He smiled. “Been there.” He kissed my forehead, then ran a finger over the worry lines there. It felt nice, the kind of touch I’d craved and been starved of lately. “Do you want some Excedrin? Something to drink?”

I nodded, lapping up the concern like an abandoned puppy that was offered a treat. “Thanks.”

He started to get up, then stopped, opened his mouth, then clamped it shut again. Then he said, “Hey. I had something I wanted to talk to you about.”

I looked at him, hopeful. “Yes?”

He said, “Hailey. I…” He paused as if he wasn’t sure how to phrase it. Then he said, quickly, “I wanted to know if you would go to prom with me.”

The smile broke out on my face immediately, huge and almost painful. I hadn’t used those muscles much in the past month. “Yes. Yes!” I dove for him, hugging him hard. I kissed him, unable to wipe that stupid grin off my face.

“Cool.” He sprang off the bed. “Back in a minute.”

I sat up, adjusting my bra and closing the clasp. As happy as I was, it only took another minute before I felt dirty, gross, sitting in the same spot where I’d seen him with Luisa. He’d invited me to prom, but suddenly I felt like a consolation prize. He’d had time to confess, but one thing was clear…he didn’t want to. Not only that, he and Luisa had been MIA yesterday. He was still seeing her.

My eyes trailed to his phone, sitting on the night table. I grabbed it, opened it, and found his texts. Sure enough, he’d been texting with Luisa. It said “L”, but it didn’t take a genius to crack that code. The last message was from a few hours ago. I opened it and read the screen:

January 27, 9:58 PM

Meet you there at 10:30

Can’t wait :)

January 28, 4:50 PM

Have fun with your girl ;)

Rather be with you

The whole time I was reading, I’d been pulling on a lock of my hair and didn’t realize until I’d torn it from my scalp. It had taken a little chunk of skin too. I stared at the strands, then held them over carpet and let them fall to floor.

Rather be with you.

He was going to prom with me, and yet he’d rather be with her.

I heard him coming up the stairs. I’d wanted to read more, but I quickly placed the phone on the night table, and grabbed the closest book, which happened to be his Bible.

He was surprised to see me reading it, since I’d shied away from it before. He set two Cokes on the dresser and handed me a couple of green pills. “What are you doing?”