Leah on the Offbeat(35)

“Maybe.” Taylor tilts her head. “Anna and Nora are checking down there now.”

“Or he’s passed out, asleep. He’s fine.”

Taylor nods and twists a strand of hair around her finger. Moments later, Nora and Anna tromp up the path from the backyard. “Basement’s locked,” Anna says. “What do you want to do? Should we just take a rain check?” She looks from Garrett to Taylor to me.

“I don’t know,” Taylor says.

“I could text him,” Garrett adds.

Taylor sighs. “We’ve been texting him all morning, and we’ve called. He’s not answering. It’s just so weird.”

“He’s fine. I’m sure he’ll text us later,” Garrett says. “Burke, why don’t we grab some lunch?”

“Let’s just wait another few minutes,” Taylor begins, but then her voice falls away. Because, suddenly, Nick’s car is in the driveway, the garage door rumbling open. Taylor’s whole face lights up. But he doesn’t drive in or get out or anything. He just sits there, frozen, like he’s in a trance.

So I stand. “I’ll go talk to him.”

I jog over to his car. It’s like he doesn’t even see me approach. I knock on the window, and he slowly rolls it down. “Hey,” he says dully. His eyes are red-rimmed and wet.

“Holy shit. Are you okay?”

He shrugs, staring straight ahead.

“Nick?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Okay, I’m slightly freaked out. Maybe a little more than slightly. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nick like this. I mean, I’ve definitely never seen him cry. Truthfully, I never know how to act in these moments. I don’t have the instincts for it. Like, I literally can’t tell if he wants me to go away or if he wants me to bust into his car with a bear hug. So I split the difference and just sort of . . . hover. “You don’t have to talk about it.”

He sighs and buries his face in his hands. “Why are they all here?” he asks, voice muffled.

“For rehearsal . . .”

He doesn’t respond.

“For Emoji? The band?”

“Fuck,” he says finally.

“Bad time?”

He peeks up at me. “Yeah.”

“I’ll deal with everyone. Just head inside.” I swallow. “Seriously, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. I just . . . want to be alone.” He sighs. “Anyway. Thanks.”

“No problem.” I pause. Then, before I can overthink it, I stick my hand into the open window and ruffle Nick’s hair. Because I’m that awkward. But he smiles a little, so it’s worth it.

He slides the window up again as soon as I step back. Then he drives straight into the garage, turns his car off, and shuts the garage door without looking back.

I walk back to the stoop, and Taylor leaps up right away. “What happened? Is he okay?”

“He’ll be fine.” I bite my lip. “He said he wants to be alone, though.”

“Oh.” Taylor looks crestfallen.

Anna shrugs. “Works for me.”

Garrett jangles his car keys. “You ready, Burke?”

But Nora presses a hand to my arm. “Wait. Simon says he’ll kill me if I don’t bring you back to our house.” She holds her phone up. “He says it’s an emergency.”

I freeze. “An emergency?”

“I’m sure it’s not an emergency emergency. He’s just being Simon.”

I nod—but now I’m thinking about Nick’s shiny red eyes. There’s this clammy feeling in my chest—which is just how it felt when my dad left, right before my mom broke the news. It’s like my body knew first. So maybe it really is an emergency. Maybe something really bad happened.

I follow Nora up the road, leaving Garrett visibly deflated. But I can’t worry about Garrett right now. I almost ask Nora if I should run back, just for a minute. Just to check on Nick. But then I think of how quickly he shut that garage door. And he did say he wanted to be alone. I don’t want to bust in on his alone time.

God. This whole friendship thing. You’d think I’d have a handle on it by now.

Simon’s in his driveway waiting for us, perched on the hood of his car. He slides down as soon as he sees me. “Thank God you’re here.” He hugs me tightly. “Ugh. Leah. Everything’s the worst.”

My heart thuds. “What happened?”

“Hop in.” Already, he’s opening the driver side door. Nora lingers, looking concerned.

Simon waves her off. “I’ll fill you in later.” Nora rolls her eyes.

I slide into the passenger seat. “What’s going on?” My stomach twists nervously as I turn toward Simon. “Si, you look like you’re going to cry.”

“I might.” He sighs and turns the car on. “Did Nick tell you?”

“Tell me what?”

“Abby broke up with him.”

The whole world seems to pause.

“Abby broke up with Nick?”

He nods, slowly, and backs out of the driveway.

“When?”

“This morning. Like thirty minutes ago. I just got off the phone with her.”