That’s when my gaze settles on my saving grace.
I point toward the door on the opposite wall. “Does that lead to the other side of the building?”
Brown looks up from her laptop. “Yep, you can use it if you want. Shaves a few minutes off walking around if that’s where you need to go.” She pauses and adds. “Which building are you going to next?”
“Clark Hall,” I blurt out.
A total and complete lie. But if I told her the truth, she’d suggest I take the normal path, out the door and right by the person I’m trying to avoid.
“Yep. Take that one. It’s not too far.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.” I shuffle quickly to the door and leave without wasting any more time.
I let out a breath once I’m outside, the relief of avoiding another awkward situation settling through me.
* * *
“How was your day?” Rosie says through yet another one of our FaceTime calls. She’s sitting at the desk in her room, a stack of books piled haphazardly next to her.
I think back to the hours that led us to this moment, and the nerves that riddled me until I was safely inside my home away from home. I was somehow successful at not running into Johnny again, but I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
“Uneventful,” I tell her. “I had English, Math, and Economics today.”
“Gross.” Rosie sighs dramatically. “I’m totally going to fail without you.”
I roll my eyes and lay on my stomach on my bed, propping myself up with my elbows. “You’ll be fine.” I revert the conversation to the thing she keeps avoiding. “What were you going to tell me the other day?”
She hesitates. “Are you mentally prepared for upsetting news?”
This is what we do when we need to tell the other something big that could potentially throw us for a loop. Sometimes we hold off and wait until things settle down, other times we can handle whatever it is.
I can’t imagine a better moment than now for the secret she’s been keeping. Life has been weird, but I’m sure I can handle it.
“Okay so…” Rosie hasn’t been this nervous in ages. She’s usually the first to blurt out random stuff without any filter. She’s brutally honest, and it’s one of the things I love most about her. “I wanted you to at least get through your first day before I sprung this on you.”
“I’m fine. My day was no big deal. Tell me already, please.” Other than the awkwardness with Johnny, things haven’t entirely sucked since my arrival. I managed to find a solid coffee source, and that alone is a huge plus.
“Griffin… He…Well…”
Without her finishing, I can already sense where this conversation is heading, and honestly, I’m not surprised at all.
“Brice saw him at Sara’s on Friday…”
“With Shelby,” I add when she doesn’t continue. The girl from his work, from six months ago.
Her eyes perk up. “You knew?”
I exhale. “Not for sure, no. But I suspected it.”
“What a dick. I’m so sorry, Claire.”
I want to cuss, to tell my best friend how much of a douchebag Griffin is. To spend the next hour venting about how bad he treats me and all the terrible things I wish would happen to him—but I don’t. Griffin has already stolen too much of me, and in this moment, I refuse to give him any more.
Instead of doing all that, I simply say, “Yeah, me too.”
It’s strange to hear that your long-distance boyfriend is cheating on you and to be nothing but numb about it. Maybe it’s because I saw it coming. Or because deep down, I knew it was happening this whole time. Or maybe because I stopped having feelings for him a while ago. Everything combined leads to this empty pit in my stomach and a dull ache in my chest.
I use it as fuel to stoke the fire of my empowerment; to put him in my past once and for all.