“He could’ve bought the candles at any Duane Reade he passed by. And Ace likes music.” I swallow painfully. “He probably didn’t have to put that much effort into it.”

Cora gives me an incredulous look. “He burned songs on a CD for you. Do you know what year it is? No one casually does that. He definitely put a lot of effort into this.”

I’ve been thinking about that, too. I keep picturing Ace walking past a convenience store, catching sight of an assortment of candles and deciding to buy them for me. Or worse, in his room, waiting for me to text back only to receive radio silence, and then deciding to make a playlist for me to pass the time. They’re such painfully sweet gestures that it seems like I must have made them up.

“We’re just fake dating,” I say. I’ll live in denial about this for the rest of my life if I have to. “He has an image to keep up.”

“In front of who?” Cora asks. “The only people here are me, you, and Nandini. He didn’t even know we were going to be here. He came by specifically to give you this playlist and these candles and apologize to you for something he didn’t even do. What part of that seems fake?”

“Don’t do this,” I bemoan, covering my face with my hands. Being reminded of how miserable Ace looked on my doorstep makes me want to die. I force myself to remember that he was in the wrong to show up at my house just because I didn’t text back. I have to hold on to that, or else I’m going to give in to their pestering. “I’m not in an emotional state to argue with you.”

“Because you know I’m right,” Cora says. “Nandini, tell her.”

Nandini sighs, patting my head. “Karina, sweetie, I love you, but this is too much. We’re your best friends. If you can’t admit to us you like him, who can you admit it to?”

“Oh, come on, don’t play the best friend card.”

“She has a point,” Cora says. “I thought we were your best friends, Karina?”

“You both suck,” I say fervently. They know I’m not going to dismiss our friendship. “Fine. Fine. I like him. Are you happy now?”

“I told you so!” Cora jumps up in excitement, nearly sending me toppling off the couch. “I fucking told you so.”

Nandini snorts and helps me keep from falling with one hand stretched out. “We did tell you so. Now what are you going to do about it?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“My parents never found out about my ex-boyfriend,” Nandini points out, nudging me. “You could keep it secret. We only have one more year until college and then we’ll be in dorms, and none of this will matter. Your parents don’t have to know.”