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It wouldn’t be her scene—not that it was mine, either.
“Belly, it was when we were on that break. When we were broken up.”
I had cried the whole week, while he had been in Cabo kissing Lacie Barone.
This wasn’t the Jeremiah I knew. My Jeremiah would never hurt me like this.
that. You’ve ruined everything. I’ll never trust you again.”
with me at his frat house all the time, the girls on my hall were bonding without me. I felt like I had given something up without even realizing it.
I bit my lip to keep from saying, You have allergies, not swine flu.
even though
didn’t really like to eat Indian food because it gave me an upset stomach after.
He could be really oblivious sometimes, and I had to wonder if it was on purpose.
A fight is like a fire. You think you have it under control, you think you can stop it whenever you want, but before you know it, it’s a living, breathing thing and there’s no controlling it and you were a fool to think you could.
Jeremiah knew how much I wanted to go to Cousins. He knew how much it meant to me.
“Worried about all the wet T-shirt contests?”
If you are worried, you shouldn’t be. He said, If you are worried, you should come with us. I knew he didn’t mean it that way, but it still bothered me.
“What the hell does that mean, ‘inferiority complex’?”
Brother
I had gained ten pounds
in four months.
Am I supposed to believe this is a lot
It was Conrad.
“I’m too heavy for you. I’ll get up in a minute, just leave me here for now.”
“I know I can’t bench-press my body weight like Jere, but I can pick up a girl, Belly.” I blinked. “It’s not that. I’m heavier than you think. You know, freshman fifteen or whatever.”
“Well, you look the same to me.”
Oh my God. I still love you.
But just because you bury something, that doesn’t mean it stops existing.
All that time. I had to just face it. He was a part of my DNA. I had brown hair and I had freckles and I would always have Conrad in my heart.
Ilsa was meant to be with Laszlo. That was the way it was always supposed to end. Rick was nothing but a tiny piece of her past, a piece that she would always treasure, but that was all, because history is just that. History.
“You just want to erase what you did by marrying me.”
“You look beautiful. Beck would love this dress.”
I didn’t know why I couldn’t just agree with her. I didn’t know what was holding me back.
I really did believe he was coming. If I didn’t, would I have taken extra care with my hair that morning? In the shower, would I have shaved my legs not once but twice, just to be safe? Would I have put on that new dress and worn those heels that made my feet hurt if I truly didn’t believe he was coming?
CONRAD
YAYYY
This was a mistake. Coming back here was a mistake.
moved closer to Jere. He wasn’t laughing.
It was all like no time had passed. The summer kids together again.
It was like the restaurant got really quiet all of a sudden, like all the noise and chatter got sucked out of the room.
“Are you pregnant?”
“Who paid for that ring? I know Jeremiah doesn’t have a job.”
“His credit card that Adam pays for. If Jeremiah can’t afford a ring, he has no business buying one.”
If you guys love each other that much, you can wait a couple of years to be together. And if you can’t, you for sure shouldn’t be getting married.”
The girl’s mouth hung open. “How old are you? You look so young.”
You take things too lightly. This isn’t the kind of thing you undertake on a whim. This is serious.” The condescension in her voice really pissed me off. I was eighteen years old, not eight, and Jeremiah was nineteen. We were old enough to know that marriage was serious.
“You’re the one who told me I should quit.
My mother was no longer all powerful. Part of me wished she still could be.
Sorry. I got stuff for dinner, though. I’ll cook something for us.”
“I thought we said we were keeping it really small.” “So I’ll just invite a few of them, then. Okay?”
I slept better than I had in weeks.
“Stay out of it, Conrad,” he said. He was practically spitting. “All right. Sorry. I didn’t mean to… I’m sorry.” “I never asked for your opinion. This is between me and Belly.”
He was marrying my girl, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I just had to watch it happen, because he was my brother, because I promised. Take care of him, Connie. I’m counting on you.
“Stamp collecting. Chemistry set. Encyclopedia obsession.”
“Once.”
“Ten.” “Wow. What was her name?”
