28

nathan

“Come on, Nathan. I miss you, and it’s going to be so fun, I promise,” Sarah pleads through the phone.

It’s been a week since I got back from Toronto, and honestly, the last thing I want to do is go to a rooftop party. Forgive me for not exactly being in the party mood.

But then again, this is Sarah we’re talking about—and when have I ever been able to say no to her? Well, except last weekend, when I told her I wasn’t looking to get into a relationship with her.

“Sarah, I don’t know… I’ve just been feeling kind of off these past few days,” I mumble, mindlessly clicking around on my screen.

She sighs. “I get it. I really do. Caleb is... unforgettable. But so are you, Nathan. You’ve always been special. You deserve to have fun. Screw Caleb for just one night.”

Screw Caleb, she says. That’s the problem. I want to screw Caleb. And he hasn’t texted or called me since Toronto.

My heart aches just thinking about it. How easily he could just leave. Again.

“I’ll let you know,” I say with a smile. “You’ve always had a way with words, you know.”

“I know!” Sarah laughs.

Just then, Theo leans over my desk divider. “You ready to go?” He grins.

I nod and signal for one more minute. “Hey, Sarah, I’ve got to go. I’ll talk to you later?”

“You better be coming this weekend, Nathan. I mean it.”

I stand and sling my black cross-body laptop bag over my shoulder. Something nags at me, a question I need to ask before we hang up.

“Um, Sarah?” I ask, following a few paces behind Theo as we exit the office.

“Yeah, babe?” she answers.

“Is…” I hesitate. God, this is ridiculous—I feel like a teenager again, nervous about bumping into a crush between classes. The irony isn’t lost on me. That crush used to be Sarah. Now I’m talking to her about someone else. I roll my eyes at myself and push through the final door to the outside. Theo waits by a tree on the sidewalk, munching on an apple. The sun beats down on my forehead making it sweat even more.

“Is he going to be there?”

“I mean… he’s invited, but no. He told me he couldn’t make it,” she says.

My shoulders slump. I don’t know whether to feel relieved or disappointed. If I’m being honest… it’s the latter. But should I want to see him? He left.After promising he wouldn’t. I shouldn’t want to see him at all.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll let you know as soon as I decide.”

“Okay,” she sings. “Love you, bye!”

“Love you, bye,” I reply and hang up.

“The famous Sarah, I’m guessing?” Theo smiles, straightening up as I join him.

We’ve got thirty minutes to kill on our break, so we head to our favorite food truck, Chips-ahoy. I know he’s going to grill me about the trip. I haven’t had lunch with him all week, claiming I was “out sick.”