Page 48

Tommy swallowed and sighed. Then he gulped down some water, and Avery was beginning to suspect he was straight up stalling for time when he finally began.

“Remember when you went to orientation last year?” He waited for her to nod before continuing. “Theo came over that night, and we got—really drunk. Like, the drunkest I’ve ever seen him. He was all broody, like he gets, and I thought it was because of Izzy for the longest time, but then I straight up asked, and he just let it all out.”

“Let what out?”

“That he’s, you know, in love with you?”

Avery blinked rapidly, trying to process the information. “Theo had a thing for me this summer?” Earlier Tommy had said “since homecoming,” but maybe she’d misunderstood. Or maybe Tommy had meant, like, this past homecoming. Which made no sense, but her brain was drowning in wet cement at the moment.

Tommy looked at Harper and Grace pleadingly, but neither came to his rescue. “A little longer than that, sweetie.”

Avery was starting to get frustrated with how evasive he was being. “How long then?”

Tommy chewed on the inside of his cheek, and Grace sighed heavily. “Since at least homecoming,” she said, and then looked at Tommy. “Like he said.”

“Wait, he told you too?” Avery asked.

“Context clues, babe,” Grace said. “It’s been, you know, a little obvious.”

Harper finally piped up. “But why are you being weird about this? You guys are together, so what does it matter?”

“I’m guessing it’s her thing about honesty,” Grace said, with just the slighted emphasis on honesty.

“The hell does that mean?” Avery asked, her blood pressure rising. Theo lied to her about how long he’d had feelings for her, and now her friends were acting like that was nothing.

“You get a little weird about it,” Grace said.

“By which she means you are rabidly dogmatic about it,” Harper chimed in.

“To the point of being basically impossible when you think someone has lied,” Tommy added.

“Wow, nice. So glad you guys have my back on this,” Avery snapped. “And you all knew?”

“I didn’t know for sure, but I guessed,” Grace offered.

“When?”

“Homecoming was, like, totally obvious,” Harper supplied.

Grace made a face. “Honestly, I think it was earlier than that. Like, maybe a year before?”

Avery didn’t think she could feel worse, but she did. “Did everyone know? For years?”

“Isn’t it a running joke at this point? Like, the whole town thought you were together, even when you weren’t. Why are you freaking out this much?” Harper frowned.

“And technically, I just found out for sure in August, and you guys got together in what, October?” Tommy added.

“That’s not—why are you defending him?”

“What did he even do wrong?” Grace asked. “It does seem like an overreaction. So he didn’t immediately tell you he’s had feelings for you, but he did within, like, two months. Who gives a shit?”

“It’s not the length of time. And even if he only told Tommy in August, you guys seem to think it had been going on for a lot longer than that.”

“And maybe he wasn’t sure-sure. Like knowing and knowing are different things, you know?” Tommy said.

“I know you have a lying thing, Aves, but you’re kinda going nuclear for no reason,” Harper said, but then she narrowed her eyes shrewdly.

“He lied to me. And to Izzy, which is worse, and you guys are pretending like he didn’t do anything.”