Page 35 of Library or Lattes?

“You have a town messenger here? Of course you do, this place, it’s …”

Theo noticed that my smile had disappeared.

Lennie: Where are you? We’re about to leave for the diner …

Lennie: Will? I’m starting to worry, I ordered you fries and now they’re all cold ☺

Lennie: You’re still coming to the game right?

Lennie: Willa! Write back to me or call me or something!!

Crap.

I stood up and hit the Call button. Lennie picked up after one ring.

“Oh my God, Willa, are you okay?” She sounded panicked, and also like she was surrounded by a huge crowd. She was shouting. “I was about to call your dad.”

“I’m fine. Sorry, Len, I was at the library, you know what it’s like when you kind of get lost in your books. I was doing London stuff …”

“Oh … okay. I get it.”

It was too loud on her end, I could barely hear her.

“I’ll meet you at your place for movie night after the game?” Now it was me who was shouting, and I noticed Jo looking over. I mouthed Sorry.

“No, no, don’t bother, one of Wyatt’s friends is having a party, so we might just go to that …”

“Okay, is Sara at the game?” That was the most important thing.

But there was no answer. She’d been cut off. Or she’d hung up?

I stood there for a minute, guilty. Empty.

I’d completely forgotten about the game during my back-and-forth with Theo. Forgotten about Lennie, Krista, Avery, my favorite fries at the diner, and movie night. The things that used to matter more than anything else.

My thumb hovered over Lennie’s name. I could still make it. There were still two quarters left, and I could squeeze in next to my best friends on the bleachers. And then what? Make small talk about a game I didn’t understand?

I looked at Theo, hunched over his laptop, pretending not to listen to my conversation. He belonged somewhere else, somewhere exciting. And in a few months, so would I.

This was my future. I had to be serious about it. The exam was coming, my essay needed writing. This wasn’t my fault. It was just … priorities.

I shoved my phone back in my pocket.

“Everything okay?” Theo looked up.

I pushed the phone call to the back of my mind as much as I could. “Everything’s fine. So … I’m worried the exam might have questions on European politics and current affairs. I’m totally lost … Do you have any idea about that stuff?” I left the words in the air and watched him nod as if in slow motion. He looked like the kind of person who watched news videos on a loop.

“You’re asking me for help?”

“I won’t make a habit of it, don’t worry.”

“Oh, please feel free. I very much enjoy feeling superior—as you so subtly pointed out to me.” He met my eyes, and his look was so hot that I literally had to look away. “Okay, so … They have a king there? And also a government. So they have a prime minister—”

“No president?”

“Nope.”

“So who makes all the decisions?”