Page 23 of Starrily

“You hand-painted it—”

“Back when I thought I was gonna be a great artist, yeah. Remember what I said when I gave it to you? In a few years, when I’m super famous, you can sell it for a lot of money.” She laughed. “Honestly, it’s probably better that thing got lost. I don’t need you to wear a scarf to be your friend.”

Callie leaned back on the sofa.

“So now that you have no more excuses,” Ava continued, “tell me why you’re angry at him.”

“Isn’t it obvious? He’s the worst.”

“Spoken like a true high schooler.”

Callie wanted to roll her eyes but stopped in time. No need to emphasize Ava’s point.

“I don’t work with him, and know barely anything about him,” Ava said. “But he didn’t seem that bad. Rather fun, actually.” She narrowed her eyes. “That’s it, isn’t it? You feel threatened by him.”

Callie scoffed. “How? He has his job, I have mine, and sure, he’s imposing himself on our project, but I wouldn’t call it threatened—”

“Not because of the job,” Ava interrupted. “You think he looks nice, and you’re afraid of it. You may like his sense of humor, and you’re afraid of it.”

“He wishes he had a good sense of humor.” Callie sipped her lemonade. “It’s like if a nerd only read about jokes in some misguided article on the internet.”

“So, just like you.”

She gave Ava a side glance. Ava only smiled knowingly.

Was there any truth to her observation? No.No.She didn’t dislike Simon because there was a chance she could like him instead. That didn’t make any sense.

It was because he made her feel odd. He made it so all the wrong words came out of her mouth, including her outburst at the photography session. Whether cracking a joke or trying to provoke her, he made her feel things. Things she thought she’d locked away.

“You can deny it, but you keep people at a distance,” Ava said.

“I don’t keep you at a distance,” Callie said, her voice faltering only with the last word. But she did, didn’t she? Ava was a good friend; but she’d never be the bestest of friends, like Mila hadbeen. No one would ever sneak into her heart again—not in a way of friendship, and not in romance.

“That’s because you got stuck sharing an apartment with me when you didn’t get a room at Caltech dorms,” Ava said with a cheeky smile. “You had no choicebutto become my friend, or it would’ve been a hellish few years.”

Callie swished the lemonade in her glass as she pondered her friend’s statement.

“You keep everyone else away, though. Like Abed. Remember Abed? He was so nice. Cute. Smart. He watched all the nerdy movies and read all the books you’ve read—”

“He wasn’t the right one.”

“You pushed him away before he could become the right one!”

Callie clamped her mouth shut.

“You know, sometimes, when you meet someone, you get the shivers, or the sparks, or just … feels. You feel they might be right. What if …” Ava leaned forward, biting her lip. “What if some part of you got that reaction with Sexy Pale Ginger Guy, but because you’re wired so hard not to like anyone in that way, instead of your brain sending you a ‘heeeey, that might be the right one’ reaction, it sent you an ‘oh shit, evacuate, get to hating’ reaction?” Ava wiggled her eyebrows as if she’d made the world’s greatest discovery.

“That is beyond ridiculous,” Callie said. “That’s not how the brain works.”

“The brain works in mysterious ways.”

“Not that mysterious.”

“Fine.” Ava sipped more lemonade. “Then we’ll say you don’t like him because you’re a Pisces and he’s probably a Leo, and you’re incompatible.”

“This has nothing to do with astrology. We’re not dictated by Saturn being above the horizon when we were born.”

“Exactly what a Pisces would say.” Ava nodded wisely.