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He shook his head gently, tucking his hands into his pockets as he stepped away. “No. It means I should leave.”
CHAPTER 2
I woke up at a reasonable hour on Sunday – reasonable being noon. Kelsey was taking the 11AM coach bus in from Woodhill and I was due for a cleanup with all the dirty cups in the sink and random heels lying around. Our East Village apartment was small and no place for a mess. The two-bedroom was rent controlled and once belonged to our grandmother, and it had been meant for Kelsey and me to live in once we started school in the city. But since I moved in with Ben after four months of dating, Kelsey moved her giant sewing machine and cutting tables into my room. As a costume design major, the extra space made her practically salivate, especially since her father offered to pay my portion of rent.
Despite all that, she dragged everything out the moment I called three weeks ago, having just been dumped and kicked out. And in a snap, I was back to having my own bedroom, my own bed, my own schedule and my own life. It didn’t take long for me to wonder how I’d ever spent three years living under Ben’s rule, lying to friends that everything was fine, that I was simply too busy to see them but perfectly happy nonetheless.
Now, happy was scrubbing the bowls I’d used to drunkenly fix myself Easy Mac at 3AM. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d stayed out so late.
“Ha!” Kelsey’s voice surprised me as she came through the front door, pulling her rolling suitcase behind her. “I knew I’d walk in on you cleaning,” she teased.
“Shut up. How was it? Did they win?”
She had gone home to see the lacrosse semifinals game at the high school. Both our younger brothers were on the varsity team, but I didn’t go home to attend for fear of having to talk to anyone about Ben. Every last PTA mother knew about him, thanks to my mom.
“They lost. By like, eight, so it was really boring. You didn’t miss anything.” She plopped down on the couch. “Not that you’d care even if you did, since you were having a much more interesting weekend. Hung out with the Todos girls on Friday, right?”
“Si.”
“Si? That’s it?”
I nodded, though as I scrubbed at my coffee mug, I wondered if I should tell Kelsey about Mr. Cole. I wanted to see her absolutely lose her mind over the story but at the same time, I suspected it might be a bad idea. Regarding certain topics, Kelsey could never keep her mouth shut. I could imagine her calling all her friends from Woodhill and bragging excitedly for me about my Friday night encounter. The story would then spread around town like wildfire and get embellished with scandalous details along the way, and eventually, there would be a story about Mr. Cole sleeping with dozens of students over the course of his tenure. And if history repeated himself, there would be new accusations. And lawsuits.
“Really no crazy stories about Ade?” Kelsey was skeptical. “Aren’t there always interesting stories whenever you hang out with her? I figured you guys would pick up right where you left off. Like, lingerie parties and Bushwick raves all in one night. Meeting random hot guys. Yes? No?”
I could see Kelsey staring at me through the corner of my eyes. She knew my friends too well. “Not that night,” I lied, quickly changing the subject so I wouldn’t be tempted to spill. “So, how’s everyone at home? Did you see any people at the game?” I was fishing, hoping for her to bring up Mr. Cole somehow. I couldn’t talk about him but I could certainly listen, and Kelsey always brought him up after visiting the high school.
“Nope. At least no one from our year. Which is weird because it’s almost July. Classes should’ve ended awhile ago, right?”
“Probably.” I shrugged. “See any teachers?”
“Nope.”
Damn it.
“But – oh!” Kelsey sprung onto her knees on the couch, her face suddenly flushed with excitement. “I do have stories. Oh my God, how did I forget? Everyone was talking about it like it was an effin’ soap opera or something. Okay, so guess who’s single again.” I had a feeling I knew who, but I shrugged anyway. Kelsey held her giddy hands to her mouth before tearing them away to hiss, “Dat ass.”
I burst out laughing. “Mr. Cole? I didn’t even know he was dating anyone. And I didn’t know he told people about that kind of thing.”
“You didn’t know because you’re a freak and fell off the stalking train early. And he still doesn’t tell anybody about his personal life… but you can’t keep it a secret when you’re dating a Woodhiller. Especially one whose mom has a big mouth.”
“What? Who?”
Kelsey beamed at my curiosity. “He was dating and very briefly engaged to… wait for it…” She drummed her hands on the ruffly Anthropologie pillow. “Cara. Fulton.” She held her arms out, incredulous at my lack of a reaction. “So basically they were the most perfect-looking couple on Earth? Nina, are you alive? I freaked out when I heard they were together. It was like Woodhill’s Brad and Jen.”
“Those two aren’t together anymore.”
“Well, exactly.”
I stripped off my rubber gloves and stared at the tile wall for a moment. “That coupling does make a lot of sense though.” Cara Fulton was essentially the female version of Mr. Cole. The boys in school were completely in love with her. She coached the cheerleading squad and choreographed all the school plays. Her nickname around town was “Barbie” because she was so skinny and always wore her hair in a perky, blonde ponytail. Plus, she was super bendy. “Any idea why it ended?” I asked curiously.
Kelsey gave me a look. “Girl, I just came back from three days in Woodhill. Of course I know why it ended.” She got comfortable on the couch, running her fingers through her straightened red hair as she spoke. “So. You know how our moms are good friends with Bree Hannigan who runs that stupid book club thing that Cara’s mom is in? Well, they got the whole story from her and basically, Cole and Cara had some tiny little fight over like, when they wanted to have kids? Something
really stupid.”
I wrinkled my nose. Seriously? Kelsey caught my expression.
“I mean it could totally be propaganda since it’s coming from Bree Hannigan’s mouth, but it was definitely something super small because apparently, perfect couples fight over stupid, small stuff. Anyway, my mom said they’re definitely getting back together because they were engaged, which is a pretty big deal, and Cara’s apparently ready to, so it’s only a matter of time. And when they do get back together, they’ll have beautiful makeup sex and make perfect-looking babies who’ll go to school in Woodhill and win all the superlatives and grow up to be the hot, popular teachers and the cycle will continue.” Kelsey sucked in a deep breath and exhaled in the form of a big sigh once she was finished speaking. “The end. Though of course, I’m going to pretend that Cole isn’t actually getting back together with frickin’ Gymnast Barbie. I literally did a dance when I heard he was single again. All I want in life is for him to look at my butt just once. Something like that.”
