Who was I kidding? In a town this size, it was a given that everyone was aware of the Mia/Brody situation, even though neither had posted any photos of them together in romantic poses. Believe me, I checked. In hindsight the vibe between them in pics was there, but they were clever about disguising it.

Hitting decline, I slipped the phone into my back pocket. Then I set a clean pot aside. Grabbed a skillet. Began the process anew.

“Guess what goes around comes around, huh?” Ayisha said.

I was glad I wasn’t facing her so she missed my flush of anger. This was an old, sore subject. But I couldn’t let her know she’d gotten to me. So, in a tone of such calm reason I almost fooled myself, I said, “Brody and I are broken up. When two people are broken up, neither party has the right to dictate who the other can date. Right?”

I glanced back to see Ayisha’s eyes flash with annoyance. But only for a second. Then she took the wooden tray with the cups and poinsettia teapot and walked out of the room.

So yeah. Ayisha was who Brody dated right before he and I started dating.

There was no overlap, to be clear, but that didn’t stop the tsunami of Ayisha’s resentment that washed over me from the moment Brody and I went public. It wasn’t logical, but by now I’d come to realize emotions rarely were.

Which was why I had declined every attempt at communication from Mia since I’d arrived at the Sonic seven days ago hoping for a hamburger and cherry-limeade slush but instead getting the sight of her and Brody in the truck parked opposite my dad’s Jeep. Making out like it was an Olympic sport.

So gross.

And I immediately lost my appetite.

Fortunately, Dad didn’t bug me when I asked if we could go despite having just arrived. Maybe he’d seen my expression, or even Brody and Mia, and decided to leave it alone. Whichever reason, I was grateful.

I managed to get a picture of Brody and Mia before we left, and texted it to her without a message. Yes, it was passive-aggressive bitchy, but I’d only learned about Mom and Dad having issues the day before, so I was already on edge.

But did I have the right to be mad at Mia and Brody?

That was the question that wiggled below the surface. After all, I’d been the one to instigate the breakup with Brody. I was leaving Oklahoma for Connecticut, where I would spend the next two years far away from Brody Tuck, the boy with the magnificent floppy hair and sparkly blue eyes, and that hadn’t seemed fair to him. I had felt noble at the time. Mature. Even when he cried and I cried and we both wished things could be different.