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I don’t kno long I’ve been sitting there crying when another car rolls up in front of me I look up, and it’s Peter Kavinsky’s black Audi with the tinted s One of them rolls down “Lara Jean? Are you okay?”
I nod o He rolls theback up, and I think he’s really going to drive off, but then he pulls over to the side and parks He cli et the other guy’s insurance info?”
“No, his car was fine” Furtively, I wipe my cheeks with my arm “It was my fault”
“Do you have Triple A?”
I nod
“So you called the”
Peter sits down next toby yourself?”
I turn ”
Peter Kavinsky and I used to be friends, back before he was Kavinsky, when he was Peter K There was a whole gang of us in middle school The boys were Peter Kavinsky and John Airls were Genevieve and me and Allie Feld up, Genevieve lived two streets away from me It’s funny how much of childhood is about proximity Like who your best friend is is directly correlated to how close your houses are; who you sit next to in music is all about how close your narade Genevieve hborhood, and we stayed friends a little while longer She’d co was different By high school Genevieve had eclipsed us She was still friends with the boys, but the girls’ creas over Allie and I stayed friends until shejust a little bit hu about it, like ere two leftover heels of bread and together we made a dry sandwich
We’re not friends anymore Me and Genevieve ornext to him on somebody’s curb like no time has passed
His phone buzzes and he takes it out of his pocket “I’ve gotta go”
I sniffle “Where are you headed?”
“To Gen’s”
“You’d better get going then,” I say “Genevieve will be mad if you’re late”
Peter et up fast I wonder what it’s like to have that much power over a boy I don’t think I’d want it; it’s a lot of responsibility to hold a person’s heart in your hands He’s getting into his car when, as an afterthought, he turns around and asks, “Want me to call Triple A for you?”
“No, that’s okay,” I say “Thanks for stopping, though That was really nice of you”
Peter grins I remember that about Peter—how much he likes positive reinforcement “Do you feel better now?”
I nod I do, actually