“You wouldn’t be a professional runner?”

I crack out a laugh. “Not exactly an option. I’m not talented enough. The only reason I’ve gotten as far as I have with running is because of sheer determination. I do distance running. I’ve never been a sprinter. I’m not in it for the quick win. I like the skill that comes from endurance. The challenge.”

“What made you want to run in the first place?”

I almost don’t tell her. I hate to keep bringing her up. But something tells me she would prefer the truth rather than avoiding the tough topics. “Abby.”

“Really?”

I was right, her voice rises. But there’s no hostility in it, even though I’ve brought up the main reason we’re in the predicament we’re in.

“She wanted to do it but not alone, so I went with her. But then after the first season I sort of fell in love with it.”

“That’s nice,” she says on a yawn.

“Thanks for not being weird.”

She laughs. “But Fitz, I am weird.”

“I mean, thanks for not being weird when I bring up Abby. I know she’s not the easiest person. To be around or to discuss.”

“Is it still hard for you to talk about her?”

“Oddly . . . no. I thought it would be worse, actually, but it’s not. I mean, she was a big part of my life.” She still is, in the sense that I’m still lying to my parents for her and we’re still . . . friends? Or could be again, someday. I’m still worried about her and her erratic behavior. “But I think she might have been right. She said something about us being friends first and not really meant to be as a couple. Maybe I always knew, and I wasn’t really hanging on to her, but to the idea of her.”

“The idea of an epic love story.”

“Yes. Exactly. But we’ve talked enough about me. Have you narrowed your choices down for your major?” I ask.

“Actually, yes, I have.”

I can hear the smile in her voice and it prompts me to lean over the side of the bed to look at her. “That’s great, Reese.”

She’s lying on her side, her head turned to grin up at me. “Jude took me to meet a friend of his today. A kid, actually. A really smart kid. I decided I want to open a school someday. For gifted and talented children in Blue Falls.”

“That would be amazing.”

“I think so.”

We smile at each other for a few seconds before I lie back down and stare up at the Christmas lights.

The conversation stalls, but it’s not an uncomfortable stretch of silence. It’s kind of nice, actually, being able to talk to someone about anything and everything without a fight or any kind of fear of recrimination.

She really is nothing like Abby.

“I’m glad we’re friends,” I say.

She doesn’t respond. But I think I hear a soft breath.