our place and let the sun burn the memories of today from our bodies?”
“Yes, please,” Taylor said.
Vee sighed. “I’d love to, but I need to go upstairs and figure out how to pay your mom back for that dress.”
I wanted to argue that when Brody came clean about the whole thing, my mom would never expect Vee to repay her for the dress. And it was much more useful hanging in our attic so it could be used as a talisman of guilt that she could lord over Brody for the rest of his life. But I didn’t think Vee would believe that nor would it probably make her feel better.
“Brody is totally on the hook for that dress,” I said. “Not you.”
It didn’t look like that made her feel any better either, so I leaned in for a hug. “Let me know if you change your mind.”
She gripped me back, tighter than I would have expected. “Will do.”
When she pulled away, Taylor also embraced her before we said our goodbyes. When we were back in Taylor’s car, I slumped back in the seat.
“What a shitshow.”
Taylor began laughing. “It was so much fun to watch.”
“So glad you enjoyed it. I love being a source of entertainment for you.”
“I love it too!” Taylor put the car in gear and backed out of the parking space.
Once we’d gotten on our way, I turned to my best friend. “Hey, Tay?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we talk about earlier?”
I noticed Taylor’s grip tighten on the steering wheel.
“I guess.”
I wasn’t surprised she knew what I was referring to, only confirming that she had reacted oddly.
“You want to wait until we’re home?” I asked.
“No, I think I’d rather have something else to focus on while I talk.”
That sounded borderline unsafe, but whatever made her comfortable. I waited a minute for her to start speaking, but when she didn’t, I did.
“So what happened?”
Taylor took a deep breath. “A guy I was dating in the fall got a little…weird.”
“Weird how? And how come I didn’t know you were dating anyone?”
“It was super casual. We only went out like four times.”
“And then he got…weird?”
“Yeah,” she said on an exhale. “Well, I guess he was weird from the beginning, but it seemed kind of like quirky-weird and not I’m going to show up everywhere you are and force my presence on you weird.”
“Shit, is that what he did?” It suddenly made sense why my stalker joke had caused a reaction in her.
“Yeah.”
“Did you report it?” I asked.
She let out a humorless laugh. “What would I report? It’s not like he followed me down dark alleys or left me notes with letters cut out from magazines. He just happened to be places I was. Parties, bars, the cafeteria, the library, just random places. But it happened often enough that it couldn’t have been coincidence.”
“Did you call him out on it?”
She shot me a dry look. “Have we met?”
“And what did he say?”
“He accused me of being paranoid. Said he had a right to go wherever he wanted to go and how was he supposed to help it that we had so much in common that we liked to go the same places. And then he smiled at me and tried to strike up a conversation. I tried to stay as far from him as I could after that.”
“When did it stop?”
She glanced over at me. “When I left to come here.”
“Jesus Christ,” I practically yelled. “He did this all year?”
“Yeah.”
I was quiet for a couple of minutes, which was long enough for us to pull into the parking lot of our complex. Taylor parked, but neither of us moved to get out.
“I…I don’t know what to say. Why didn’t you ever tell me any of this?”
Taylor emitted a frustrated sound that was almost a growl. “I don’t know. You had so much going on, and I—”
“I never, ever have too much going on to be there for you. I would’ve been out there in a hot minute if you’d needed me.”
“No, I know. But I was…embarrassed, I guess. I always try to put on this tough-as-nails persona, but honestly I barely stood up to this guy. Granted, I called him out on following me, but I didn’t get really crazy on him like I would’ve expected myself to. I even told my friends to just stay out of it and not confront him. I don’t know why. It’s like I just became this scared wimp all of a sudden.”
“Hey, look at me,” I said, my