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“I’m Andy.” The dark-haired boy flopped down on the bench opposite me. “That’s Seth.” I smiled at the other boy, who smiled back. My heart fluttered as I took in his light-brown hair and blue eyes. He was cute, and the awkwardness he had about him made him even cuter.
“I’m Emily.” But they already knew that.
“You want to hang out with us?” asked Andy. I nodded. They seemed nice, and it beat eating alone. I gathered up my lunch and followed them inside.
“Over there—they are the kids that think they’re better than everyone. Try to avoid them.” Andy glanced around. “And those kids are the weirdos. That’s probably where you would’ve ended up if it wasn’t for us.” He smirked, his dark eyes full of humor.
“You two seem pretty weird to me,” I shot back. Seth laughed as Andy narrowed his eyes at him.
“What? She’s right.”
Andy turned back to me. “If you’re going to hang out with us, you have to follow a few rules.”
I crossed my arms across my chest. Rules? I hated rules.
“Like?” I asked suspiciously.
“Like no talking about the Gilmore Girls, for starters. I hear enough about that stupid show from my mom. And on Sundays we skateboard down by the beach, so you’ll need to do that too. And you better like Xbox.”
“I prefer PlayStation,” I said.
I didn’t. I didn’t even own a video game, but I liked arguing with Andy. It made him angry, and he was cute when he was angry.
He sighed. “Okay, whatever. You want to come over to my house tonight?”
I nodded shyly. “I’ll have to check with my mom, but that sounds good.”
From that first moment, they’d accepted me. What could have turned out to be the worst few years of my life had turned into the best because I’d met Seth and Andy. The three of us were inseparable, with every spare minute spent together. I thought I’d had friends in the past, but everything else paled in comparison to the relationship I shared with Seth and Andy.
I closed my book and lay back on the bed, a smile on my face, my fingers tracing along the spine of my notebook. I had so many great childhood memories, all thanks to those two. I often wondered how different things would’ve been if my parents had decided on a different town, or a different school.
Friendships like ours were rare. They didn’t come along often, so when they did you had to make the most of them. The uniqueness of ours was we were like three pieces to a puzzle; it didn’t feel right if one was missing.
If I believed in soul mates, then that’s what we’d be, all three of us. If I believed things happened for a reason, then I’d believe I was meant to meet them, that our friendship was an unavoidable certainty. But I didn’t believe in all that. Because then I’d start to question why all this was happening—and what I had done that was so bad that I deserved to lose every person I held dear to me.
And then I’d wonder how long would it be until I lost Seth too.
Chapter Fourteen
Seth
By Thursday afternoon, Andy was feeling well enough to get out of bed for short periods of time which he, of course, took to mean he was well enough to leave the house. Even Marta couldn’t convince him to take it easy.
“Maybe you should take another day to rest,” Marta suggested. I nodded, thinking exactly the same thing.
“Sorry, guys, but you’re not getting out of this one. Besides, everything is all booked.”
I groaned and shut my eyes. I didn’t even want to know.
“Oh, before I forget.” He grinned widely as he handed Em and me each an envelope.
“What is this?” I asked suspiciously.
“Open it and find out.”
I slipped my finger along the length of the silver envelope, slitting it open. Inside was a folded piece of paper. I opened it and read.
“You’re having a wake?” Em said in disbelief. I snuck a look at her. She looked hurt. And angry. Really angry.
