Audre & Bash Are Just Friends(84)

He couldn’t remember feeling this happy ever in his life. Was this what it was like? Being so ignited by another human being that all you wanted to do was… do whatever they wanted to do? Be where they are? That’s what Audre did to him. In her presence, he felt both peaceful and euphoric—simultaneously. The world’s most magical girl looked at him like he was magic. And for once, Bash didn’t feel lost. He knew he had value. A purpose.

Hanging with Audre all summer taught him that the old cliché was true. Home wasn’t a location. It was a feeling. Bash’s home was wherever she was.

Physically, of course, he was still crashing at his mom’s. In fact, he was currently splayed out on her couch, carefully Gorilla-Gluing his busted Smurf lunch box. But for the first time, he wasn’t tortured by it, or itching to escape. It didn’t matter where he was, because Audre was his girlfriend. His mom? Far from his mind. (Plus, she was in DC annoying the hell out of at-risk youth, so he was alone.)

In an hour, he was meeting Audre at Nitehawk Cinema. At the thought of seeing her, his face melted into a giddy grin. A warm, tingly thrill surged through him. He hadn’t seen her since last night’s couples’ confrontation. Such an unhinged scene. When he texted Audre afterward to check in, she couldn’t talk. She and her mom were having A Stern Conversation.

I hope she’s okay, he thought, gluing an arm back on the ancient plastic Smurf. I hate knowing that any of it’s my fault. Also, I hate that I didn’t remind her to apply Neosporin before bed.

He’d tell her at the theater. They hadn’t picked a movie to see yet, but it didn’t matter. All Bash wanted was to sit with Audre, in the dark, in her orbit.

Plus, he had life-altering news.

Just then, his phone buzzed. It was Clio. Who’d been leading a secret life for all summer. Yes, he’d kept secrets, too—but he had reasons!

“Who’s this?” he asked into the phone.

“You tell me. Am I your sister or your quote, unquote acquaintance?”

“Are you Reshma’s girlfriend, or Fake-Anthony’s girlfriend?”

“You know his name’s Jake-Anthony.”

“When he stops speaking in a fake Caribbean accent, I’ll call him Jake-Anthony,” he scoffed. “You’re half-Jamaican—this doesn’t bother you?”

“He used to sing in a reggae band! The accent stuck!”

“Why didn’t you tell me you broke up and started dating Audre’s best friend?”

“Don’t be a hypocrite. You and I both had secret relationships this summer.”

“Nah, man, I told you about Audre.”

“You told me you were helping a friend with a challenge. Not that you two were Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.”

“Rapunzel and Flynn who?”

“I saw you guys last night, outside Just Because. When we walked up to you, it was like you two were in your own universe. There was a… a… love energy around you two. It was giving ‘get a room.’”

His stomach flip-flopped. Was their connection that obvious? “But I didn’t lie, okay? At the beginning of the summer, she was just a friend. Everything changed so fast.”

“Too fast to tell her I was your half sister? Or that we have two older half sisters? I mean, we don’t know them super well, but still. It should’ve come up.”

Bash squeezed his eyes shut. “I know. I know, I should’ve. But then, I’d have had to explain our fucked-up family.”

“Fucked-up or not, family’s family.”

“If family’s so important to you, why didn’t you tell me you were cheating on Fake-Anthony?”

“Jake-Anthony!” she exclaimed. “It’s ’cause I was ashamed to be cheating. Reshma was supposed to be… an experiment that went awry. I wanted to take back the power from Jake-Anthony. Also, I wanted to see if what I’ve always felt about girls was true.”

“And?”

“And it’s true. I like the ladies.” She sighed. “Or maybe I just like Reshma. Doesn’t matter either way, because she was using me. Fuck. I’m so confused.”

Bash tilted his head to one side, carefully scraping extra glue off the Smurf’s face. “You were both using each other. Just start over. Wipe the slate clean, you know?”

“Maybe.” Clio’s voice sounded floaty and faraway. “You know what? You sound good. Strong. Healthy.”

“I do?” He smiled at this. “I’m currently rehabbing a broken undersea Smurf, so I don’t know how healthy that is.”

“I’m not even gonna ask.”

“But you’re right. I am feeling healthy. I made two healthy decisions. You know the tattoo place in Myrtle Beach? They asked me to come down for a weeklong interview after my birthday. And I turned it down.”

“Tell me you didn’t. Why would you do that? That place was all you talked about for months!”

“I know, I know. But I changed my mind. There’s tattoo businesses all over New York. And New Jersey and Long Island, even. I’ve already contacted six shops. I have two interviews next week. Myrtle Beach is too far.”

“Too far? Oh. Ohhh. You don’t wanna be too far from Audre.”

At the mention of her name, the corners of his mouth curved upward. “Not really.”