Meet Me After Class

Chapter 54: Off She Goes

So I just broke Adam's heart, again...

I grabbed a pillow and shoved it over my face, then let out a long, pathetic groan. Three days had passed since I told Adam I was New York-bound, ripping both our hearts out in the process. Three days were spent mostly moping around my room, dodging my mom's attempts to cheer me up.

I was wallowing, okay? Let me wallow.

The gut-wrenching goodbye had me sprawled out on my bedspread in my pajamas at 2 p.m., curtains drawn.

I've been ghosting my friends and family, toggling between crying and mindlessly scrolling Pinterest. But I couldn't avoid life forever. And today was Penny's big day.

I glanced at my phone, but there was still no message from her. We always eat her favorite Sneakers bar together on her birthday while blasting Spotify. It was our tradition, rain or shine, just like my movie marathon tradition on my own birthday. But she was probably busy with her girlfriend now.

Ugh, Melissa.

Don't go there, I scolded myself, trying and failing to silence the pang in my chest. I couldn't exactly blame Penny for wanting to celebrate with Melissa. Hadn't I just shattered Adam to follow what my heart wanted?

My spiraling thoughts halted at the sound of my ringtone. I peeked at the caller ID. Speak of the devil...

"Happy birthday!" I answered, injecting brightness into my tone. "Got any big plans tonight?"

"About that..." Penny said. I heard a car door slam in the background. "Melissa is actually picking me up right now. We're road tripping to LA today!"

I nearly dropped the phone.

What the heck? It was her eighteenth birthday, and she was blowing town?

"Wait, what?! You're leaving today? For LA? I thought you were just moving later this summer?"

"Yeah, that was the original plan." As she rambled on with excuses, irritation simmered under my skin. So our decade-long best friendship means nothing to her now?

I bit my tongue before a snippy retort could slip out.

Penny had been talking about moving to LA with Melissa for weeks. I just hadn't realized it would be so soon. And on her damn birthday!

"Wendy, you still there?" she asked. "Look, Melissa got an earlier lease on her apartment there, so we decided, why not head out now?"

"I can't believe you're not going to spend your birthday here," I said, unable to keep all the sharpness from my tone. "We were supposed to hang out tonight. Keep up our Sneakers and Spotify tradition."

"Oh, Wendy," Penny sighed. "You know I love our traditions. We did your cheesy movie tradition last year. I even bought you a book! Okay? But, look, Melissa surprised me with this trip! And it's kind of perfect to hit the road today—like driving straight toward my new life on exactly the day I turn 18. Very symbolic, you know?"

My thumb hovered over the end-call button as I resisted the urge to toss my phone across the room. Her new life with Melissa, apparently, I no longer fit into the picture.

"A little heads-up would've been nice," I said, my voice dangerously cheerful. "But hey, no big deal! Have fun traipsing around LA with Melissa, and don't even worry about the best friend you're abandoning."

"Come on, don't be like that," she pleaded. "You know I hate leaving you behind. But we gotta get out of this town at some point! Expand our horizons."

I scowled at my ceiling. "Yeah, real nice horizon across your girlfriend's backseat."