Page 38 of Room to Breathe

Beau tilted his head. “Have you not been reading our group texts?”

Our group texts were a constant stream of notifications, most of them commentary on various aspects of the day. For example, Caroline would text:got distracted and burnt my toast this morning. To which Ava would reply:you probably deserved it. To which Beau would reply:I kind of like burnt toast. And on and on. Our group text had been going strong over the past week. I had been responding sparingly.

“Oh, right,” I said. “I forgot.” Maybe I had read it or maybe it had gotten lost in the fifty texts about Ava’s missing blue crop top.

Speaking of missing things. “Did I leave my calculus book over here?”

“I don’t think so,” Beau said.

“Can I borrow yours tonight?”

He laughed. “Nice try.” To Harper he said, “Indy is like two points behind me in class rankings and she’ll do anything to make me fail a test.”

“No, I really can’t find my book.”

He narrowed his eyes at me in suspicion. “You can write down what you need here, but I still need to study too. You can’t take it.”

I nodded. It definitely wouldn’t be as much as I normallystudied, but that would have to be enough. My stomach churned again. I needed that feeling to go away soon. I wasn’t a fan.

A couple of hours later I was sitting at Beau’s desk in his room, frantically writing down as much as I could from his textbook. Harper sat cross-legged on the floor next to his bookcase behind me. Beau sat on his bed. I wondered if she would leave before me so I could talk to Beau. I didn’t think she would, but I hoped. My stomach, which had only been churning earlier, was now in knots. I tried to ignore it and focus on studying.

“Your taste in books is terrible,” Harper said, eyes traveling over the shelves.

“You don’t like fantasy?” Beau responded. He loved fantasy. Had probably read each of his favorite series several times over.

“You should read mystery,” Harper said.

“I don’t like mystery,” he responded.

“Have you tried it?” she asked. “I have a series I’m going to loan you.”

“Okay,” he said.

“Let’s swap,” she suggested.

I raised my eyes from the calculus book to see Beau’s reaction. He didn’t love sharing his books. Was very protective of them.

“What’s your favorite?” she asked, moving along his bookshelves.

I laughed but then sucked my lips in to stop it short.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said when I realized he wasn’t going to tell her that she couldn’t borrow his books.

He was letting her pull some out and flip through the pages, even.

“His favorite is top right, the blue ones,” I said. “They’re even signed by the author, I think.”

She walked to where I was pointing and he narrowed his eyes at me. I shrugged in faux innocence.

“Yay!” she said, taking them off the shelf one by one until she had all six. “I can’t wait to read them.”

“Maybe you should start them one at a time,” he said, his hands twitching a bit, as if he was trying to keep himself from snatching them from her and sliding them back onto the shelf.

“No,” Harper said. “I’m a fast reader and I hate waiting. But don’t be mad if I don’t like them. I’m not a fantasy nerd like you are. Too many weird names and places and lore.”

“That’s part of what makes them so good,” he said.