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The sinister look lessened for half a second. “Una doesn’t mess with people. She helps them. She does their bidding. She’s a leader and well respected.”
“Do you know where she is?” I blurted out, ready to have this conversation over with. If Malia wanted someone to interrogate, she could find someone else. All I wanted was to find Una and talk to her. In person.
“Not until you tell me what you want with her. The truth. Not the vague answer you’ve probably given everyone else. This is my best friend, and you have zero access to her until I say so. Go through me or don’t go at all.”
At that moment, an enormous weight fell on top of my shoulders, crushing down on my torso, and pushing me backwards. It was a metaphorical weight, yet it felt so incredibly real, I could barely breathe.
“Malia, I don’t know what to do right now. I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but maybe you’ll be able to give me some insight into your best friend.”
Her eyes narrowed, but I kept going, unable to stop now. “I’ve liked Una since the moment I saw her a few years ago. There was always this…energyabout her. She held herself with such confidence, such clarity about who she was. She didn’t need anyone to tell her, and she didn’t care for anyone else’s opinion. She was always Una. I admired that. And her beauty. She’s one of the most gorgeous girls in this school, yet she doesn’t care. There is so much about her that draws me to her. But she was off limits. Out of reach.”
“Says you,” Malia huffed.
I stared at her, contemplating her words for a second. “You’re right. Says me. I was too scared to approach her, much less talk to her. Asking her out seemed next to impossible. I was sure she would say no before I even finished talking, that I decided not to ask at all.”
Malia didn’t interrupt me. She looked at me as if waiting for me to continue. The warning bell rang, but neither of us moved. Getting into trouble for skipping a class wasn’t exactly on my to-do list, but this seemed more important in the moment.
“Then, I found out who her dad was. She wasright therein front of me. And I basically blacked out. I couldn’t say anything right. The next day, after the Fairy Godmother post came out, I knew I had a reason to talk to her. To apologize for the post, even though it wasn’t my doing,” I tacked onto the end, when a questioning look crossed Malia’s face.
“I spoke to her. I faced my fears of rejection and she didn’t run away screaming. She didn’t yell at me or sneer. I bucked up and did it again. And again. Then, at my party, when the whole thing with Ali and Aria went down, I saw it as another opening. So I made a contract. Something that could be guaranteed to get me closer to her. I asked her out. We went on a few dates, and that was all it too for me. Malia when I say I fell, I mean I fell hard. I’ve never felt like this for anyone. She holds my entire heart in her hands, and right now, it hurts. I wanted her to experience what it felt like to fall in love. To open up to someone and be vulnerable. And… to have her possibly fall in love with me, like I was already with her.”
“Cindy Durand may sing a different tune,” Malia said, again so quietly most people wouldn’t be able to hear her. but I did. Loud and clear.
I nodded, frowning. “True. And I do love Cindy. She’s an amazing person who deserves the best. But…”
“But your heart always belonged to Una, hasn’t it?”
It was like Malia threw a bucket of ice water over my head. The lightbulb went off. The realization struck.
“Yeah…,” I whispered. “Yeah, it has.”
I shoved my hands into my pocket, my fingers finding the now-familiar piece of fabric and wrapping around it.
Malia stared at me again, causing my heart rate to skyrocket once more. She blinked a few times, pursed her lips, and scanned me from head to toe.
“We’ll be in touch,” she said.
I opened my mouth to speak, but she spun on the heel of her boot and marched off in the opposite direction without a word.
My shoulders sagged and my knees almost buckled as I watched her go. If I didn’t pass whatever little test Malia had just given, then Una was as good as gone.
She already felt like she was a million miles away. I was defeated. Lost.
It wasn’t supposed to end like this. Even if I didn’t get Una at the end of the contract, I still wanted her to be around.
Seeing her being happy and loving someone else would break my heart into a million unrepairable pieces, but at least I would be able to see her…
Chapter 31
Una
“Hey. It’s me.Um, Charlie. I’m not sure why you aren’t answering my messages, but…” He sighed, and I could picture him running his fingers through his hair. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on. But I want to see you. I want to talk to you. I need…”
His voice broke again, and I had to hold back a sob.
“Just call me, okay? Or text me. Or… something. Okay… bye.”
I had listened to the message so many times now, I lost count. He left it on Sunday morning, after sending a bunch of texts late Saturday night.
