The Improbability of Forever (Kismet #2) ✓

4. I Have Done a Good Deed

Four

I Have Done a Good Deed

I finished piling my plate with a fruit bowl and met Julia back at the benches to eat, where she was sitting and texting vigorously. When she saw me she shoved her phone into her pocket and asked, "We still going to Party City after school?"

"Yeah. Cody's coming too." My sweet sixteen was exactly three and a half days away, and it had snuck up on me way faster than I'd expected. Images of potential disasters flashed through my head; I remembered how Vanessa had said my Post-It note leaver was likely to announce everything at the blowout.

"It's going to be amazing." Julia interrupted my morbid thoughts through a mouthful of chicken. "I mean, I helped you plan it. And we all know I can throw a good party."

I bit back my smile. Julia was an amazing party planner, but she excelled in formal events that resembled Homecoming. She never went near the weekend party scene at Lincoln—it was nowhere near classy enough for her. I'd never been to one, either, and that reminded me just how much I was missing out on that I'd never get to experience when I moved away.

Julia's phone buzzed and she dug for it, the corner of her mouth lifting into a half-smile as she read the text.

"Who's that?" I asked.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she texted back and then set it face-down on the bench. "Nobody important."

The phone buzzed and her eyes lit up again. When she reached to grab it I snaked my hand out and snatched it from her.

"Don't try that with me," I said, flipping the phone over. My eyes widened and I squealed, "Sam? You're texting Sam McCormick?"

"It's not a big deal. We're just texting."

"You're not 'just texting,'" I said, making air quotes. "You're blushing! Your cheeks are bright pink! I can't believe you have a crush on Sam McCormick."

It was true that this was unfathomable. Julia, who had admittedly crushed on Cody before we'd started dating, had discovered he wasn't refined and proper enough for her. If she thought she'd find anything different in his best friend Sam, she was very confused.

Julia rolled her light eyes, but the small smile had broadened. "Just be glad I'm over Andrew," she said. "The second he asked you to prom I realized he was never mine and he never will be. He's yours."

"No, he's not. He's neither of ours."

"No." Now her eyes bore into mine. "He's yours. So what are you going to do about it?"

The question was loaded with ammo and she was shooting it straight at me. As she studied me in a way that was too Julia-like for me to avoid, I knew I had to make a choice. Cody, or Andrew. I couldn't have both, and with everything about to change indecisiveness would lead to be losing them both.

"I'm with Cody," I said firmly, shoving an enormous bite of strawberry into my mouth. "Andrew can deal."

Julia shrugged, but as she turned back to her phone I knew she wasn't telling me something.

Our conversation at lunch bothered me for the rest of the day. It was a beautiful afternoon and the sun was shining so brightly in burned my arms, but I couldn't be as carefree as I usually was this time or year. Normally I'd be out on the trails at our park every second I could, biking with my Collie puppy Macy bounding alongside me. I hoped there were nice parks in North Carolina.