Page 9

Shit, why hadn’t I asked for her number?

4

Emily

Shit, why hadn’t I asked for her number?

Well, I knew why, of course. I’d been totally distracted by the text I’d just gotten from Abby.

>Abby: Hey, can you pick me up outside of Cake My Day? I’m okay, but I just got in a car accident.

Obviously she was fine, or she would be at the hospital instead of standing on a sidewalk waiting for me to pick her up, but still, it was stressful, because I knew she must be a mess.

Abby didn’t have a lot of money, and she didn’t get any from her parents. She really relied on her car, so depending on how bad the damage was, she may have just walked into a very stressful situation.

Still, as I drove over to Cake My Day, a bakery we had once picked up cupcakes from for a bachelorette party, I couldn’t help thinking about Kaitlyn.

Despite being in college, I obviously hadn’t dated around, and though I blamed that on my studies, the truth was that I hadn’t really met anyone who’d truly caught my attention. Except for Kaitlyn, right now, just a second ago in that bar. I truly believed that was the first time I’d been actually interested in another person.

It was weird; it wasn’t as if I really knew her or anything, but for some reason, I’d been so intensely interested in the small talk we’d been making. I mean, she was damn cute, but I’d seen a ton of cute girls with whom I hadn’t cared to explore conversation. I guess it was something in her personality. She was different, eclectic, not like any person I’d met before. Certainly not like me.

I pulled up to Cake My Day and Abby waved at me from the sidewalk, exasperation on her face. I pulled over quickly and she hopped in, groaning the second she stepped in the car.

“What happened?” I asked her.

“Some asshole rear-ended me.” She rolled her eyes. “Then I rear-ended the person in front of me because they threw my entire car forward so far.”

I looked around as I was pulling away. “Wait, where’s your car?” I asked.

She let out a deep breath. “A tow truck already took it. I’m pretty sure it’s totaled. There’s no way the damages to the front and back are going to be less than what the car is worth. My insurance isn’t going to pay for repairs, I know it.”

I frowned at her. “Abbs, I’m sorry. But insurance will give you money for it, right? I mean, the accident wasn’t your fault…”

“Oh, I’m sure they will,” she agreed, “I just don’t know if it’s going to be enough money for another car. Insurance companies are so shady. I’m so not looking forward to dealing with this.”

I glanced at her as I drove and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll work out.” I really wasn’t. How the hell would I know? I just didn’t know what else to say.

“Yeah, yeah…” She looked out the window. “Anyway, how was your day? How’d your test go? Distract me!”

Now was my turn to sigh. “Well, I overslept…”

Her jaw dropped as she turned to me. “Overslept? Like, you missed it?”

“Not quite, but almost. I definitely didn’t get there in time to finish it. I’m not even sure I’m going to pass.”

“Oh my god, Emily, how are you not losing it?” she asked.

I didn’t even know. Before I’d walked into the bar, I kind of had been. And it certainly hadn’t been the one drink that had calmed me down. I hadn’t even gotten a buzz going from that. No, it was definitely the distraction of Kaitlyn that had me not thinking about my impending academic doom.

“Well, you’re having a worse day than me, so...” I told her.

“Uh, I’m not even sure of that!” she said in surprise. “I mean, you might have failed a test!”

I gave her a sideways glance. “Y

ou’re not helping, believe it or not.”

“Sorry, sorry.” She shook her head. “I’m just so confused about how you’re so… okay with all of this. Like, don’t get me wrong, if I failed a test, I probably wouldn’t blink an eye, especially if I did as well as you overall, but… you care about grades more than you care about life.”