Perfect Fifths_ A Jessica Darling Novel - Megan McCafferty [62]
“Who?”
“From you.”
“Me.? Why me? And how does he even know you’re with me?”
[Throat clearing.] “Er, he knows because I told him.”
“When?”
“Right after you ran me over but before you rescued me.”
“You called him?”
“I … told him. I needed to tell someone about it, to confirm that it had actually happened. Why, you didn’t tell anyone? Didn’t you say you talked to Hope earlier? You didn’t say anything to her?”
“Uh, no. Actually, I didn’t. But like I said, Marcus, I’m really, really distracted today. My brain is going in too many different directions.”
“Oh, sure, I can see how you could forget to mention seeing me for the first time in three years. I can see how that would slip your mind.”
[Pause.]
“So, Natty doesn’t approve of me, huh?”
“Not you as a person, just you as a … concept. He was there for everything that happened. And everything that happened afterward. [Throat clearing.] He’s really the best friend I’ve ever had.”
“Better than … uh … oh … ?”
“I assume that by ‘uh … oh’ … you mean Len?”
“I was trying to remember who else you were friends with.”
“There haven’t been too many. There was Hope’s brother, of course.”
“Right.”
“After Heath died, my options were limited. Len was the first one in our class who was willing to give me a chance, to get to know me. I’ll never forget that. And he was a good friend for a while … until…”
“Until… uh …”
“Let’s put it this way. It’s hard to be friends with someone when …”
“You’ve got [cough] competing interests?”
“That’s one way of putting it.”
[Pause.]
“Well. Uh. I never thought you and Natty would get so tight. I had my doubts about your lasting a semester in the same room.”
“What about you and Manda?”
[Cough. Cough. Cough.] “What about me and Manda? What do you know about me and Manda?”
“Nothing. Just that you were improbable roommates for that year in Brooklyn.”
“We were hardly friends. Even on our best days, she was more like an amusing adversary than a friend. We lost touch. I haven’t seen her since Sara and Scotty’s wedding back in 2008. Anyway, I have no idea what she’s up to or where she is, and I don’t really care. So, no. Not friends. Not then. And not now. And really, not ever and—Why are you laughing?”
“No reason.”
“Seriously. Why are you laughing?”
“You won’t think it’s funny.”
“Try me.”
“Oh, Jessica. You’re doing it.”
“Doing what?”
“Doth protesting too much.”
“I am not!”
“You are.”
“Am not… Stop laughing!”
“I’m laughing because the more you say that, the more you’re doing it.”
“Why would I doth protest too much about Manda? There’s nothing to protest.”
“I don’t know why you are doth protesting. I only know that you are.”
nine
(arrested development)
“Do you hear that, Jessica?”
“Christ! That’s my phone again. Where is it?”
“Am I hearing what I think I’m hearing? Is that? Could it be?”
“Dammit, where is my phone? I can never find it when I need it.”
“Is that Barry Man—”
“Yes! It’s Barry Manilow, okay? I have a Barry Manilow ring tone. I keep mashing the wrong buttons on this damn thing today. I must have accidentally taken my phone off vibrate when I checked the message from Bethany. Get over—Oh! Here it is. Oh … It’s from Hope. She sent a picture of… OMIGOD! ACK!” [Laughter.]
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s hard to explain.”
“Let me see.”
“I’m warning you, it’s kind of… uh …”
[Laughter.] “Donkey porn?”
“It’s an inside joke!”
“And you had the nerve to accuse my friend of being a pervert?”
“I accused him of being a sexist, immature dick. Not the same thing.”
[Pause.]
“What if I make an apology for obnoxious behavior that legitimately deserves an apology? Will I still owe you a dollar?”
“All such exemptions will be made on a case-by-case basis. Why? To whom do you owe an apology?”
“Hope.”
“Hope? For what?”
“I wasn’t being fair to her earlier. I shouldn’t have been so eager to mention that she dropped out of school when she’s kicking the art world’s ass right now. I’m happy for her new relationship, too. But to give this apology its due respect, I will confess that, yes, it did rub me the wrong way when you assumed