But now that I’m actually talking to her again, hearing about how she moved on, and knowing how I did, I don’t know that I wanna go back there.

“He sucked” is all I say. “I’m sorry I didn’t realize that sooner.”

“I’m just glad to hear you say it now. I didn’t think you’d listen to me if I’d told you, even about Sierra. It probably wasn’t the right way to go about it, but I just thought … I thought if you found out yourself, then you wouldn’t be able to deny it. And you wouldn’t associate me with it. I hated keeping it a secret from you, and I’m sorry I did. I should’ve trusted that you’d listen to me.”

“Yeah, I wish you would have,” I say honestly, but I think about Heather, how I’ve been torn between telling her and keeping my mouth shut every single day since orientation. “But you’re right—who knows? Maybe I would’ve continued being stupid and taken it out on you. Maybe I wouldn’t have believed you, or maybe I would’ve even found some way to blame you; Lord knows I made some stupid calls where Craig was concerned. I think I get it, though, why you didn’t want to tell me yourself. Some people are just really good at hiding being pieces of crap.”

“Too true,” Claire says with a snort. “And how’s it going over there? You haven’t posted anything. Have you found a new BFF? Did you find someone to take your mind off Craig?”

Now it’s my turn to snort. “Craig helped me take my mind off Craig. And I’ve made some friends,” I say cautiously. I’m dying to spill about Salem, about Lucas, about what a screwup I’ve been, but now that she’s finally free of my drama—and clearly thriving because of that—I don’t want to drag her back in.

But God, I’m gonna burst if I don’t say something to someone, and there’s no one safer I could tell. “There is a guy, sort of. He’s kind of my best friend here, and I really did not look at him like that … until I did, and now I can’t stop. Which is really bad, because he does not feel the same way.”

“How do you know?”

“Well, he was hooking up with one of the hottest girls in school until like five minutes ago.” I decide to leave out the part about why they broke up, because I don’t need her reading into that. If it’d been true—if Jenna were right, and Salem wanted me—wouldn’t he have told me on the spot? Wasn’t that his opening?

“And? Sounds like he’s single now. So did you tell him you like him?”