Gravity

Chapter 6

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Soundtrack

Breakable – Ingrid Michaelson
We are so fragile
And our cracking bones make noise
And we are just
Breakable girls and boys

***

On the drive back to Stanford, my shock at yesterday's events begins to wear off, instead replaced with a quiet, hot rage. Though it's subtle at first, the hour's long drive gives the feeling time to build up into a deep hatred for the universe and its innate ability to always put me in the worst possible position. As if it likes to see watch me suffer.

            But you can't exactly shout all of your frustrations at the universe until it's in tears, can you?

            And, since I desperately need to yell at someone right now, I find myself standing in front of room 317 on the third floor of my building with Binx tucked away under my arm, my fiery gaze burning holes in the door as I rap my fist against it a few times.

            "Ivy, open up," I say, trying my damnedest to quell the flames in my voice.

            After a few seconds, I hear the door unlock.

            "Hey, Grace," Ivy says tentatively after opening the door, her face blank as she tries to get a read on my emotions. "What's up- is that a cat?"

            "You knew," I growl, stepping in to her room without invitation.

            "I knew what exactly?" she questions, closing the door and turning to face me with a hand placed defiantly on her hips.

            "I knew you had something you weren't telling me when I said that Tyler was going to Berkeley, but I never would have guessed that..." I trail off, shaking my head in an attempt to clear my frantic mind.

            "Grace-"

            "Don't," I warn, my voice deadly still. "You knew. You knew that Avery was there. You knew I might see him and you didn't think to give me a heads up? I thought we were friends, Ivy."

            "You saw him?" she asks, her face noticeably paling.

            "Oh no, I didn't just see him," I said wryly, placing the wriggling kitten in my arms on the floor. "He walked in on me shirtless, making out with my boyfriend on their couch. In their room. Because they're roommates."

            Ivy's jaw actually drops, which would be funny if I weren't so angry.

For a few lingering moments, neither of us has anything to say. It's Ivy who breaks the silence.

"I was going to tell you when you got back," she says, her voice soft and genuine. "I didn't want to tell you in front of your boyfriend and, honest to God, I didn't think you'd see him. It's a big school, and- oh god, roommates?"

The horror in her voice causes me to crack a smile, and before I know it we're both laughing at the ridiculousness of this whole situation. The laughter quickly becomes almost maniacal in nature, and I find myself leaning on Ivy's shoulder for support so that I don't fall giggling to the floor.

Once we're able to calm our wild laughter, Ivy glances at me and snorts, "You just can't catch a break, can you?"

"It would appear that way," I groan, falling into a heap on the edge of her bed. I close my eyes, burying my head into my hands before whispering, "I never thought I'd see him again."