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A pleasantly surprised look appeared on Annalisse’s face. “That’s great.”
Raina nodded toward the book. “Pride and Prejudice?”
“Every girl loves a good enemies-to-lovers story,” Annalisse said with a happy sigh. She pulled the scrunchie out of her hair, slipping it around her wrist. “I’m a big fan of the classics. I enjoyedRomeo and Julietin English. I hear you had to be tutored though, which sucks.”
“It was more like friendship tutoring. Mrs. Dixon set it up. It’s a long story.”
“Does it have to do with Jesse? The entire common room saw you guys earlier. You two looked cute.”
“Kinda? Maybe? It was more because of difficulties with Nicole than Jesse.”
Annalisse winced. “Yikes, that’s got to be rough. But hey, she seems to be warming up to you.”
Raina groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “Does everyone know about what happened with me, Jesse, and Nicole?”
“No, no,” Annalisse rushed to say. “But I’m your roommate, and you guys aren’t quiet when you talk. That said, love triangles aren’t common here, so it did kinda spread a little.”
Raina did the love triangle math in her head. “So me and Jesse…and…does Jesse like Nicole? Or does Nicole like Jesse? I’m confused.”
Annalisse’s eyes widened. “Oh. You didn’t know?”
Panic rushed through Raina, causing her to grip Annalisse’s blanket tightly. “No. What? Please tell me, Annalisse.”
“Anna.”
It took a second for the word to register in Raina’s brain. “What?”
“Anna. It’s my real name.”
Raina frowned, her worries about Nicole and Jesse disappearing for a second. “So then why does everyone call you Annalisse?”
“My full name is Anna Lisa, but that wasn’t sophisticated enough for Juliet, so she started calling me Annalisse, and it stuck. I’m fine with both, really.”
“Anna, then. It’s pretty.”
Anna grinned at her before snapping her fingers. “Nicole and Jesse. Right. So, last year, it slipped out that Jesse had asked Nicole out at some point. And she said yes, but something happened, and they either ended up canceling the date or it went horribly.”
“What do you think happened?”
“Nicole doesn’t feel romantic feelings,” Anna said simply. “So my guess is she mixed up her platonic feelings for Jesse with his romantic ones for her. Nicole doesn’t like to talk about it, so I don’t know for sure.”
Raina paused. She didn’t think she cared whether or not Jesse had feelings for Nicole, as long as it washadand nothas. She posed the question to Anna, who barked out a laugh.
“Oh, honey, there’s no way that Jesse still has feelings for Nicole.”
“Why?”
“Because he has feelings for you. I gather from your reaction you haven’t told him how you feel yet.”
“We’re just friends.”
“So are me and my best friend,” Anna said with a wink. “Think about it, Raina. Are you tworeallyjust friends?”
Anna’s words tumbled through Raina’s head as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed. They lingered as she climbed under the covers, remained as she attempted to count the shadowy spots on the ceiling, and drifted back to the front of her mind as she gave up and whisper-screamed into her pillow.
Raina hadn’t lied; she and Jessewerefriends. Maybe they were a little more than regular friends, but that was a conversation she needed to have with Jesse. Becausejustfriends didn’t go on classroom picnics all dressed up, andjustfriends didn’t cuddle during said picnics and hold hands all the way back to the dorms.
If she was being honest with herself, Raina was overwhelmed with everything. She did like Jesse as more than a friend, which was something that she could admit, but she had reservations about pursuing a romantic relationship with him. The easiest excuse was that she wasn’t allowed to date. A lot of people in her community dated for the sole purpose of getting married, and as such didn’t start looking for a partner until the end of college. Raina didn’t even want tothinkabout marriage. She was only a teenager!
