Uncovering You: The Complete Series (Mega Box Set) (234 page)

“What?”

She nods. I can see tears reflect in her eyes. “My family found out about what happened. Apparently, the resident dean got in touch with them. They want me to come home, and…” she makes air quotes, “…
heal
.”

My breath catches. “How long have you known?”

“Since last Tuesday. I’m sorry for not telling you sooner.” She forces a smile. “It’s not that bad. I’ve fallen behind in my classes since the hospital stay. I’m failing some of them.”

My eyes start to sting with tears, too. “Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask. All that’s happened tonight is forgotten. “I could have helped! I could have talked to the professors with you, maybe done some of your assignments—”

Katy touches my knee to stop me. “Thank you. You’re sweet to me, even after what you just saw with Andrew.”

I wipe at my eyes with the back of my wrist. “That doesn’t matter,” I mutter. “I’m doing the same thing with Spencer for you. I’m not that much of a hypocrite to be blind to it.”

Katy scooches one step higher and hugs me. “You’re amazing,” she whispers in my ear. “I don’t think I deserve a friend half as good as you.”

“Katy…” I’m sniveling. “…Don’t say that. I don’t want you to leave.”

“I know,” she says. “I don’t want to go, either. But sometimes things like this are out of our control.” She pulls back to look at my face. “Especially when we’re young.”

“When are you leaving?” I ask.

“My parents hired a moving truck to come this weekend. I’ll be gone by Monday.”

“But that’s so soon!” I protest.

“I know. We’ll stay in touch, though, won’t we?” Katy smiles through her own tears. “You’ll have to keep me updated on everything that happens between you and Spencer. I told you before, he’s not a bad guy. And I believe with all my heart that you are the right girl for him. The one he will change everything for.”

I look away. “You don’t know that.”

“I know
you
. And I know him. You both deserve to be happy. I don’t think anyone’s better suited to give you that than Spencer.” Katy takes my hands. “Look after yourself, Paige. You have a big heart. Don’t be too free with your emotions, but don’t lock them away, either. Even if I’m wrong about Spencer, you’ll find someone worthy of you, eventually. When you do, keep him close.
Never let go
.”

She sighs and stands up. “I know about how easy it is to lose someone you love.”

I rise with her. “Who?” I whisper.

Katy tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear then closes her jacket against the cold. “My first boyfriend. We dated for four years, all through high school. He proposed to me the night after prom. I loved him, but the commitment scared me. We were too young. I told him as much. He said I could wait until the end of summer to make my decision. We were both supposed to go to school here.”

Katy turns away. Her voice cracks. “In the end, I told him ‘no.’ It devastated him. He waited until the day of my flight to tell me he wasn’t coming to school with me.

“A few months later, he committed suicide by taking a lethal dose of meds.”

“…” I have no words.

“I’m okay now,” Katy continues. “But that’s why I left last year. Not because of problems with roommates. I couldn’t deal with the guilt or the grief.

“I went home for his funeral. I saw his parents. They told me it wasn’t my fault. They said it was the drugs the doctors gave him for his depression. Except, the pills made it worse.

“The advice they gave me next made me who I am today. They told me I should live my life without regret.” She tries to laugh. “I guess I took the advice kind of liberally.”

Without another word, she starts to walk away. “Where are you going?” I ask.

“This might be the last night I get this year to walk around campus,” she says over her shoulder. “I want a chance to say goodbye.”

I let her go. I can tell she needs to be alone. My vision is blurred by tears as I watch her shape get smaller and smaller before disappearing into the night.

Then, I drag myself up the seven flights of stairs, plod through the living room, and collapse into bed.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Pickles wakes me the next morning. He’s scratching the door to my bedroom, wanting his breakfast.

I sit up and look at the clock. It’s late. Katy’s not in her bunk. Neither is she in the extra bedroom down the hall, or on the living room sofa.

I wonder where she ended up last night. I can hardly believe she’s leaving. Right now, it almost feels like she’s already gone.

As I’m pouring myself a glass of OJ, I’m hit by an uncomfortable realization: With Katy gone, how am I going to afford board?

I feel guilty about thinking of that instead of the impending departure of my friend, but it’s something I will have to figure out.
Soon
.

I’m busy writing a text to the aquatics director when a knock on the door makes me turn my head. “Just a minute!” I call out.

I finish the text, explaining how I won’t be able to work this weekend because of Katy’s move, and cringe when I hit “send.” Between all my missed practices and work absences, I don’t even know if I’ll be allowed in the pool next time I show up.

The knock comes again. I grumble to myself, wishing I had the presence of mind to change into some real clothes when I got up. As it stands, all I’m wearing is a loose black tank top and Minnie Mouse pajama bottoms.

I peek through the eyehole before opening the door. My heart freezes.

It’s Andrew.

Andrew
? What on earth is he doing here? I feel my pulse rise, and force myself to take slow, deep breaths.
Stay calm, Paige
, I think, giving myself an internal pep-talk.
He’s probably here for Katy, anyway. Chances are we won’t even have to talk about what happened.

A third knock makes me jump. I felt the force of it through the wood.

I put my hands on the handle and take one last breath. Andrew’s not going to go away, and the sooner I deal with him, the better.

I open the door. “Hello.”

It’s hard to keep my voice even. Andrew is dressed to the nines in his usual preppy garb. His dark gold, slightly-curly hair is longer than when I first met him. I bet he hasn’t cut it since then.

My fingers itch to run through it, which is odd, because any leftover attraction I had for him disappeared last night.

