Oh shit. Not Elle. L. L for Leena. Oh my god, what just happened? She’ll say something, though. She’ll tell her that it’s pretty impossible for me to be Leena’s boyfriend when I’m already taken.
“Just now,” Leena says, and winks. “You know you have to get the new ones early.”
Seph looks at me and then smiles, extending her hand across the table. “Hi. I’m Persephone.”
I take her hand. “Eric.”
Seph looks at her friend and smiles. “You guys look really cute together.”
“I know, right?” Leena leans close and snaps a selfie of the two of us together. I think I must look like a mannequin, because I’m still so shocked that I can’t even move.
The lunch goes by in a blur, but all I can do is stare at Seph. Her lips. Her hands. Her hair. Her eyes which won’t meet mine. Finally, she glances at me. “I have to get to class. Nice to meet you.”
“I should go too,” I say quickly.
Leena grabs my shirt and plants a big kiss on my cheek. “See you later, baby!”
I don’t even respond as I grab my tray and chase after Seph. I need to talk to her. I need to find out what the hell is going on. She’s ahead of me, dumping her tray, and heading for the door. I dump my tray too and race in her footsteps, nearly crashing into people. “Seph!” I call when I burst through the door. “Seph.”
I think I see a glimpse of her hair, but she’s already gone. She knows the school better than I do, and I don’t know where her class is. I’ll never find her.
It feels like I’ve been strung upside-down by my ankles and shaken. What just happened? Why didn’t she tell Leena who I am?
Unless…
I feel sick. Unless when she wanted to take time apart, she wasn’t planning for us to get back together. Maybe that’s the reason she looked so pale when she saw me.
If she didn’t want to be with me, why wouldn’t she just say that before we left camp? Why would she put us both through this? She knew that I would come for her.
I don’t understand it. I feel dizzy. I need to talk to her. I need to fix this. If I can.
Please.
24
Persephone
Present
Eric’s eyes burn with intensity, and his fingers dig into my arms. He’s desperate to make me hear, and I need to listen. I have to hear it, no matter what it is. He said he was in love with me, and my soul suddenly felt light and happy, and more tears flooded my eyes. I’ve always wanted to hear him say that. And if there’s any chance that it can be real, then I’ll take it.
“When we were together, I knew that I might be transferring to Anderson. But I wasn’t sure, and you were so nervous about us being apart that I didn’t want to get your hopes up. And when I got in, I couldn’t wait to see the look on your face when I found you. I thought you would be so…so happy that I was there. And that we would be able to see each other every day just like we had at camp.”
He takes a breath. “Leena found me lost on the way to one of my classes. She was in it too and made sure that I was her lab partner. It was clear that she was flirting, but I wasn’t interested. When I asked her name, she told me to call her ‘L’. I thought it was the name and not the letter. Seph, if I had known who Leena was, I would have asked her where the fuck you were. I would have skipped that class to come and find you and kiss the hell out of you, just like I had been fantasizing about for weeks.”
The rain starts to lessen as he speaks, and he quiets his voice because he doesn’t have to project over the sound of the downpour.
“Leena asked me if I wanted to go on a date with her going through the cafeteria line. I said that I would think about it, mostly so that she wouldn’t keep asking. And then she introduced me as her boyfriend, and I kept waiting for you to say something. To intervene and clarify. I was so shocked that I couldn’t speak. Fuck, if I could go back to that day and do it over again, I would have gotten myself together and made it precisely, exactly clear that I was not with her.”
“But you didn’t.”
“No.” His voice is anguished. “I didn’t. But I went after you. You disappeared and I couldn’t find you to ask what was going on. And when I saw you after that, you pretended that you didn’t know me. And when I had seen you in the cafeteria you looked so pale that I wondered if you had wanted to break up and didn’t want to tell me. I didn’t know what to do. You wouldn’t talk to me. You cheered Leena on with me. It seemed like you were pushing her toward me, so I gave in.