inside.
I moved the seat back right as Matt got into the passenger side, and we took off. By some kind of stroke of luck, we weren’t going to be late. I dropped Matt off on the other side of campus, where our classes were located and parked Sunny’s car in the lot closest to her building. When I got out, I noticed a planter filled with fresh flowers for the semester. I picked a purple daisy and left it on her dashboard.
Strutting across the great lawn toward my class, I was feeling confident and good, which had been a rare feeling lately. Maybe seeing Sunny this morning and being able to help her gave me some sort of solace I hadn’t realized I was craving. Fixing her car had been easy, but I knew it wasn’t enough. At some point, I needed to actually talk to her and explain my side of things. I just wasn’t ready to do that yet, and I had no fucking idea why not.
Can’t Believe I’m Doing This … Again
Sunny
M
ac had figured out a way to get my keys to me that day after he fixed my car. When I walked out of class, there was a young guy I’d never seen before, holding them in the air along with a note that I assumed was from Mac. It showed exactly where my car was parked with a little hand-drawn map and everything. When I went to my car later that afternoon, I saw the purple flower inside. It hadn’t been there before, so I knew it was from him, but I had no idea what it meant.
I’d texted Mac, telling him thank you, and included a picture of the flower, which was still on my dashboard because I was never taking it out of my car—ever—and he responded a few hours later with a, You’re welcome, but that was it.
There had been no other communication since, and it was driving me freaking batty. That was almost two weeks ago. TWO WEEKS, and I hadn’t seen Mac in person one single time. I hadn’t run into him on campus or spied him from a distance or anything.
He wasn’t in the commissary, or in the commons, or the library, or even at the field the one time I’d worked up enough nerve to pass by it. It was infuriating. When the last person on earth I’d wanted to see was Mac, I’d smacked right into his chest. But now that I was hoping to at least catch a glimpse of him, he was nowhere to be found. Our school was spread out, but it honestly wasn’t that big. I should have been able to see him if I tried hard enough.
I was currently in my kitchen, whipping up a batch of my famous chocolate chip cookies. The act of baking was soothing me, which I appreciated, but knowing why I was making them in the first place was working against me, forcing me into a ball of nerves. There was a get-together tonight at the baseball house, and since I hadn’t talked to Mac in what felt like forever, I thought I’d bake him cookies to thank him for what he’d done with the car. I knew how much he loved them and figured the rest of the guys would, too, if I brought some with me.
My cell phone beeped, and I glanced down at it before picking it up and moving it closer to my face. I didn’t recognize the number even though it was local, and it wasn’t saved in my phone. Pressing on the text button, I read the message.
UNKNOWN: Don’t forget about the kickback tonight!
SUNNY: What kickback?
UNKNOWN: Don’t play dumb with me. I know you put it in your calendar. I watched you, remember?
SUNNY: Who is this?
UNKNOWN: It’s Colin! Don’t tell Mac I’m texting you, okay? I like having all my limbs.
As I added his name to my Contacts list, I laughed, picturing Colin hiding somewhere in the dark and texting me without anyone seeing.
SUNNY: How’d you get my number?
COLIN: You have it on your profile. It’s all linked together somehow. Phone number and email. Speaking of, you should probably take that down. It really isn’t safe.
I had it on my profile? Shit. How come I never noticed that before?
SUNNY: I do? Thanks for the heads-up.
COLIN: The party. Tonight. You’re coming. Right?
SUNNY: Ugh. I’ll be there.
COLIN: Don’t ugh me, Sunny. You need to be there. Mac is driving us all crazy.
That was