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“It’s just a girl from class.” I look at Tara, who remains at the door, trying not to make a sound. We agreed we don’t want Leo and Sean to know about us until she breaks up with Troy.
“Are you on a date with this girl?”
“No, we met to talk about a project we’re doing. I mean a paper. For English.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“Why would I lie about that?”
“I don’t know, but the way you said it, it sounded like you were lying.”
“You’re being paranoid. Hey, I need to go. She’s waiting for me.”
“How about tomorrow? Are you coming or not?”
“Maybe. I’ll let you know. Bye.” I end the call.
“What did he want?” Tara asks.
“He wants me to go over there. Leo invited some girls over and they’re all going to hang out.”
“What girls? Anyone we know?”
“No, they’re girls Leo met at work. Sean was trying to set me up with one of them.” I walk over to Tara. “He wouldn’t be doing that if he knew we were together.”
“Jake, we’re not telling him. Not until I’ve talked to Troy.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m just tired of waiting. Tired of hiding this. I want to be able to say you’remygirlfriend not Troy’s. You know how angry it makes me whenever Sean calls you that?”
“Let’s not talk about it.” She smiles at me as she goes over to the bed. “I think there was something you wanted to do.” She shimmies out of her jeans. “Unless you don’t want to anymore.”
She always does this whenever I bring up Troy. She distracts me with sex, or changes the topic, or says she doesn’t want to talk about him. I’m okay with that as long as she follows through with her promise and breaks up with him when he’s back. But I’m worried she won’t.
20
JAKE
It’s Sunday,and I decided to go to Sean’s place to watch a game. I wasn’t going to, but Tara convinced me I should. She thinks I need some guy time after spending all my time with her. I’d rather be with her than the guys, but she had to work today.
My phone rings as I’m getting ready to leave. I stare at the screen, surprised when I see her name. It’s been a month since we broke up. If she was going to call me, it should’ve been before now. Maybe I shouldn’t answer, but I’m curious what she wants.
“Hey,” I say, pacing the floor. For some reason, I’m nervous. I dated her for almost three years, and now I’m nervous just talking to her. It’s weird how that works.
“Jake.” She sounds out of breath, or maybe she’s nervous like I am. “It’s Haley. How have you been?”
“Good. How about you? How’s college?”
“It’s fine.” She pauses. “But I’m not.”
I stop pacing, my pulse speeding up as I worry she’s going to tell me she has a serious illness or was hurt in a car accident or some other bad news. Even though she broke up with me, I still care about her. I was planning a future with her. Looking back now, that would’ve been a mistake.
“What’s wrong?” I say. “Are you okay?”
“No. I feel horrible.” She sniffles. “I miss you, Jake. So much. I never should’ve broken up with you. You were the best boyfriend ever and I took you for granted.”
“Haley, why are you calling me?”
“I want us to get back together. I didn’t realize how great I had it with you, but now I do. I’ve been thinking about what we talked about before l left for school. About getting married after we graduate. The house we’d want to live in. Our kids. I want that, Jake. I want everything we talked about. I don’t know why I ever doubted us. I think I was just overwhelmed with moving away and starting college and worrying how we’d make this work long distance. But I’m over that now. I know we can make this work. I love you, Jake. I love you so much.”
