“Okay,” I finally said.
“Okay?”
I nodded. “I’ll go out with you.”
6
Parsons
May 23, 2013
“You made it,” I said with a smile.
Ash passed me a bouquet of red roses. “Like I’d miss it. Happy graduation.”
My heart was in my throat as I took the roses. I knew they didn’t mean anything. That he was dating Lila again. They’d dated briefly in high school and reunited after college. Derek had told me once how annoying they were but that he was glad Ash was happy.
And so I swallowed back that same desire that always rose up when I saw him. He was happy with someone else. I was currently dating someone too. I’d come a long way since that eighteen-year-old girl, drunk enough to steal a first kiss with him.
“I’m glad you’re here,” I told him.
“Yeah, yeah,” Derek said, throwing an arm across Ash’s shoulders and leaning forward. “We’re all thrilled.”
Ash shoved him off. “Shut up. We know you begged me to come up for it.”
Derek grinned. “Yeah. Well, it was more so I could get you to spend the week in Cambridge with me before graduation. You don’t have time for me anymore now that you’re a settled man.”
“Fuck off, dude,” he said with a laugh.
“It’s just like old times,” I said.
Ash had always been there at family events when I was younger. Our summer vacations in Charleston, my dad’s second wedding, my sweet sixteen—he was always present. His parents sometimes joined him, but since he was an only child, half the time, they just sent him off with us. My parents had never minded, and Derek had liked having another boy to hang out with. Having him here felt right. And I couldn’t deny that I was glad he hadn’t brought Lila. We’d cheered together her senior year at St. Catherine’s, but I didn’t really know her. And since she had Ash’s heart, I had no interest in getting to know her either.
“Yeah, just like me and Ash out on the sailboat in Charleston and you begging to be included,” Derek joked.
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s my college graduation. Must you be a dick?”
He ruffled my hair. “It’s how I show love.”
“I’m sure Marley loves it.”
Ash and Derek exchanged a look. Boy code that I’d never been able to decipher. You’d think that they’d be spending all their time together since Lila and Marley were best friends and Ash and Derek were too. But it seemed like something was up with that, and I could never figure them out.
“Aren’t you dating someone now?” Derek interjected. “Where is he anyway?”
My cheeks flushed. Camden Percy wasn’t exactly the kind of guy who came to graduations. I wasn’t sure what to make of him, except that he was, like, the richest guy on the planet, and somehow, he was interested in me. Sometimes, being in his presence felt like clinging on to the side of a boat for dear life. Like he was a force of nature that could never be weathered, you just prayed that it didn’t destroy your entire world. I’d never met anyone else like him. Maybe that was what I liked about him.
“We’re meeting up with him tonight,” I said quickly.
I hadn’t told Derek that I was dating Camden, who he knew from Harvard. He’d introduced us over spring break, but I was sure Derek hadn’t done it so that we’d end up together.
Ash frowned. “Who is this mystery guy?”
Did I detect a note of jealousy?
No, that was absurd. Ash was with Lila. She was all he’d ever wanted, right? I nearly gagged on the thought.
“You’ll just have to wait and see.”
Kathy pushed between the boys and pulled me in for a hug. “We’re so happy for you, sweetie.”
“Thanks, Kathy.”
Mom stood off to the side with her new boyfriend. She’d been with Jared for two years, but I never got the impression that she cared whether or not they got married. Maybe she didn’t want to be tied down after what had happened with Dad.
“My baby is all grown up,” she said with tears in her eyes.
“Mom,” I said with a laugh, turning from Kathy to hug her. “I’ll always be your baby.”
“Yes, but now, you’re going to be working for a high-end fashion designer on the Upper East Side. Your dreams are coming true.”
I beamed. My dreams were coming true. I hadn’t told anyone that Camden had helped me get the interview with a fashion designer. Elizabeth Cunningham was the designer on the Upper East Side. She had killed it at Fashion Week, and her sales were through the roof. Anyone who was anybody wanted to be wearing her. Even Katherine Van Pelt was wearing her clothes. It was sort of weird to think that I knew the ice princess of the Upper East Side, but she ran in the same circles as Camden, and we’d met once or twice. Camden looked at her like she was poison infecting everyone around her, but I wasn’t sure why everyone hated her. People just didn’t like when women succeeded, and she was currently on every runway and in every tabloid and the face for half of my favorite brands.