Page 63 of Never Not Friends

Vinny falls back with me, walking side by side. “What happened at Starbucks?”

“Nothing.” I shake my head.

“Did you talk to that guy?”

“Only for a second.”

“He’s right. It is surprising that someone like you is single.”

I eye him from the side, hating how much his words mess with my heart. My chin lifts. “Well, maybe I won’t be single for long. Who knows what will happen with him.”

Vinny’s head kicks back. “You didn’t give him your real number, did you?”

My feet stop abruptly. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Vinny notices my pause and turns. “I just didn’t think you’d be interested. I didn’t think he was your type.”

“And what is my type, Vinny?” I can’t believe the directness behind my voice or my stare. But I’m tired.

I’m tired of all of this.

His gaze holds mine for a few seconds, then he sniffs out a bitter laugh. “I don’t have a clue what your type is, Emma. I only know what it’s not.”

I blink back at him.

He shakes his head, just once, before jogging to catch up to Juliet.

EMMA

9th Grade - April

Juliet is a best-friend traitor.

Traitor.

And do you know what happened to traitors in the olden days? Well, I didn’t either, but Mr. Delgada knows, and you better believe when he started talking about it in history class, I perked up and listened. Attentively.

Traitors were so bad that they used to be executed by hanging, drawing, and quartering, which, according to Mr. Delgada, meant disemboweled, beheaded, and divided into four parts. And after all that, their remains were displayed publicly.

But this isn’t old-school England.

This is Gilbert, Arizona.

And the only thing that’s getting quartered and put on public display here is my broken heart.

Over and over again.

“Everyone, gather around to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Emma and Vinny!” my mom calls over the crowd of teenagers. She waves me to come to the kitchen island, where there’s a cake with thirty-two candles waiting. Sixteen on the chocolate half and sixteen on the vanilla half.

You see, Vinny’s birthday is two days behind mine.

Ever since we got together, we’ve planned on having a joint sixteenth birthday party to mark the almost end of the school year and the beginning of being able to drive before all our friends.

I just never imagined Vinny would show up to our birthday party with Juliet as his girlfriend and not me.

But two days after I told my best friend that I didn’t want her to pursue Vinny, they were together. Like, walk-her-to-class, holding-hands boyfriend and girlfriend.

So much for standing up to Juliet with my feelings.