“Uh . . .”
I envisioned Veronica and Jay psychoanalyzing me. A conversation of this nature required careful steps, like treading through a minefield. I chose not to lie in general, so times like this were tricky.
“I did hope he’d change his ways,” I whispered. “And then, yeah, I ended up changing my ways instead.” But not because of him.
Jay nodded, all knowing. “Roni says you need closure.”
“I don’t see how that’s ever going to happen,” I admitted.
“She says the only way you’re gonna get closure is to find another guy. And not just kissing dudes when you get drunk.”
“Not this again,” I groaned.
“What about that Harvard guy?”
“Kope? We’re just friends, and we haven’t talked in forever. I really don’t want a guy right now, Jay.”
“Okay, fine. I don’t know if a new guy is the answer anyway. Personally, I think you need to talk to Kaidan if you want to get over him.”
Jay had no idea how much his words pained me. I wanted nothing more than to talk to Kai. I gritted my teeth and stared down at a stack of CDs on his messy floor.
“Listen,” he said. “I don’t really know what I’m talking about here. You act happy and stuff, but it’s like . . . you’re not. Not really. I can’t figure you out. You go out all the time and party it up, but you yell at me if I try to have a drink. And by the end of every night you’re, like, trying to fix everything that went wrong. You made me drive seven people home last night!”
Whoops. “Sorry,” I whispered.
“Nah, it’s cool. I don’t care about that. I care about you, and why you’ve got this split-personality thing. I feel like you’re hiding something, but I can’t figure it out. All I can think is that it all goes back to Kaidan.”
I chewed my thumb cuticle. Jay was right, but he could never know the full truth, no matter how badly I wanted to tell him.
“Do you think maybe if you saw him again you might be able to get closure or whatever?”
There was an expectant tilt to Jay’s voice.
“I don’t know,” I began with care. “Maybe. But I have no idea when I’ll see him again.”
“Yeah, well . . . Roni told me not to tell you this, but I feel like I should.” More nervous hand rubbing to go along with his hazy, nervous aura. “They’re gonna be in town next week.”
My stomach lurched. Breathe, breathe, don’t lose it.
“Um.” I cleared my throat. “Why will they be here?”
I knew all of their families lived in the Atlanta area—Duke Pharzuph had uprooted Kaidan from England to Georgia—but I didn’t know if the band had a gig in town or something.
“I guess just to visit home. But they’re doing a signing at a music store in Atlanta on Thursday night. Roni’s seriously gonna kill me for telling you.”
He’ll be here.
“Thank you, Jay.” I couldn’t keep the tremble from my words.
“I just hope it won’t make things worse. I’ll go with, if you want.”
I nodded, still glued to the seat and fighting for control.
I’m going to see Kaidan. Pure, foolish hope and joy cartwheeled through me.
Jay rubbed his chin and stood, kicking his book bag out of the way. He picked up a pair of jeans off his messy floor and gave them the sniff test.
“Man, I don’t feel like going to work today,” Jay grumbled.
Me either, I thought. And hopefully if no spirits showed tonight, I wouldn’t have to.
I stood up. “I’ll go and let you get ready.”
He stuck out his hand and I slapped mine into it with a weak smile.
“You’re always looking out for me, Jay. I’m sorry for how I’ve been lately.”
Jay pulled me in for a hug. “Let’s get you some closure, huh?”
Closure . . .
What I wanted was Kai in my life. To see him again could be disastrous . . . or miraculous.
I guess we’d find out soon enough.
About the Author
WENDY HIGGINS is the author of Sweet Evil, the first in the trilogy. She was born in Alaska, grew up an Army brat, and lived on five different military bases across the US, finally settling in the Washington, DC, area. She attended George Mason University for her undergraduate degree in Creative Writing, and Radford University for a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction. A former high school English teacher, Wendy was active in VATE (Virginia Association of Teachers of English). She lives in northern Virginia with her husband and two children. You can visit her online at www.wendyhigginswrites.com.
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Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by Wendy Higgins
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
EPub Edition © 2013
ISBN 978-0-06-226593-7
Epub Edition © JANUARY 2013 ISBN 9780062265937
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First Edition
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Wendy Higgins, Flirting With Maybe
(Series: # )
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