Page 66 of You + Me – Against the World

“Nothing, I just don’t want everyone staring at us.”

“Who gives a fuck?! I’m here. I’m free. I’m with you. They can stare all they want. And if they have a problem with me, they can come say it to my face!” he shouts, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Shh, please! Keep your voice down.”

“Apparently, spending seven days without me didn’t do you much good. I feel like I’m back with the uptight little Lancaster from the beginning of the year.”

He flashes me that provocative smile, but for once, I don’t take the bait.

“Apparently, spending seven days in jail didn’t do you much good. Are you going to give me an explanation or not?”

“They had to let me out—they had no proof. I’m in the clear now, and I can get back to living my life.”

“But no proof of what? Why won’t you tell me what this is all about?”

“Because it doesn’t matter, Alma. It’s in the past. The only thing that matters is us. I don’t want us to be apart anymore. I can’t stand it. I realized that while I was in there. It’s all I could think about.”

Vadim grabs my face with both hands and kisses me passionately. My first reflex is to push him away. My second is to look around: every student in the Sunset is watching the show. And Vadim has already jumped to his feet, fury flashing in his eyes.

“Are you ashamed of me? You want to hide me away, is that it? Then get the hell out! I don’t want to waste my time with this version of Alma. I don’t know her! Go back to your little life and forget about me!”

Shocked by the roughness of his words and the rage in his eyes, I grab my bag, slide out of the booth, push past Vadim, and sprint toward the exit. Once I’m in the street, I run even faster, letting my tears flow freely, unable to think of anything except getting home and locking myself inside.

Behind the heavy door, I find Georgia and collapse into her arms. She is always there for me.

I don’t know how long I’ve been crying. Several hours, at least. Neither the comforting words of the woman who watched me grow up nor a phone call from my best friend have been enough to calm me down. I lie there, sobbing in my bed, refusing to let my mother or even Lily in.

Night eventually falls, and the whole house goes to sleep. But as my head rests on my damp pillow, I can’t help replaying the scene of our reunion, going over the words we exchanged, the reproaches, the teasing that went too far, the lingering resentment, the jabs that should have made us laugh instead of driving us apart—and that painful, impossible-to-understand distance between us. Our hands reaching for each other but never quite meeting, our bodies drawn to each other only to pull away again, my lips refusing his. As if the gap between us was too wide to ever be crossed, and all that lost time could never be made up for.

Yes, it is possible… Anything is possible.

Vadim Arcadi has taught me that.

I wipe my eyes and grab my cell phone from my nightstand. Once I start writing the text, I can’t stop.

[I’m an uptight brat who has no clue

what she wants. You’re a reckless

troublemaker who wears

way too much cologne.

But together, we managed

to become something good.

We fall apart when we’re alone.

Vadim, I was so afraid of losing you…

and that made me afraid

to find you again. I’m sorry.

Do you want to tease me again?

Kiss me and hold me again?