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“The blond kid with the sketch pad—the one you went out with before me. What the hell was his name?”
“Oden.”
“No, that’s my name,” Oden said, wiggling his eyebrows and biting down on his lip. No one thought Oden was sexier than Oden himself.
But that charm didn’t work on me. Not anymore.
“You know, I still don’t get it,” he continued. “A hot piece like you going out with a dweeb like that—”
A bitter defiance plowed through me. “Screw you, Oden. He’s not a dweeb, and he never was. You’re just a short-sighted, vapid asshat.”
“Oh, really?” Oden said, puffing out his chest.
“Stop,” Ronnie said, standing between the two of us, seeing that the tension was reaching a boiling point. “I mean it. Go back inside, Oden.”
“Fine, whatever,” Oden said, shaking his head, looking through me in a vaguely familiar way. “You two take yourselves way too seriously. It’s a party. Relax.”
“Goodbye, asshole,” I said, throwing the words like stones. Looking up at the sky, I willed him to disappear from my sight.
The door slammed shut, and I exhaled loudly. “What the hell did I ever see in him? For real. I must have been out of my mind.”
“It was a rebound,” Ronnie said with a shrug, as casually as she could manage. “We do crazy things when our hearts are broken.”
There was a sadness to her words, something I wasn’t used to hearing from my normally upbeat, carefree best friend.
“What’s going on with you?” I asked, softening my voice.
She closed her eyes tight and reached for another cigarette. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“Ronnie, talk to me.”
“Fine, whatever, I just…I wanted to have fun with you on spring break and leave all that bullshit behind.”
“I get that,” I said, placing my hand on her elbow. “But you’re my best friend. If you’re hurting, then I’m hurting.”
“Fine,” she said, wiping the tears from her cheeks. “You know how I had a thing for my R.A.?”
“Right,” I said, remembering the emails we’d exchanged about her resident advisor. “Miguel?”
“Yeah. I got really drunk one night and knocked on his door. He let me down easy, told me he’s not allowed to date residents or whatever.”
“Okay…” I said, feeling hesitant. I knew there had to be more to the story.
“I found out last week that he’s dating my neighbor. Has been for a while. Apparently, he’ll only break the rules for someone who isn’t me.”
“Oh, Ronnie.”
“It’s all good,” she said, sniffing and then wiping her nose, looking away from me.
“No, it’s not. I’m so sorry.”
“The worst part is, I just wanted to walk over to your house and cry.”
“You can.”
“That’s not what I mean. I hate being so far away from you.”
“Me, too.”
