Page 99 of Your Fault

She was pensive before; now she seemed barely aware of my presence.

“What time does class start?” I asked, unable to bear the silence.

“Twelve thirty.”

“I’ll drive you there.”

After dropping Noah off, I met up with Lion, and we got in my car, heading out for a beer.

“I’m thinking of selling the garage,” he said.

“What?”

The garage was the most important thing Lion had. It was his business, his family’s business. Lion kept his eyes focused on the road, moving his feet nervously.

“I need to make things right with you know who.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t see how you’re going to make things right if you can’t even say her name.”

“I’m still pissed at her,” he confessed, sighing. “But her father called me last night.”

I looked over at him incredulously. “What did he say?”

“Old man Tavish has always treated me well. He never looked down on me like all those other rich people, you know…he’s straight up.”

Greg Tavish was a good man, and he’d done an impeccable job of raising his daughter. Jenna was the person she was because she’d never wanted for anything. Even I had envied her when we were little kids.

“So anyway…we were talking. At first he just wanted to knowhow come Jenna didn’t talk about me anymore at home, and then he said she’d been crying nonstop for two nights straight.”

I could tell he didn’t like knowing that Jenna was sad, but realizing that being apart hurt her, too, and that he wasn’t the only one in pain, was clearly a relief to him.

“He told me he’d give me a job at his company. I’d be starting at the bottom, of course. To rise up, there’ll be tests to take, lots of work, but with time, he said I could make it. That guy’s a machine, Nick. You should have heard him… He’s so self-assured, so smart… It’s no surprise Jenna adores him. Who wouldn’t want a dad like that?”

I stared at the car in front of me.

“You don’t have anything to say?” Lion asked.

My mind had strayed into dark territories. I couldn’t help comparing my father to Greg—couldn’t help thinking about how Jenna’s parents accepted her relationship with Lion, a guy from the streets, nice enough, sure, but still, someone who had no money and had never graduated. Jenna’s father had never cared, while there I was fighting tooth and nail to get my own family to accept me.

“I think it’s the best thing that could have ever happened to you, bro,” I said, smiling.

For the first time in years, he looked secure. My best friend’s green eyes reflected utter calm.

41

Noah

I didn’t see Nick for the next three days. We were in contact, we talked at night, and he sent me messages while I was in class that made me blush, but we never found an opening to hang out.

I did go out with Jenna, though. Not to the clubs, not to dance, just to a couple of bars near campus. You had to go before happy hour hit, otherwise they were all packed. One day, Jenna brought Amber, her roommate, to Ray’s, one of the popular spots. We had a good table and were watching a group of guys shooting pool a few feet away, very obviously trying to get our attention. Three hot girls with no guys around—that was enough for them to come over and talk.

Amber told us repeatedly how hot she found one of them, a skinny redhead. He looked kind of raggedy but also sweet. In just five seconds, she had a whole movie going in her head.

“I think we’ll call our firstborn Fred, you know, like from the Harry Potter books. I’ve always been a fan. Our children will probably inherit his red hair…”

“Why don’t you go over there and tell him you already knowthe name of your first child? I’m sure that’ll be enough to make him fall in love with you,” Jenna encouraged her. She was sloshed already and seemed disgusted every time someone of the opposite sex looked over at us.

“Hey, Noah,” Amber said, ignoring Jenna, “one of those guys won’t take his eyes off you.” I looked back, hoping it was Nick.