Mistakes Were Made(19)

They got Parker into the dorm without incident. She tried to collapse onto Acacia’s bed first, would climb into her own only if Acacia and Cassie got in with her. Fitting three girls in a twin bed was not easy. Acacia ended up mostly on top of Cassie. Parker cackled at first, but then she started looking at them with these really sincere eyes. She took Cassie’s face in her hands.

“Cassie,” she said seriously. “Cassie, Cassie, Cassie.”

“Yes, Parker?”

“You’re my best friend.”

“I thought I was your best friend,” Acacia said.

Parker let go of Cassie’s face with one hand to pat Acacia’s. “You’re my best friend, too.”

Cassie realized maybe that was true. Somewhere along the line, the three of them had morphed into some kind of unit. Parker and Kaysh had been tight since they moved in together, but somehow, even though their introduction was Parker sleeping with Cassie’s boyfriend, Cassie and Parker had become just as close. Cassie didn’t even mind that she was squished up against Parker’s side.

“It’s okay that you guys are secretly boning,” Parker said.

Acacia snickered, and Cassie had a hard time keeping a straight face.

“You can bone anyone you want,” Parker continued. “As long as it makes you happy. I don’t care who you’re boning as long as you’re happy.”

That took a decidedly unfunny turn, hitting a little too close to home. Cassie rolled out from under Acacia and stood next to Parker’s bed.

“Whatever, drunky,” she said. “I’m sleeping in Kaysh’s bed.”

“Of course you are,” Parker giggled.

Cassie took it further. “I guess we’ll just do it in the bed next to you.”

“Ew,” Parker said. “But like, whatever floats your boat. Just make sure I’m asleep first, please.”

That request wasn’t hard; Parker was snoring before Cassie and Acacia even got situated. When they did, Cassie against the wall and Acacia snuggled beside her, Kaysh clicked the light off. And immediately rounded on Cassie.

“Please tell me what I thought was happening earlier wasn’t happening,” she whispered.

Cassie groaned. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Kaysh.”

“Shut up,” Acacia said. “You didn’t actually drunk dial her, did you?”

“No.” It wasn’t a lie.

“You know I can check your phone, right?”

Acacia reached for it on the bedside table, but Cassie scrambled over her and got it first. She deleted the texts and recent calls.

“I fucking knew it,” Kaysh said. “What the hell were you thinking, Cass?”

“I didn’t call her,” Cassie said quietly. “And you can’t prove anything.”

She closed her eyes and held tight to her phone and refused to answer any more of Acacia’s questions.



* * *



Things went surprisingly well after that. Erin never called back and Parker was too embarrassed about her public display of horniness to think much about anything else, and even Acacia let it drop. Cassie didn’t delete Erin’s number, but she didn’t look at it again, either. School got too busy to worry much about drunken mistakes.

Thanksgiving arrived right when Cassie needed it. She couldn’t wait for Mama Webb’s cooking. Acacia’s mom made the best mac and cheese in the world, that was all there was to it. And Cassie would kill for her cornbread dressing. After a start to the year that had not at all been what she’d expected it to be, Cassie was ready to immerse herself in her Thanksgiving traditions—primarily getting stoned off good weed provided by Emerson and eating way too much food. She and Acacia would clean the kitchen after the meal but before pie, and everything would be as it should.

Cassie and Acacia were driving Parker to the airport, then taking her car the rest of the way to Greensboro. They were running late, because Acacia had said goodbye to Donovan like he was going off to war instead of to Louisiana for four days.

At the curb for departures, Cassie hugged Parker while Acacia pulled her suitcase from the trunk.

“Hey, you don’t have any plans for Christmas, right?” Parker asked. “Nothing happening over winter break?”

Cassie bristled. Just because she wasn’t visiting Emerson in Chicago with Acacia didn’t mean she didn’t have plans. She had a lot happening over winter break. It was called booze and bad movies.

“No,” she said anyway. “Why?”

“You know how my mom and I don’t always get along.” It was the first time Parker had mentioned Erin since Family Weekend, so no, Cassie didn’t really know anything about their relationship. “I’m spending Thanksgiving with my dad so most of winter break I’ll be at my mom’s. And I love her, I do, but we’re too similar, or something, because we do not get along living in the same house. Like sometimes it’s fine but sometimes it is not. And the thought of three weeks alone with her is insane. So I asked for an early Christmas present.”

She paused to hug Acacia.

“Love you,” Acacia said.

“Love you, too.”

Cassie cleared her throat. “Parker. You were saying?”

“Oh right,” Parker said like she lost her train of thought, but her nonchalance was too obvious for Cassie to believe her. “Anyway, my parents are going to fly you to New Hampshire for break.”