“Hello, Paige,” Andrew smiles. Nothing about his demeanor gives any clue to the events of yesterday. “I was hoping I’d see you. Can I come in?”

I bar the entry with one arm. “Katy’s not here.”

He chuckles. “I’m not here for Katy. I’m here for you.”

I frown at him. “Why?”

“To explain myself. I didn’t like how we left things last night.”

“You mean, you don’t like how you got caught sneaking behind my back with my roommate,” I correct. Then, I shrug. “Don’t worry about it. I’m over you.”

Andrew flinches. “Paige. Please don’t say that. I know I screwed up. But I still have feelings for you.”

I laugh. “That’s funny. Is that what you told Katy
before
or
after
you had sex with her for the first time?”

The words roll off my tongue. I think I’m getting the hang of this whole talking-about-sex thing.

“Paige, I never—”

“Save it, Andrew. I was
here
, the first night you came back with her.” I point behind me. “Just down the hall, in my room. I saw your sneakers by the door.”

That last bit is a total guess on my part, but the guilty look that crosses Andrew’s face tells me I hit my mark.

“Okay, so I came here with her,” Andrew admits, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “But we did
not
have sex. We talked.”

I roll my eyes. “Really? Really, Andrew? Of all the possible excuses, you come up with
that
one? You would have had better luck trying to convince me it wasn’t you.”

“It’s the truth,” Andrew insists. “Why would I lie?”

I scoff. “I can think of some pretty good reasons.”

He shakes his head. “Whatever you believe, I’m not like that.” He lowers his voice. “Can I come inside? I’m taking a big risk being here. Somebody might see.”

“I thought you forgot all about your ‘rules,’ after what you did with Katy,” I mutter. Still, for some reason, I step back and let him through.

It’s probably because I know he won’t leave me alone until we’ve had this talk.

“So this is what your place looks like during the day,” Andrew comments. “I’ve never been inside with the sun out. Except that day we moved in, but you hadn’t decorated yet”

“Don’t get too used to it.” I direct him to the couch. He sits on the edge. I remain standing.

“So?” I cross my arms. “You said you wanted to talk. Well, talk!”

Andrew rubs his hands together and brings them to his lips to exhale. “You’re not going to make this easy on me, are you?”

“I don’t see why I should.”

“Okay.” Andrew looks around the room, hesitant. “Jordan misses you,” he says.

That hits me right in the gut. I like the little guy. Since our basketball victory, I haven’t found time to spend with him.

“You can tell him I miss him too, and that I haven’t forgotten our bet,” I say. I make a point of not looking at Andrew. “
Next
.”

“He was really excited when I told him you’d be hanging out with us a lot more come winter,” Andrew says.

I grind my teeth. “Oh, no. You are
not
going to guilt me into anything. It’s your fault things blew up. Not mine.”

Okay, that might not be the whole truth, but I’m not about to go and point that out. Especially when I’m determined to stay mad at him.

Andrew narrows his eyes. “What about all the time you’ve been spending with Spencer?” he asks quietly.

“If that’s all you came here to say, you might as well leave,” I state, holding my ground. His objection doesn’t change the fact that I caught him sneaking around with my best friend.

Andrew gives no indication of moving. “Paige, please close the door. I’m sorry. All I meant was that I’m not the only guilty party here.”

“So you’re going to pin this on me,” I say flatly. “You’re going to blame
me
for what happened between you and Katy?”

“For the last time, nothing happened!” Andrew roars, surging to his feet.

The explosion makes me take a step back.

He starts pacing the living room. “Look. I came here to tell you what happened. To give you the full story. I know what it looked like from the side, especially to you. If you give me a chance to explain, maybe you can change your mind about
us
.”

“I doubt it,” I say.

“One chance, Paige,” Andrew says, holding up his forefinger. “Just give me one chance.”

“I let you in, didn’t I?” I sigh, closing the door. “You have your chance. Now hurry up and use it.”

“Okay.” Andrew nods. My consent seems to energize him. “Thank you, first of all. I wasn’t even sure if you were going to be willing to talk to me—”

“On with it, Andrew,” I say, my voice thin with impatience.

“Okay. Okay. Here’s the thing. I know what you saw last night. And I know what it looked like. But Katy and I have
not
had sex.”

“It’s your life,” I point out. “You can do whatever you want. Why should I care who you sleep with? It’s not like we’re in a relationship.”

“No, but we were
going
to be. I was going to wait for you, Paige.”

“Except you got impatient and decided to try your luck with my roommate,” I sneer. “Are we done? I have things to do that are more important than this.”

“It’s not like that,” Andrew grates. “Look. I’m older than most students here. How old do you think I am?”

“I don’t know. Twenty-one, twenty-two? Why does it matter?”

“I’m twenty-
five
,” Andrew stresses. “And Spencer’s a year older than me, if he hasn’t told you that.”

“So what?” I ask. It doesn’t really surprise me that Spencer is seven years my senior. It’s a little strange that he’s still an undergrad, I’ll admit, but like Katy said, some people just like the college scene. Spencer definitely strikes me as one of those. “How do you know Spencer’s age, anyway? What is it between the two of you?”

Andrew laughs. “You mean, he hasn’t told you?”

I shake my head. “He’s about as forthcoming as you are.”

“He’s my step brother.”

The room suddenly seems to darken. The walls spin, and I have to catch myself against the counter not to fall.

Andrew rushes a few steps toward me. I shake my head and hold out one hand to make him stop. “I’m okay.”