You're the Reason - J. Nathan Page 0,17
shoulder. “So, she says.”
“What is it with you and Chantel?”
Her face fell slack. “What do you mean?”
“You don’t seem like you like her.”
She scoffed. “No one likes her. We tolerate her.”
“Why?”
“Because we’re sisters. But, she’s a lot. And her mood swings are impossible to keep up with.”
“I feel the same way about Chase.”
“What made you think he wanted you at the party?”
I closed my eyes, embarrassed to admit it. “I thought he got me an Uber.”
She gasped.
My eyes locked on hers, scared to ask but needing to know. “What?”
“I sent the Uber,” she admitted.
“You?”
“We usually hire one for the night to bring us back and forth from our sorority house—or the dorms now—whenever we’re ready to go. I hoped you’d change your mind about the party, so I told him to head back and wait in case you did.”
I buried my face into my palms feeling like a complete and utter fool.
“I’m so sorry, Sophia.”
“I’m such an idiot.”
CHAPTER NINE
“Go skydiving,” Chantel said as I walked into our dorm room after my afternoon classes the next day. She’d been even busier than Valerie, so I’d seen her even less than Val.
I figured she was on the phone, so I closed the door behind me quietly. But when I turned, I found her sitting on my bed with my jar. “What are you doing with that?”
She held up the mason jar I kept hidden under my bed. “Oh this?” she asked innocently, though she was clearly far from innocent. “I just found it.”
“Under my bed?”
“This is our room. I thought we share things?”
With heat rising into my cheeks, I walked toward her with my hand outstretched. “May I have that back please?”
Ignoring my request, she pulled another small piece of paper from inside the jar and unfolded it.
My pulse slammed hard against my skin. “Chantel?”
“Visit five new states,” she read. “Boring.” She tossed the paper to the side and pulled out another piece and unfolded it.
I reached for my jar but she pulled it back.
“Lose my virginity.” Her eyes instantly jumping to mine. “You’re a virgin?”
I grabbed the jar from her hand. “This is not yours.”
“But we’re friends,” she said. “Aren’t we?”
“A friend doesn’t invade someone else’s privacy.” I grabbed the papers she’d opened and shoved them back into my jar. With a now shaky hand, I closed the lid and held my jar tightly to my chest.
“You’re clearly embarrassed,” she said, offhandedly. “Don’t take it out on me.”
My eyes widened, appalled by her nerve. “You’re the one who snooped through my personal things. How would you feel if I did that to you?”
She looked me dead in the eyes. “What’s mine is yours.” Her words, mixed with her warning the other night, told me what this was really about.
With my jar in hand, I grabbed my backpack and yanked open the door. Without another word, I let the door slam behind me. I hurried down the hallway and away from my room, my heart racing the whole time.
Had she wanted me to find her looking through my jar?
Was she sending a message that she could do what she wanted when she wanted to?
I climbed the stairs to Valerie’s room and knocked on the door. She opened it, smiling once she found me standing there. “Hi.”
Tina was in the room, so I stepped back, not wanting to go inside.
“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked, noting the indecision on my face.
“Can we go somewhere and talk?”
She slipped out of her room and closed the door. “What did Chantel do?”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s so stupid.”
“Come on,” Valerie said, leading me to the stairwell. I followed her down to the first floor and out the back exit of the dorm to the small pond. “She won’t come out here.”
We started walking around the walking path surrounding the pond and made our way halfway before sitting on the first wooden bench we came to. I pulled off my backpack and placed it and the jar down beside me. Still feeling riled up, I gazed out at the pond watching two swans floating by side by side.
Valarie’s eyes cut to mine. “You gonna tell me what Chantel did? I assume it has something to do with that jar.”
“I walked in on her going through it.”
“And it’s something important to you?”
I nodded.
She didn’t pry—like a true friend who knew I’d open up when I was ready. Even though we’d only known each other for a short time, I knew Valerie was a true friend. She was someone I could