I wipe my mouth with a napkin then place it in my now empty cup. "Thanks for the ice cream."
"Anytime,"
I lean back in the bench seat and look up at the nearly blank night sky. Wilbur does the same, then looks over at me.
"I released the full EP last night."
I face him. "What?"
"The songs I wrote about you."
I sit back up and smile at him, suddenly forgetting that I have a wasted boyfriend somewhere, possibly wondering where I've gone. "For real?"
He nods. "Look up 'Your City Gave Me Asthma'."
I open Apple Music on my phone and search like he said. I look through the track list.
Jubilee Line
Saline Solution
Since I Saw Vienna
Losing Face
Your Sister Was Right
La Jolla
I'm Sorry Boris
I press play and set my phone down, leaning back again. I close my eyes and feel Wilbur shuffling over, resting against me.
As we listen to the whole album, I decide that Since I Saw Vienna is my favorite, remembering the weekend that we went to Vienna and how fun it was, and I think it's the song that is most about me.
"What's with Your Sister Was Right?" I ask when the last song fades out.
Wilbur lets out a light chuckle. "I never told you, but Sofia, for some reason, told Cora about me after you left. I guess Sofia talked shit about me, 'cause Cora said that you should never trust English boys, I'm just a problem, I don't deserve you, and that I was a wanker. So it inspired me."
"Cora said that?" I laugh, surprised my 12 year old sister would say that stuff. "Me and her need to have a talk, then."
We're silent for awhile, then he asks, "What were your favorite lyrics?"
I sigh and lick my lips, thinking of what stuck with me. "'I was gonna wait for you', when you talked about my bomber jacket, 'shout at the walls, 'cause the walls don't fucking love you', 'you know I've tried hard to love me too', and 'as long as you're happy, I don't care'."
"Yeah, those are pretty good."
I turn my face towards him, and he does the same. "I had forgotten how nice your voice was. You really wrote and produced all that in a few months?"
"I had nothing else to do." His voice is now low to a whisper, and I glance down at his lips. Oliver is completely out of my mind now as I lean forward, and Wilbur's hand goes to my cheek.
We both jump at the sound of my phone ringing. Wilbur sits up straight and clears his throat, while I answer the call from Oliver.
"Hello?"
"Where are you?"
"Uh, Pen Park."
"Why did you leave?"
I scratch my head. "I mean, I was pretty bored."
"Are you alone?"
I bite my lip. "No. I'm with Wilbur. We just got some ice cream.
"Seriously?" Oliver lets out a deep sigh. "Do you really expect me to be okay with you sneaking off with your ex?"
"Nothing's going on, O. We're just listening to music. We're friends."
"Just the other day, you were talking about how annoying and obsessive he is, and now you're best friends?"
I look over at Wilbur, hoping he didn't hear that, but his expression shows that he did. "Oliver, can we talk about this later?"
"I just don't-"
I decide to hang up on him, and Wilbur laughs. "Seriously?"
"Wilbur, I-"
"I'm obsessive?"
I shrug, scared to have an argument. "You did cry and beg me to stay. And you text me, like, every other week."
Wilbur gets up and stands in front of me. "Because I was in love with you, Ellie. And I texted you because I still wanted us to be friends, in case you ever changed your mind about a long-distance relationship."
"Well, you transferred to my school." I scoff. "That's kind of weird, Wil."
"I didn't transfer all because of you. Like I said a million times, I wanted the good education. Not everything is all about you."
"I have a boyfriend and you just tried to kiss me!"
Wilbur laughs, "You were the one who leaned in, not me. I'm not the one who has someone to stay faithful to. Sure, I wish you weren't with him, and I wish I wasn't so tempted to be with you, but I'm not going to try to ruin what you have. Even if your new boyfriend is an asshole."
I stay silent for a second, then stand up. I shove him back a bit and grab my phone. "He's not an asshole." I turn away and walk from him, feeling frustrated as tears begin to collect in my eyes.
"Keep telling yourself that!" He calls out from behind me.
I call Oliver back as I'm walking, but he doesn't answer. No one answers any of my calls, so I just head to my dorm.
I collapse on my bed and close my eyes so I don't cry. I know that my words against Wilbur have been pretty harsh, and wish he didn't hear what Oliver said.
I tell Siri to shuffle Wilbur's album and get under my covers, letting myself fall asleep to his voice.
