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Then she inhales sharply and says, “I cut off contact with Vanessa. I texted her and told her not to call or write or text me ever again. That she was only hurting me and if she couldn’t be in my life in a positive way, then she couldn’t be in it at all. Then I blocked her number.”
My eyes go wide and my mouth drops.
But I’m proud of her. I am so fucking proud of her.
“Sarah, that’s amazing. Seriously. I’m so proud of you. And happy for you. How do you feel?”
“Like the elephant finally got off my chest.”
I squeeze her hand tightly.
“I’m sorry I’m bitching about Aaron when you have been dealing with something so much shittier.”
She waves a hand in dismissal. It’s funny, because she waves her hand like Mom does, like it’s a magic wand, fixing anything that’s wrong.
“Aaron is your shit. Vanessa is mine. Neither is better or worse because they’re both making us feel like crap. And you know what? I don’t think we should any more. So, I say, no more of their shit tonight.”
I smile at her. Because I like that. No. Ilovethat.
“So, I’m thinking, let’s go downstairs and make some edible cookie dough and a bunch of other snacks and grab all the girly magazines we can find and go back to my room and keep bingeing throughOne Tree Hill. What do you say?” she asks, rising from the bed.
I smile at her. At the joy in her eyes. At the way she looks at the lemons life gives her and decides to chuck them out the window and go make something with chocolate instead. She never gives up, and she never lets the shit in her life keep her down. She might need to bounce off the bottom first, but she always goes right back to the top like the badass she is.
But she’s not just badass, she’s also motherly and kind and loving. She wants to care for other people, especially me. She loves to take care of me and make me feel better. I jump off the bed and wrap my arm around her.
“I say hell yes! We don’t need their shit. We need junk food and teen dramas and each other,” I say with a warm smile.
She smiles back and loops her arm through mine.
“All we need is each other. I love you, Rae baby.”
“I love you too, baby. I love you too. Let’s have some damn fun.”
Her eyes dance as we head downstairs, arm in arm.
All we need is each other.
Chapter seven
She’s Not You
Rae
“Tonightwasfun.”Ilook down at the hand wrapped around mine, the thumb brushing over my fingers.
I flash a smile at my date—that’s right,date—Matt Moreau. He’s a baseball guy and part of our greater circle of friends. And he is nice. Honestly, he’s the kind of thoughtful guy that plenty of girls dream about. He was genuine and sweet. Our date was great. In a different situation, I could totally see myself dating him. In fact, he’s theexacttype of guy I’d fall for… if it wasn’t for Aaron. And, you know, the lingering effects of being sexually assaulted.
I was ready to say no when he asked. He’d been flirting with me all week and I flirted back some. Why not? It was fun. But I knew he was going to ask me out, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. When Sarah asked why I was unsure, I lied and said it was because of everything with Aaron. Of course, as lies do, that one backfired as she kept insisting that’s why Ishouldgo. And, hell, she’s not wrong. It’s January. It’s been just over three months since Aaron told me he was dating Caity. Nothing has changed. He’s still with her. We still flirt—even though I know we shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself—and I pretend everything is normal. We’re best friends.
Except for the part where I’m in love with him.
I glance up at Matt, who is smiling at me as we pull into my driveway. “It was fun.”
He parks by the garage, and I swallow hard. What do I do now? Is Sarah right? Should I try to let this Aaron stuff go? Would it even be fair to Matt to date him, given how I feel about Aaron? Do I evenwantto date someone?
Too many questions.
And he’s opening my door for me. Why does he have to be such a gentleman? Gosh, this would be much easier to figure out if he were more of a jerk. Or even more like Davey—cocky and sassy. No, he has to be this sweet, thoughtful guy who couldn’t have fallen for me at a worse time. Should’ve said no. Should’ve lied. I could’ve pretended to date someone. Like Jesse. That would have been hilarious.
