AllFreeNovel
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hen I walk in, just as I expected. I texted her on the way and I know she’ll be ready with a thousand questions. I smile at her, ignoring the anxiety in my stomach, and sit down, bracing myself.
“How are you feeling?” she asks, wrapping her arms around me.
I shrug, snuggling into her embrace.
“I’m okay. Tired, but okay. Nothing happened, Mom. I’m okay,” I say, as tears begin to form in her eyes.
“I know you are, but if the girls hadn’t found you . . .” She shakes her head.
“But they did,” I remind her.
She nods and kisses my head. “So, are you going to tell me about Eli?” she asks, her lips turning into a frown.
“What about him?” I ask. I know there’s no point denying something is going on, but I’m not ready for her to know exactly who he is just yet.
“I’m not buying this friends bullshit.”
“Mom.” I laugh. I’m not used to hearing her swear. “He’s a good guy.”
“A good guy who looks at least six years older than you.”
“And last time I checked, I was eighteen,” I remind her. “He is older than me, yes, but I like him a lot. He looks after me, Mom.”
She stares at me for a moment, and lets the discussion drop.
I spend the rest of the afternoon lying on the sofa with Mom waiting on me. I think she feels bad that she couldn’t be there for me last night. I’ve had messages from Sophia and Alice—who is staying with Sophia—and Eli, all checking on me to make sure I’m okay.
Alice walks into the living room as I stir awake.
“Jillybean. How’re you feeling?” She leans over to hug me, and by the look on her face I can see she feels bad. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”
“It wasn’t anyone’s fault but the asshole who spiked my drink, Al.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe anyone would do that to me.” I smile at Mom as she carries in a tray of cookies and chocolate milk—my favorite thing to snack on as a kid.
“Sorry you had to stay at Sophia’s.” I wince. I hate that she came all this way to see me and we’ve barely spent any time together. I raise my eyebrows as she flushes. Alice is never embarrassed, so right away I know something is up.
“Spill,” I grin. “I mention her name and you blush? What happened?”
“We kissed and fooled around a bit.” She looks up at me. “I like her,” she admits, her fingers fidgeting like crazy. I laugh because I’ve never seen her so nervous.
My eyes widen. “As is like like her like her?”
Al nods. “The first one.”
I shouldn’t be surprised—especially since I knew she’d fooled around with plenty of girls—but I never saw this coming. Actually, I didn’t think Sophia would be into girls. Even though she kissed me at the party, I assumed that was for show because everything that comes out of her mouth is boy-related.
“Good for you.” I grin, reaching for her hand. “I think it’s cute that my two closest friends are crushing on each other.”
She groans, her head falling into my lap.
“God, don’t put it like that. I feel stupid. It’s been a while since I’ve been this into someone.” Her muffled voice chokes out.
I stroke her hair and smile. “Does this mean you’ll be back to see me soon?” I giggle.
“You’ll get enough of me next year,” she mumbles. “Both of you will, actually. She might have mentioned attending UC…”
“Oooh,” I tease. “Allie’s in lurve.”
She reaches over and whacks me on the arm, a smile on her face. “I wish I didn’t have to go, Jilly.” She throws her arms around me and squeezes tight. “Call me, okay? And for the record? Your teacher is hawt. I’m so proud of you for tapping that.”
