I wish I could promise to be home more, but the last time I saw my ex, I wound up using a really nice boy to make Finn’s not-so-nice ass jealous. I have no idea how he does it, but he makes me different.
Bitter.
And I don’t plan on spending time with him if I can help it. With that said, just because I’m avoiding the apartment doesn’t mean I can’t see Aveena outside of it.
Dia: Promise I won’t do it again.
Aveena: You better.
Dia: Need to get back to it. Save me some pizza?
Aveena: You got it.
I spend the next five hours scrolling through social media and dreading the library’s closure. I’ve been here so much lately that I was able to get ahead on my studies. I did each of my classes’ readings twice and finished homework that wasn’t even due yet.
Translation: I’m bored as hell.
I eventually get kicked out by the same librarian who’s been giving me “Don’t you have a life?” looks all week before heading to Lenny’s, my favorite coffee shop.
Problem is, it’s closed.
The sign on the door doesn’t give any details as to why, and I battle myself over going over to Chance’s. I ultimately decide against it. We’ve hung out every single day this week, and I’m pretty sure if I come over to watch movies, he’s going to make a move, and sex is the last thing on my mind tonight.
I stand in front of Lenny’s, wondering what to do for fifteen minutes before the wind picks up, partnered with light rain. It’s past nine. It’s likely that Finn, Xavier, and Aveena are still awake, but I’m too tired to care.
Trying to fill every second of every day with something to do is starting to take its toll. All I want to do is crawl into bed and sleep for a century and a half. Plus, I don’t need to talk to him. I’ll just go straight to my room and voilà.
I’m pushing the door to the apartment open thirty minutes later. I kick off my shoes swiftly and tiptoe past the empty living room. It’s 10:20 p.m., but the lights are already off, and Aveena and Xavier’s door is shut. I understand Finn is in the bathroom when I hear the shower running.
I’ve barely taken two steps toward the guest room before my stomach starts to scream at me. Shit, I haven’t eaten since this morning. I remember Aveena saying there was pizza and book it to the kitchen, hoping to grab a slice and hurry inside my room. I open the fridge and find three boxes of pizza stacked on the bottom shelf.
Score.
I reach for the pizza on top and open the box, grimacing at the pineapples on it. Not even sure I could call this thing pizza anymore. This is more like pineapples on cheese. I’m not surprised Aveena doesn’t remember my dislike for Hawaiian pizza. Not many people know this about me, and those who do usually forget.
Hopeful, I grab the other box and…
More pineapples.
I stiffen up at the sound of Finn turning off the shower down the hall and debate on abandoning Mission Pizza altogether. But then the last pizza in the fridge catches my eye. There’s a sticky note on the box. On that note are three letters written in black Sharpie.
Dia.
I assume Aveena put the note there to tell me which one was mine until I pull it out of the fridge and open the box. The first thing I notice is the absence of pineapples on the crust. I’m practically salivating as I assess the untouched pizza. That’s when I see the note stuck inside the cover of the box.
Because pineapple on pizza is the devil’s work.
- Finn.
My mouth drops at the memory gushing to the front of my mind.
I said that to him once. In fact, that’s what I said to him word for word last year. That was before the night that changed everything. Before the accident. Before he left town. We were supposed to hang out at his place, and he suggested Hawaiian pizza for dinner, to which I replied that pineapple on pizza was the devil’s work. I can’t believe it. How does he even remember that? My own parents never remember that.
I pull out a plate from the kitchen cabinet and top it with a slice. I open the microwave, ready to put the pizza inside.
“Back so soon?”
I nearly drop the plate at the sound of his voice.