JENNICA

This is what I miss. Thursday night snuggles on the couch with the fuzzy green blanket and Kimberly’s shoulder to lean on. She sits propped up by pillows with her feet on the coffee table and I curl against her with the blanket over both of us, tucked snug beneath my chin. Her laptop is stacked on a pile of books so we can stream.

The buzzer dings in the middle of our third episode. Kimberly flinches. She fumbles upright, flustered. “Oh, no. Oh, crud. I forgot to text him.”

Our calm is shattered.

“Who?” I say, even though I already know.

“I’m so sorry,” she gushes. “We made this plan hours ago, but then you and I were going to hang out. I forgot to cancel.”

“It’s okay,” I say out loud, although my whole body feels like it is being crumpled inside a giant fist.

“No, no. Crud.” She scrambles toward the door. “I’m so not ready for him.”

I gather up the leftover food cartons as Kimberly buzzes Zeke in. The fuzzy green blanket clings to my shoulders and I will it not to fall.

“Yuck.” Kimberly makes a face at her disheveled self in the wall mirror. She smooths down flyaway hairs. “Well. This is me. He knows what I look like, right?”

“You look fine,” I tell her. She always looks good. Even when she’s in the middle of betraying me.

Kimberly notices me bundling my way toward my bedroom. “No, wait,” she says. “I’m just going to send him away. I promised you.”

That’s not what I expected her to say. I pause.

“I meant to text him, and I’m so sorry,” she continues. “Come on, we’re right in the middle of an episode!” She seems so earnest.

There’s a part of me that wants to say okay, and make her do it. To find out for sure whether, when push comes to shove, she would really choose me.

But I don’t want to know. There is only so much disappointment a girl can take. I tuck the blanket tighter around me. “That’s silly. Don’t send him away.”

Kimberly chews her lip. “Really?”

“Really. I don’t want to make problems for you with Zeke. He’s a good guy.”

She frowns. “No. It wouldn’t make problems.”

They haven’t been together that long. She doesn’t get it yet. “I told you, I know what guys are like. You should see him. I’ll be fine.” I offer my best smile.

See? I can be a good friend, even if Kimberly can’t.

ZEKE

Kimberly turns off the lights in the kitchen and living room, except for the one they always leave on to discourage burglars. Then she leads me into her bedroom. Her roommate is going to sleep, she says. So we will tuck ourselves away quietly, too.

Kimberly is already dressed in soft clothes, these baggy pajama pants and a nicely fitting tank top under a thin sweater thing. No bra. I slip off my shoes and pants and climb onto her bed beside her. She’s sitting cross-legged. I squeeze her knee.