City Love(72)

“If you don’t know Addison, then why does she know so much about you?”

“Like what?”

“She knows you’re from Chicago. She knows you went to Lincoln High School because that’s where she went.”

“She didn’t—”

“She knows all about your family. Everything you already told me. She told me all the same things you did. How could she possibly know all of that if you’ve never even talked to her?”

What the hell is going on? Who is this Addison person? Why does she hate me so much she’s spewing all these lies about me? Lies that Mica is more than willing to believe.

“I don’t know Addison,” I say. “You have to believe me.”

“No I don’t.” Mica hangs up.

She doesn’t pick up when I call her.

I sit on my bed in shock, trembling. How does Addison know all those things about me? And why does she hate me so much?

Nasty Girl is out there turning my friends against me. She’s getting away with it. There’s nothing I can do to stop her. She already took the one person I thought would become my best friend away from me. What bothers me even more than a stranger spreading lies about me is that anyone could possibly hate me so much. What could I have done to her? I don’t even know her. Maybe she’s a friend of someone who hates me? But no one hates me. At least, not that I know of. I rack my brain trying to think of anything I could have done to make someone mad. There’s nothing. The other part that’s really bothering me is that Mica believed her. Doesn’t she know me well enough already to see that I’m a decent person? Couldn’t she tell I wanted to be good friends with her?

This really sucks. Two days ago it seemed like all of my dreams were coming true. Things with D were amazing. Being friends with Mica was so easy, without any tension or drama. I had the best summer of my life ahead of me. Now everything is gone. What a joke to think, after years of believing the contrary, that I finally deserved to be happy.





THIRTY-FOUR

SADIE


OF COURSE I COULDN’T SLEEP last night. What girl would be able to sleep with the most adorable boy in bed right next to her?

Originally we talked about having one of those perfect New York summer days where you walk around aimlessly with no plans. But it started raining after we woke up. The dreary, gray day got to us. So we decided on a movie marathon in my room. I put my glasses on. Rassling with my contacts was not a desirable option. My eyes were burning from getting like no sleep.

While I select the second movie after the first one ends, Austin smiles at me.

“What?” I say, smiling back.

“You’re too cute in those glasses. How can I concentrate on our movie marathon when you’re so cute?”

Wearing your glasses in front of the boy you like is a test to see if he’s worthy. If he thinks you’re cute in glasses, he’s a keeper.

“You know when you told me to let you know when one of your nerdy undercurrents surfaces?” Austin asks.

“Yeah?”

“Your cat’s-eye glasses are one of your nerdy undercurrents surfacing. You should wear them more often.”

“But I look so dorky in glasses.”

“Which is why I find you adorkable.” Austin reaches out for me to lie against him again. I snuggle up the same way I did while we were watching the movie: lying on my side pressed against him, right leg bent over his, arm slung over his chest.

I’m amazed all over again by how quickly our relationship has grown. Today is June 30. We first spoke to each other ten days ago. All of this—the immediate connection, the crazy chemistry, that ginormous fireworks non-coincidence, falling in love—has happened in the space of ten days. The best ten days of my life.

If I weren’t in this for real, I wouldn’t believe it was possible.

“Tell me a secret,” I say.

“Why?”

“I want to know something about you no one else knows.”

“Okay, but then you have to tell me one.”

“Deal.”

Austin takes a minute to think about it. “Remember when I ran into you at internship the day after my presentation?”

“How could I ever forget?”

“I didn’t run into you randomly. I made an excuse to come down to your floor to look for you.”

“Weren’t you looking for Parker?”

“Parker’s not hard to find. I was looking for you.”

“Aw.”

“Was that a good secret?”

“The best.”

“Now you.”

I wasn’t planning to tell Austin my biggest secret. I’ve never told anyone before. But suddenly I want to tell him. I want to get it out and I know I can trust him with anything.

“Something happened when I was seven,” I say against his chest. It’s better this way, where I don’t have to see the pity in his eyes. “The most horrible thing that’s ever happened to me, actually.”

Austin rubs my arm in slow strokes.

“My mom and I were on the subway. She was pregnant with my little sister. The seats were all taken with a few people standing. Someone got up for her, but she told me to sit instead of taking the seat for herself. Someone else offered her their seat, but she said we only had two stops so she was fine standing.” The memory tears into my brain. I let myself watch what happened all over again. “Two guys were standing near us. They started arguing. One of them became so enraged he shoved the other guy, who bumped into my mom really hard. Mom fell . . . and she lost the baby.”