Page 62 of Room to Breathe

I entered a new name into my phone: Cody. And texted him a message.

You home tonight? I’m at Harper’s birthday at her house.He lived two doors down. Was I trying to create trouble? I really didn’t think I was. I was hoping he’d just text back something like:Yes, come see me.

And I would’ve in that moment. I would’ve carried my plate of food two doors down and kissed him on his porch. Maybe even talked to him. Gotten to know him better. Because I really didn’t know much about him.

My phone buzzed.

It wasn’t Cody. It was Caroline:Not on our way, but soon. Be there in thirty?

I sighed and ate another carrot. The mozzarella sticks were cold, gross, but I ate them anyway. Then I went to look for a trash can for my plate. I found one in an open pantry.

On the way back out, Beau was at the counter filling a plate.

“Hi,” I said.

“I’m surprised you didn’t come with Ava and Caroline.”

“Yeah, I was excited to drive my car. I should’ve come with them. I don’t really know anyone here.”

“Most of them are Harper’s band friends, and a few are from choir.”

“Makes sense.”

“You didn’t have to come,” he said.

I nodded because that sounded an awful lot likeYou shouldn’t have come.

“The mozzarella sticks are good.” I pointed.

He grabbed several and put them on his plate. I felt smugly satisfied about him eating cold cheese in a couple of minutes.

“You know who Indy is dating?” I heard Harper say loudly behind me. I turned to see her talking to her sister.

Madison must’ve asked who, even though I couldn’t hear it, because Harper said, “Cody. Neighbor Cody.”

Madison laughed, hard. “Not Stoner Cody! Tell me it isn’t so.” She said all this while obviously drunk and clutching a beer can, which felt very ironic to me.

Beau smirked. I wanted to slap him. Maybe an apology wouldn’t be good enough to fix things.

I didn’t need even more complicated feelings right now; I already had enough of those at home. I whirled around and walked out of the room. It felt like a dramatic exit, but my life felt pretty dramatic these days.

“Indy, wait!” I heard Beau say, but I didn’t stop and he didn’t come after me.

I walked outside. The night was cold and I hadn’t brought a jacket, because I wasn’t expecting to spend any length of time outside. Besides, cold was relative. We lived on the central California coast; it wasn’t like it was snowing. It was just a little windy.

I started to walk to my car when I changed my mind. I headed down the sidewalk toward Cody’s house. He hadn’t texted me back, nor had he come over, like I thought he might’ve.

I’d never been to his house, just knew which one it was because Harper had pointed it out one time when we were all driving by. I wasn’t sure if he was home; there wasn’t a car out front. I’d only ever seen Cody on a skateboard, though. Maybe he didn’t have a car. The porch light was on, so I decided to knock on the door.

An older woman answered. She wore a loose-fitting dress and house slippers. Reading glasses hung around her neck. “I don’t want to buy anything,” she said.

“Good thing, because I’m not selling anything. I’m Cody’s friend. Indy?” I wasn’t sure if she’d heard my name before.

“Are you asking me if that’s your name? Because I don’t know.”

“No, sorry, I’m Indy. Is Cody here?”

“He’s not. Probably at his dad’s place. He’s supposed to be here every other weekend, but he does what he wants.”