Mistakes Were Made(86)

“How much do you know about neighborhoods in Boston?”

Parker shrugged. “A bit.”

“Look at this apartment I found.”

Parker leaned into Cassie’s side as Cassie clicked through the pictures.

“Do you know if this is a good neighborhood?”

Parker leaned away, back to her own computer. “I really don’t know,” she said. “You should ask my mom. She knows Boston better than I do.”

Cassie looked sharply at Parker, who wasn’t paying her any attention. “I should ask your mom?”

“Yeah,” Parker said. “She’s in the city all the time for patient stuff. Just text her.”

Cassie swallowed. Wished Acacia were there. “Just text your mom out of the blue about Boston neighborhoods?”

Parker shrugged. “You have her number, right? Just text her or call her. She likes you enough she’d probably even go take a look at the apartment to make sure the photos aren’t bullshit or whatever.”

“Right.” Cassie picked at her fingernails. “That’d be pretty sweet, actually.”

It seemed crazy that Erin might go look at apartments for her. Crazier still that Parker had suggested it. Cassie brought it up on the phone with Erin a few days later anyway.

“So, uh, Parker told me to ask you about Boston neighborhoods.”

Erin hmmed. “Did she?”

“Yeah.” Cassie cleared her throat. “Said you liked me enough to go look at apartments for me?”

“I don’t know if I like you that much.”

Cassie tried to backtrack. “Right, of course, I mean, that’s a lot and—”

Erin laughed. “Cassie. Of course I like you enough to look at apartments for you. I don’t want you living in squalor.”

Cassie’s pulse tried to get back to normal. “Right,” she said again. Erin was just kidding. They were friends. It still seemed like a lot though. “I have it narrowed down to a couple. Just like—if you could, check them out, maybe?”

Erin’s voice was soft. “I’d love to, babe.”



* * *



Acacia walked into her dorm without knocking one Thursday afternoon, announcing, “I’m bored and hungry and if I have to eat another meal at the caf, I’m gonna die. Let’s go to Sonic tonight.”

With the nearest Sonic almost forty minutes away, going there was always an adventure, one Cassie would normally be all for.

“I can’t tonight,” she said. “Erin and I are making dinner together.”

She didn’t think she’d said anything unusual, but Acacia was staring at her.

“What?” Cassie said.

“You’re making dinner with Erin? Is she somehow visiting without me or Parker knowing about it?”

“Oh, no,” Cassie said. “We’re gonna FaceTime and cook together.”

“And you think that is normal?”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “She looked at one of the apartments today and is gonna tell me what she thinks.”

“God, could you be dating any harder?”

Acacia did this to her like once a week, she swore.

“We’re not dating, Kaysh.”

“I literally don’t understand how you think you’re not.”

“Because we aren’t, and neither of us want to,” Cassie said.

“Have you even fucked anyone except Erin since Seth?” Acacia asked.

“Of course I have,” Cassie scoffed.

There were plenty of weekends right after Seth where she’d gone home with people. When she thought about it, though—there had been other people since Seth, yes, but since Erin? Since that first night in the bar at Family Weekend? She’d made out with Emerson and tried to feel Gwen up at a party. That was it. She couldn’t quite believe it, but that was it.

She didn’t like thinking about it, and she didn’t like the look Acacia gave her, so she pushed back.

“Even if I did want to date her, how would that work? How would I date my friend’s mom who lives in New Hampshire?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Acacia said, faux confused. “Probably you’d text her every day and cook dinner together on FaceTime and get a job in Boston to spend time—”

“That’s low,” Cassie interrupted. “I got the job because it’s fucking great. It has nothing to do with Erin.”

Acacia’s shoulders slumped. “I know, you’re right. I’m sorry. But I’m just saying that it’s possible—”

“It doesn’t matter that it’s possible; I don’t want to date Parker’s mom.”

Her stomach twisted. This whole conversation made her uncomfortable. She didn’t want to date Erin. She didn’t want to date anyone.

“Being aromantic is a thing, you know?” Cassie said.

Acacia glared at her. “Don’t commandeer a real identity just because you’re afraid of getting hurt.”

Cassie decided maybe she wouldn’t talk to Acacia about Erin anymore.



* * *



She did actually manage to avoid talking to Kaysh about Erin. Busy buckling down for finals and arrangements for the summer, they didn’t have time for lectures on feelings.