But now there was pity on Sadie’s face and Via could choose between obviously changing the subject and showing how uncomfortable she was, or she could dive in further to settle Sadie’s curiosity. The thought made her feel sick.

“I’ll be right back,” Via said in what she hoped was a bright, unaffected voice. She went to the bathroom and tried to settle herself. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and considered calling Evan. But the drafty feeling was full force and she shivered against it, putting her phone back in her pocket. She took a deep breath and headed back to the table.

“I’m so sorry!” Sadie immediately blurted out the second Via sat down.

“You’re sorry? For what?”

Sadie’s cheeks were red and she looked more uncomfortable than Via had ever seen her. “I feel like I reacted in a really shitty way to you telling me about your family. I obviously made you uncomfortable. I just... I want you to know that it surprised me and it made me sad but that I don’t pity you at all. And I’m really, really sorry if it seemed like I pitied you.”

Via gaped at Sadie. And for what felt like the hundredth time that afternoon, Via attempted to learn something from her outgoing, loquacious friend. “You...really just say whatever you’re feeling, don’t you?”

“It’s a blessing and a curse,” Sadie said with a wince. “But I hope not a fatal flaw?”

Via smiled and shook her head. “Not a fatal flaw. I admire it. And, Sadie, no apology necessary. You reacted just fine. It’s a hard thing to learn about people’s pasts. I’m going through kind of a weird time right now. It’s not you. Really.”

“If you’re sure...”

“I’m sure.”

Sadie watched her closely for another beat before the worried expression gave way to her usual good-natured one. “All right. Well, if you have time, want to help me find a birthday gift for Rae? It’s in a couple of days and I’ve been striking out.”

Via let the pleasure of the invitation fill her up. Telling Sadie hadn’t been perfect, but it hadn’t ruined everything either. It was one more thing that Via told herself to remember about that afternoon.

SEBASTIAN MADE HIMSELF useful by dragging the tables and chairs to one side of the library. It was the day of the dreaded yoga staff meeting and his pits were already sweaty. Great. Just great.

As far as he could tell from chatting with his colleagues that day, the staff was split in two. Those who were already good at yoga and were thus pretty excited about it. And those who were terrible at yoga and were thus completely dreading it.

Sebastian’s dread was twofold. One, he didn’t want to slip a disc in the middle of a sun salutation (yeah, he’d Googled it), and two, he’d asked Tyler about yoga clothes and learned a great deal. All he knew was that he really, really didn’t want to see Via DeRosa in some skin-tights. It had been bad enough on Saturday watching her sprint around the bases in a baggy T-shirt and a baseball cap.