Maybe Someday(13)

isn’t it?” she says. I read the text.

Ridge: When Barbie goes away, I want

more.

I cringe, because there’s no way I’m letting

Tori read this text. For one thing, he insulted her.

Also, the second part of his text would have an

entirely different meaning if she read it. I hit de-

lete and press the power button down to lock my

phone in case she snatches it away from me.

“You’re flirting,” she says teasingly. She picks

up her empty plate and stands up. “Have fun with

your sexting.”

Ugh. I hate that she thinks I’d ever do that to

Hunter. I’ll worry about setting her straight later,

75/692

though. In the meantime, I take out my notebook

and find the page with the lyrics I wrote to the

song he’s currently playing. I transfer them to a

text, hit send, and hurry back inside.

“That was so good,” I say as I place my plate

in the sink. “That’s probably my favorite Italian

restaurant in all of Austin.” I walk to the couch

and fall down next to Tori, trying to appear casu-

al about the fact that she thinks I’m cheating on

Hunter. The more defensive I get about it, the

less likely she’ll be to believe me when I try to

deny it.

“Oh, my God, that reminds me,” she says.

“The funniest thing happened a couple of weeks

ago at this Italian restaurant. I was eating lunch

with . . . my mom, and we were out on the patio.

Our waiter was telling us about dessert, when all

of a sudden, this cop car comes screeching

around the corner, sirens blaring . . .”

I’m holding my breath, scared to hear the rest

of her story.

76/692

What the hell? Hunter said he was with a

coworker. The odds of them both being at the

same restaurant, without being there together, is

way more than coincidental.

But why would they lie about being together?

My heart is folding in on itself. I think I’m

gonna be sick.

How could they . . .

“Syd? Are you okay?” Tori is looking at me

with genuine concern. “You look like you’re

about to be sick.”

I put my hand over my mouth, because I’m

afraid she might be right. I can’t answer her right

away. I can’t even work up the strength to look at

her. I try to still my hand, but I can feel it trem-

bling against my mouth.

Why would they be together and not tell me?

They’re never together without me. They’d have

no reason to be together unless they were plan-

ning something.

Planning something.

Oh.

77/692

Wait a second.

I press my palm against my forehead and

shake my head back and forth. I feel as if I’m in

the midst of the stupidest moment in all of my

nearly twenty-two years of existence. Of course

they were together. Of course they’re hiding something. It’s my birthday next Saturday.

Not only do I feel incredibly stupid for having

believed they would do something like that to

me, but I feel unforgivably guilty.

“You okay?” Tori says.

I nod. “Yeah.” I decide not to mention the fact

that I know she was with Hunter. I would feel

even worse if I ruined their surprise. “I think the

Italian food is just making me a little nauseated.

I’ll be right back.” I stand and walk to my bed-

room, then sit on the edge of my bed in order to

regain my bearings. I’m filled with a mixture of

doubt and guilt. Doubt, because I know neither of

them would do what I briefly thought they had

done. Guilt, because for a brief moment, I actu-

ally believed they were capable of it.

Ridge

I was hoping the first set of lyrics wasn’t a fluke,

but after seeing the second set she sent me and

adding them to the music, I text Brennan. I can’t

not tell him about her any longer.

Me: I’m about to send you two songs. I

don’t even need you to tell me what you

think of them, because I know you’ll love

them. So let’s move past that, because I

need you to solve a dilemma for me.

Brennan: Oh, shit. I was just kidding

about the Maggie thing. You didn’t really

dump her for inspiration did you?

Me: I’m being serious. I found a girl who

I’m positive was brought to this earth

specifically for us.

79/692

Brennan: Sorry, man. I’m not into that

shit. I mean, maybe if you weren’t my

brother, but still.

Me: Stop with the horseshit, Brennan. Her

lyrics. They’re perfect. And they come so

effortlessly to her. I think we need her. I

haven’t been able to write songs like

these since . . . well, ever. Her lyrics are