nod and step in to hug her, but she’s smarter than me, keeping me at arm’s length so I don’t get paint all over my dress.
I climb into my SUV to drive to the church, and it’s like the universe wants to dig that rusted knife into my gut to make sure I remember what happened, because Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason” plays on the radio. I’m there at that party our senior year when everything that had been simmering for years finally boiled over.
“Want anything to drink?” Owen asks, already stepping toward the keg in the kitchen.
“No, I’m good.” I scour the living room of the house party. This is the third party that we’ve been to tonight, but this one makes my heart thump harder because Kingston’s truck was parked along the curb.
“Hey, Stella.” My friend Jenny comes to my side. “Aren’t you dying to get to New York?”
I nod. I’ve been accepted to NYU for the fall semester, and although I hate to leave my mom, I can’t stay here and become the kind of doctor I want.
“I thought you and Owen weren’t a thing anymore,” she says, following my vision to him now doing a keg stand.
“We aren’t, but we’re still friends.”
We’ve already decided neither one of us wants a long-distance relationship. At first, we agreed to take it day by day, but I know Owen well enough to know that after I get on that plane, I won’t be on his radar anymore. The breakup is probably too amicable for us being together for a little over a year, which says a lot.
I talk with Jenny for a bit about how she’s going to Idaho, along with a few of our classmates. Owen is sticking around and opting for community college. Kingston hasn’t told anyone where he’s going, but my assumption is he’ll stick around too.
Owen never returns, but I catch him standing by the keg, talking to some guys from the baseball team.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom,” I say to Jenny.
I weave between people dancing in the hallway, but my feet freeze when I spot Kingston, a beer held to his lips and Renee Quayle at his side. She’s caging him to the wall.
I slip past by them to the bathroom. “Excuse me.”
“Hey, Stella,” Kingston says, nodding at me.
“Oh, hey, Stella,” Renee says.
“Hey, guys.” I smile and grab the doorknob to open the door, but it’s locked. So I lean against the wall to wait, wishing I could disappear.
“Come on. My parents aren’t home.” Renee probably thinks she’s whispering, but my guess is the Solo cup of spiked punch in her hand isn’t her first drink.
“Nah, we’re graduating soon. Don’t you want to hang out with everyone?” Kingston asks.
“I only care about hanging out with you.”
I glance at them from the corner of my eye and see her slide closer to him, her hand running down his chest.
“I’ll just come back later,” I say, sliding past them to escape the feeling that someone has their hand gripped around my throat, squeezing.
“Hey.” Kingston grabs my wrist. “Hold up. I need to talk to you about something.”
“King!” Renee screeches.
He looks at her as if she came out of thin air, and I wonder how many beers he’s drank tonight. “Give me a sec and then we’ll continue this conversation.”
Renee smiles, appeased. “Make it quick.” Then she bounces off down the hall.
The bathroom door opens. Kingston grabs my hand, saying a fleeting hello to whoever was in there, then drags me inside and locks us in the bathroom.
My gut knots. “We can’t be in here alone.”
He shakes his head. “I don’t give a shit about Owen. I have a surprise. You still going to New York?” He puts his arms on either side of my waist, pinning me against the counter and my heart rate picks up. He doesn’t look drunk.
I nod.
“I just got a partial funding to Bentley University. It’s division two, but they want me to pitch for them. It’s, like, four hours away from you.”
I haven’t seen him this happy in forever. His energy and excitement burst out of him like the popped cork of a champagne bottle. “Okay…”
“Okay? We can finally be together, on our own. You told me last week how much you were going to miss me when you left.” He steps closer to me. God, he smells so good.
“What about Owen?”
“Fuck Owen. Jesus, Stella, you know how much work I did to make this happen? How many