Casey didn’t get a chance to say what she was doing because she burst into tears. Her friends went into full damage control mode, grabbing a blanket and a stack of candy bars. They surrounded her in a little comfort circle of love in the middle of the living room floor.
“Tell us,” Jinny said, opening a candy bar and handing it to Casey.
“It can’t be that bad,” Halle said, wrapping the blanket tightly around Casey’s shoulders.
Casey sat in silence for a second as she slowly chewed and swallowed a massive dose of chocolate. Jinny started bouncing a little in anticipation.
“Come on, you’re never worked up like this. I have to know.”
Casey nodded miserably. She cleared her throat and made a concentrated effort to keep her tears in check. “It’s Jake,” she muttered.
“That bastard!” Halle cried. “What did he do?”
“I knew he was no good for you!” Jinny said vehemently. “Tell us what happened.”
Casey took a halting breath. “He … he said that he loved me.”
There was a moment of very intense silence. Casey looked up and saw Jinny and Halle looking at each other with matching expressions of confusion.
“Is that all?” Halle asked.
“Yeah, I’m not following,” Jinny said.
“You don’t understand,” Casey cried. “It’s serious, like, really serious. He said that he loves me, and he wants us to be together forever.”
Casey watched the confused look bounce back and forth between her friends' faces again.
“I’m sorry, Case, but can you explain this to me?” Halle asked.
“Yeah, me, too,” Jinny added. “I’m lost.”
Casey shook her head. “It’s too big, too real. Don’t you see? If I let myself go on another date with him, there’s no turning back. I’ll never be happy without him. I love him!”
Casey stopped, the pit of her stomach filling with pure ice. She couldn’t believe she’d just said those words aloud. She looked back and forth between Jinny and Halle, and now they were both smiling. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing, babe,” Halle said, patting her shoulder. “Absolutely nothing.”
“It’s okay,” Jinny said, hugging her. “We get it. Casey, are you ever going to let yourself be happy? This guy loves you. Like,reallyloves you.”
“Yeah,” Halle agreed. “It looks like you love him right back. This is worth fighting for, and it’s worth taking a risk for.”
“Definitely,” Jinny said.
Casey looked at her friends' faces for a few seconds, and good sense finally began to dawn on her. She realized that holding back and running away was going to hurt a lot more than running toward Jake and giving it a go.
“You love him, babe,” Jinny said, rubbing her arm gently. “Can’t you admit that to yourself?”
Casey shook her head, putting her head in her hands. Now that the words had come out of her mouth, she couldn’t take them back. She knew that. Everything had changed, and she hadn’t even said the words to Jake yet.
She was held by a moment of fear as she imagined telling Jake that she loved him. It was terrifying, but at the same time, she knew it would make him very happy. As Casey worked through her painful feelings, she realized that she really wanted to see him that happy. In fact, she couldn’t wait to see the joy on his face when she told him.
“Okay,” she said, grinning. “Where’s my damn phone? I want to call him right now.”
“Yay!” Halle said, clapping her hands. “I can’t wait to hear what he has to say.”
“I might not do the L-word thing right now,” Casey muttered. “But I do want to talk to him.”
“When are you seeing each other next?” Jinny asked.