I dry my hands of the bubbles and lean over to grab my phone, hoping to God that I don’t drop it in the bath. The last thing I need to worry about a few days before starting college is paying for a new phone.
I open it up to a text from Noah and a smile instantly spreads across my face before it’s replaced with a heavy scowl.
Noah – What did you do to Tully?
Henley – What do you mean? I didn’t do anything to her.
Noah – She’s pissed off and it wasn’t me or Spencer…so that only leaves one.
Henley – Are you forgetting about Aiden?
Noah – Aiden wouldn’t know how to piss off Tully, and even if he did, he’d just shake his dick at her and it’d all be right in the world.
Henley – Shit. Are you sure one of her authors didn’t just kill off a character? You know how she gets when that happens.
Noah – Nope. Not that. No Kindles, books, or phones have been thrown through the window all night.
Henley – PMS?
Noah – I don’t fucking know. Just get over here and fix it before it turns into World War Fucking Three.
I let out a sigh. Don’t get me wrong, I love my Tully, but all I want to do is close my eyes in this warm bath and let the world take me away until I’m a pruney mess and the water starts getting cold.
Henley – Fine. I’ll be there in 15 but you owe me.
I get my ass out of the bath and look down at it with nothing but heartbreak. “I’ll be back,” I whisper to the bath. “So long my fair prince.”
I get myself dressed in a pair of sweatpants and one of Noah’s old shirts before tying it at my waist to avoid looking like one of those rappers from the ’90s. I creep out to the living room to see Ari sitting up at the dining table coloring, concentrating with everything she’s got to the point her tongue is poking out.
I wave at dad, trying to silently get his attention. If Ari saw me leaving, she’d want to come with me, and I have a feeling that I won’t be walking back through this door for a long few hours.
Dad looks over and I mouth a goodbye before grabbing my keys and slipping out the front door.
I pull up to Noah and Tully’s place twelve minutes later and grin to myself for a job well done. Getting out of my car, I grab my phone, slip it into the back pocket of my jeans, and get on with it. The sooner I make sure my best friend is ok, the sooner I can snuggle up in my bed and rest. Hell, I might even go looking for a new Netflix series and binge before my nights go back to studying.
Just as I reach for the front door, it’s pulled open from the other side and Tully comes storming through it. She doesn’t even startle at seeing me standing here so she must have heard my car pull up and assume that Noah had called for back-up.
“What’s going on?” I ask as she walks straight past me with her keys in her hand. “What happened?”
Tully unlocks her car and dives for the door as I follow behind her, trying to get a read on her face before she takes off. “Nothing, I just…I don’t want to talk about it.”
“But you’re ok, right? You’re not about to go and drive your Jeep into the beach, are you?”
She scoffs and I hear a sigh by the door. I glance back to find Noah standing in the open doorway with his hands upon the doorframe, leaning into it with concern etched on his face.
“Look,” Tully says, stealing my attention right back. “I just need a little space to clear my head. I’m fine.” At my look, she rolls her eye. “Really. I’m fine. I just need an hour or two to be alone.”
“Ok,” I tell her, giving in and stepping back from her Jeep. “Call me if you need me and I’ll be happy to come be alone with you.”
Tully gives me a nod and closes her door before turning the key and taking off like a bat out of hell, leaving me facing Noah with an accusing look. “You did something, didn’t you?”
His hands fly out in front of him in innocence as he shakes his head “I had nothing to do with it.”
“You didn’t put one of her prized possessions in the freezer again? Hair dye in her shampoo? Tied her shoes together?”
“Nope.”
“Damn,” I murmur, walking towards him as I try to figure it out. “Are you sure Spencer didn’t say something? He didn’t try to force the topic of ’them’?”
“I don’t think so,” he says. “If he did, I’ll beat the shit out of him and he knows it. He’s pretty fucking stupid, but I don’t think he’s that stupid.”