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All I can do is smile and nod I don’t want to talk about him Not with Cass But I also want to kno he is, what he’s said aboutI said and did We take the elevator down to the main floor and walk to the cafeteria The entire school is like a ghost town, and there are one?" I ask, looking at all of the empty tables and chairs--so different from the last time I ate here

"Yeah, pretty o, and they didn’t waste any tih when she says that, and she s the counter I pick out a sandwich and an apple and then fill a glass with , but I know I need to eat My stomach is empty, and if I want to do remotely well on my exams, I need food

Cass’s tray is loaded with junk food, and it h at the contrast between our two dinners "Hunkering down for winter?" I ask, raising my eyebrows as alk to the table in the corner Cass doesn’t even ask; she knohere I like to sit

"Hey, I have been good all year But ," she says, dropping her tray and pushing the straw into her chocolate e of se," I say, just blinking at her, and she stares back for a few seconds before finally huffing

"Yeah, and guess what? Turns out, it’s hard Like really hard Liketotally different fro her hands into signs I don’t know, before pushing an entiredown her chin

"What does thish

"Yeah, fk you too," she says, throwing a donut on htly

We both finish our dinners quickly, eating silently, and then we e into ering in the hallway and re that I’ with hi MTV when I coet lost in the shoe’re watching So someone else for , so I pull out ht I also sweep down to the list of h every one of them

"Have you talked to him yet?" Cass’s voice surprises me, and I flip my phone off quickly and hide it frois all…I don’t know…messy?" I look back up and stare at her, and we both just sit in our locked gaze, cheeks against our hands and eyes tired

"Yeah But--" she starts, but then pauses, pushing her lips tightly

"But what?"

Cass rolls to her back and holds her ars up in the air, then bends her knees and draws the back to faceto hurt you I mean, I know, you probably feel a little betrayed"

"Very betrayed," I butt in

"Right I know," she continues "But he was sort of put in a really crappy position And he’s been a wreck"

I know I shouldn’t be happy about that But I a I dreaht I dreamt that he showed up in the e office and lifted me into his arms And when I woke up, I was sad that it wasn’t real I want to forgive him But I also want to yell at him And I still see Josh’s face in the uess what?" Cass asks, her cheerful voice a change

"I don’t knohat?" I respond, leaningback and forth soto tell Ty I love him," she says I freeze, then let the s Cass say that, especially after going ho new sides of him, makes me feel hopeful for a lot of reasons