.
“What was she like?”
“She had the most awful personality you’ve ever known,” I said, laughing.
Finley looked at me like I was crazy.
“But she was so hot,” I explained. Finley creased her brows in disgust. “Hear me out,” I said. “I used to be totally shallow about shit like that, and Sophie was the ultimate prize. She was beautiful, like, supermodel beautiful.”
“Whatever happened to her?”
“She got caught with drugs and was sentenced to work in an orphanage in Uganda for six months.”
“Sounds like she got what she deserved,” Finley bit.
I thought about the Sophie that came back and how extraordinary she truly became. “She definitely got what she deserved,” I concurred.
The night carried on. Put on fast forward, people got in and out, ate, drank and left. I found a kindred spirit in Finley and thought she was a genuinely nice girl. We were the last two left that night at close to two in the morning when she excused herself. I walked her back to the campsite but decided to turn back and spend a little while longer in the springs while I had the peace and quiet.
The water was beyond warm in the chilly air, and I sank deeply into it down to my neck. I’d felt so lost lately when just months before I had such a definite course set ahead of me. My deadline to invest in my friend’s stock came and went and I had to watch it take off exponentially, making my friend rich beyond his wildest dreams. I wasn’t as jealous or angry about it as I thought I would have been, but it did help that I had millions stashed away for a rainy day just in case another investment came my way.
I felt sick without Cricket’s rocky friendship and thought very seriously about just buying a little house nearby to visit in my future years of life. Just knowing she was nearby would have to be enough for me and I needed to come to terms with that.
I looked up at the deep blue sky scattered with glittering stars and was in absolute awe of the wilderness that was America. I sat up a little, trying to make out the constellations when I felt a nose on my back.
“Eugie?” I asked and he licked the side of my face.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Cricket’s sweet voice rang out like a balm to my soul, making my eyes roll back into my head. “I was just coming for a late-night swim.”
“It’s okay,” I said, sitting up even more, my heart beating rapidly.
Those words were the only I’d heard her address directly to me in weeks. She turned like she was going to leave, and I bolted out of the water.
“Don’t go,” I said, grabbing her forearm gently.
Her eyes followed up my hand and arm to my face.
“Okay,” she whispered.
She peeled off her short robe and sandals and slipped into the water with me. We were deathly quiet for more than ten minutes and I felt so tempted to leave. It was getting awkward, and I never liked to feel awkward with Cricket. I made a move to get out of the water just when she spoke.
