Have I said enough to sound convincing? I can’t tell. And I don’t know why I’m so desperate for Lydia to think I’ve got a boyfriend when I most definitely do not.
“Do you want to grab some coffee?” I ask. My voice sounds unnaturally high, and I clear my throat. “If you have time…”
“Um…” Lydia looks down at her watch, then glances around the store. “Listen… the thing is…”
Oh my God, is Lydia breaking up with me too?
“Pete and Joel are so close, you know?” She shakes her head. “It’s just that… it’s awkward if you and I are… I mean, I don’t feel comfortable talking about things that Pete told me in confidence.”
“Of course,” I say quickly. “We don’t have to talk about Joel.” I add, “I don’t even want to. Honestly. I’ve moved on. Completely.”
Her eyes are full of pity, which is worse than anything. Everyone looks at me that way now. Even my own grandmother. “I just don’t think coffee is a good idea,” she says.
She is breaking up with me.
Lydia just broke up with me. I hadn’t realized how many of my friends were connected to Joel until he broke up with me and I lost all of them. I know Joel and Pete are super-close, but I thought Lydia and I were close too. Apparently not.
“But I heard you got a new apartment.” Lydia’s face brightens. “Something in the village?”
Oh Lord, the lie I told Joel is starting to spread. “Well, maybe. I haven’t decided yet.”
I’m moving in with my grandmother in Brooklyn.
“If you have a housewarming party,” she says, “I’d love to come. Please invite me. And I can meet… Charles, was it?”
She’s throwing me a bone. If I had any dignity at all, I’d tell her only my real friends would be invited to the housewarming to meet my imaginary boyfriend. But since I don’t even have an apartment to warm, the point is moot.
“I will,” I promise, around a lump in my throat.
And all the while, I keep thinking about this new girl that Joel is dating. The young one with the olive skin and long, dark hair.
Chapter 10: The New Girl
As Cassie steps out of the subway station, her phone pings with a text message. She digs it out of her purse and smiles when she sees Joel’s name on the screen.
Do you have any interest in a bag of fun-sized chocolates? A patient gave it to me and I CAN’T STOP EATING THEM.
Cassie giggles. They were talking when they went out last night about how fun it is when October rolls around and those miniature chocolate bars are everywhere, but it takes roughly one week to get sick of them—well before Halloween arrives. Joel told her he felt sad that he never gets trick or treaters in his building, so she invited him to come over on Halloween night. She said they could take turns giving out candy to kids. And after it was over…
Well, that was a question mark. They would see what happens after. He’s been to her apartment once in the weeks they’ve been dating, but never spent the night. But she wouldn’t mind if he did. The more time she spends with him, the more time she wants to spend with him.
Joel Broder is the real deal. She knows it’s early in their relationship, but there’s something between them she’s never felt before.
What kind of chocolate? she writes back as she treks the two blocks from the subway station to Bookland.
Twix. Milky Way. Nothing with peanuts.
Okay, bring it over.
Cassie is in the middle of typing her response when she practically trips over a woman pushing a baby carriage. She stumbles and nearly falls, but catches herself at the last second. The woman with the baby carriage flashes her a dirty look, but the most notable thing is the cackling coming from her right.