The Improbability of Forever (Kismet #2) ✓

24. The Truth is Out

Twenty-Four

The Truth is Out

Monday felt almost like a glorious day from a few months ago, before all the moving drama and the Andrew drama and me wondering what I was supposed to do with my life now that I'd be leaving Florida in just a little while. It was beautiful outside, I didn't crash the car driving to school, and Cody was waiting for me by my locker when I got there.

"Hey," I said, opening it and quickly catching a textbook that was about to fall out.

He leaned against the locker beside me, and it felt so familiar that I couldn't help but smile. "How was the rest of your Sunday?"

"Great." For once, I wasn't lying. Once I'd gotten home from the ice cream shop, I'd taken Macy for a long jog through the neighborhood, thinking as hard as I could about all the reasons why Cody and I shouldn't have a relationship without a label for these next few weeks. I'd come up with nothing. Why not make the most of the time we had left together?

Obviously neither of us were fooled. We hadn't so much as said we'd start dating again, but once he'd kissed me it had become clear. Now, all that was left to figure out was what we'd do after I moved. But that was so far away that it felt like centuries in this newly revived Cody-and-Quinn bliss.

"Have you talked to Andrew yet?"

The gleeful jumping butterflies in my stomach deflated a little. I had not so much as texted Andrew since he'd left me at my house on prom night. He was probably confused, worried, and a little upset. What's more, I still didn't know why exactly he'd done what he'd done.

Cody took my silence to mean that I hadn't reached out to him. "You guys should really talk," he said. "You owe him an explanation, and he owes you one, too."

"Yeah." I pulled out my chemistry notebook and shut my locker with my hip. "But seriously, whose idea was this little swap thing at prom?"

"His."

"Seriously?" I squinted my eyes, studying him for any indication that he was joking. "Why would he suggest that?"

Cody leaned closer conspiratorially, as if anyone bustling through the hallway was interested in eavesdropping on our conversation. "He called me a few days before prom with the idea. As he put it, you weren't over me and he wanted to give you a chance to sort out your feelings and maybe have the prom he'd suspected you wanted. Of course I agreed—I wanted to go to prom with you really bad and now that I know you're moving it sucks that we won't ever have a real prom together."

The next time I swallowed it tasted sour, but I nodded to urge him to continue.

"That's basically it. I want to hate Andrew because he kind of stole you from me, but he's a nice guy. He didn't do it for any screwed-up selfish reason. Maybe I'm selfish because I took advantage of that kindness and agreed to show up at you guys's prom."

"I'm glad you did, even if it was a little selfish." My smile widened. "It was selfish of me to lie to you about moving, so I'd say we're even."

"Deal." He leaned forward to kiss my forehead, and I could feel his smile. "Ready for chem?"

"Ready."

The rest of the day continued in this simple happiness. After lunch, Cody and I walked into French class together, taking our normal seats by Maybelline and Julia. After one look at Cody's and my proximity to each other, Julia yanked me closer to her by my sleeve and hissed, "Forgive me for seeming out of the loop, but wasn't Andrew the one you went to prom with?"