you were my best four years

chapter 15

On January 1st, of the brand new year, Thomas makes his very first resolution.

He's in the bitter cold, bundled up in an old blue ski jacket and ratty red gloves. Snow falls lightly from the sky, coating his hair and making it even more cold than it was when they'd arrived at the Public Gardens.

In contrast, Teresa looks positively radiant in a white winter coat and red scarf. Her cheeks are rosy pink and she was smart enough to wear earmuffs.

When the clock struck midnight, she kissed their old high school friend, Jeff, and turned to Thomas. He'd almost expected her to try and kiss him but she kept nodding her heads towards Jeff in a suggestive manner, unsubtly winking her eye.

It took him a humiliating five minutes to understand what was going on before he spins around on his heel and calls over his shoulder, "ByeTeresa."

"Come on!" She coaxes him, trotting after him in black high-heeled boots to keep up. "It's not like you've had proper action in a while. It wouldn'thurt."

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" He asks, stopping abruptly. "Jeff? Jeff? The kid who used to hide in the boys locker room after football practice to watch them shower? You're literally mental."

Teresa rolls her eyes. "Mental, huh? What, are you British now?" Before Thomas can stutter over his words, she continues. "I'm just saying. You're his type. And, uh, well maybe he's yours."

Thomas's eyes widen before his face contorts into the most disgusted expression he can muster. "What?!"

Teresa shrugs, holding her hands up in surrender. "Okay, you could obviously do better, but it's not like Newt's here."

Thomas has to sit down on a bench in order to stop his head from spinning. "Jesus."

"No, I'm Teresa. We get mistaken for each other a lot."

"Dear God."

"I get mistaken for him too."

Thomas looks slowly up at her, exasperation swimming in his eyes. "I forgot how insufferable you can be."

"And I forgot how annoying you can be," Teresa declares, plopping down next to him. "I know you like him."

"Does the entire fucking campus know?"

"If you count me, Brenda, Minho, Sonya, Harriet, Frypan, Alby, Aris, Rachel, Ben, and Gally -"

"Gally? Out of all the fucking people in the world, he knows?"

"Oh, relax." Teresa tells him comfortingly, pulling two silver flasks out of her purse. "Have some rosé. It'll calm your nerves. And it's not like I told him. He found out from Ben."

He's downed the entire flask by the time Teresa's finished her sentence. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

"Stop being such a whiny bastard. It's not the end of the world." She leans in closer to him, close enough that he can see the other flask in her purse, and whispers, "Look, I'm not supposed to tell you this. Minho made me swear not to tell you that he likes you too!"

Thomas doesn't say anything. He pulls the other flask out of Teresa's purse and flicks it open with his thumb, taking a silent shot.

Teresa frowns, her face becoming suspicious. "Why aren't you reacting?"

"I know."

"You know what?"

"I know that he liked me."

"You know?" Teresa exclaims in utter shock, pulling away from him. "We all just thought you were dense."

This time, Thomas does react. He does a double take, as if he's experiencing a case of extreme déjà vu.