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Back Unnecessary Drama Save as PDF
Chapters (49)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TEXT LOGO PAGE
  3. ABOUT THE BOOK
  4. DEDICATION
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  46. ALSO BY NINA KENWOOD
  47. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  48. PRAISE
  49. NEW MARKETING PAGE

‘Oh my god!’ Harper puts her hand to her mouth. She looks like she’s not sure how to react yet and she’s holding it in until she’s heard all the details. I can see Jesse’s shoulders shake a little. He’s laughing, but silently, swallowing it down at least.

‘And then I just left, before Henry even arrived.’

‘Oh my god,’ Harper says again.

‘There you go. Make fun of me,’ I say, throwing myself back on the couch and covering my face with a cushion.

‘What did you tell Henry?’ Harper asks.

‘That I was sick. From eating bad yoghurt.’

‘Oh my god,’ Harper says for a third time. Now she definitely wants to laugh.

‘Stop saying that!’ I wail.

‘Okay we can fix this,’ she says.

‘I don’t want to fix it. I want to pretend it never happened. I am never dating again. Never, never, never.’

‘This is totally recoverable,’ Harper says. ‘Don’t you think, Jesse?’

‘Ummmm,’ he says, sounding uncertain.

‘Don’t you think, Jesse?’ Harper says again, emphasising each word.

‘Yes, yes, totally recoverable. Being stood up wouldn’t put me off at all.’

‘I know it’s not recoverable,’ I groan. ‘Henry was the perfect guy for me and I’ve ruined it.’

‘What can we do, to make you feel better?’ Harper asks, kneeling beside the couch and speaking into the space between couch and cushion, where she can kind of see a bit of my face.

‘Leave me alone to wallow in my pain,’ I say.

‘What if we put The Vampire Diaries on?’ Jesse asks, also bending down to peer in the crack. He and I have been watching it, late at night, together. It has become sort of a ritual. One I look forward to more than I want to admit.

I think about this for a second.

‘Okay. But no one is allowed to look at me for two hours. In fact, I need a towel or something to put over my face.’ It feels very important to me that I can’t see them and they can’t see me until the humiliation passes.

‘Here,’ Jesse says, pressing something into my hands. ‘Wear my blue hoodie again.’

So I put on his hoodie, with the hood up, and it still smells like him, which I try not to notice, and we all watch The Vampire Diaries together, and Harper has no idea what is going on in the show, and Jesse earnestly tries to answer all her questions about vampire lore and love triangles. And it doesn’t feel like the worst day ever anymore.

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