“Oh, wait, don’t throw that away.” Florence points to the thick piece of beef still left on the plate. “We can wrap that up and give it to the homeless.”

“You wanna feed Kobe beef to the homeless?” Jess starts cracking up, putting a hand on Florence’s delicate shoulder. “Whoever ends up with this girl is one lucky guy.”

Florence hands the waitress the plate to box up. “How do you know I haven’t already found this person?”

We stare at her. “Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Florence blushes and shakes her head. “No, I’m just kidding. I haven’t.”

The waitress returns with the doggy bag and the check. We all throw down credit cards, except Nancy, who digs inside her bag.

“Ugh, I forgot to move my credit cards from my other bag,” she says.

“Don’t worry, girl, I got you,” Jess says, reaching for the check.

Later, as we’re getting into our Ubers, I think about how nice it is that my new friends didn’t judge me for the sexting. My girlfriends back home definitely would have judged.

Teddy’s waiting for me later that night. We stay up late fooling around on Skype. The next morning, I come out of my room so flushed, I skip breakfast with Dani and her mom and instead grab a muffin at school.

The varsity swim team is in the cafeteria early in the morning, eating breakfast too. There are seven guys and three girls. I watch the way they eat, devouring their pancakes and eggs like there’s no tomorrow. I miss that about swimming. I used to be able to eat like that.

Instead, I nibble on my tiny raspberry muffin all squished inside the plastic wrap. One of the swim guys walks over as I’m standing in front of the trash can, throwing the plastic wrap away. He accidentally bumps into me with his wet towel as he empties his tray.

“Sorry!” he apologizes. “Did I get you wet?”

I peer down at my shirt and wipe the spot the towel touched.

“It’s okay,” I say.

He moves his towel out of the way. “It’s clean, I promise,” he says. “Just has a little chlorine on it.”

I breathe in deep, almost envious, remembering the days when I was bathed in the scent.

My phone dings. It’s Teddy again.

Hey babe, yesterday was so hot. I’m still thinking about the way you looked when your fingers traveled down your stomach.

I blush hard and tap Close.

Two weeks go by, and there’s still no word from Mrs. Mandalay about my test results. I’m getting worried.

“Why won’t she just tell me?” I say to Jess on the phone. “Even if I bombed, just say it! Don’t keep me waiting and waiting. I can handle it.”