29

On Wednesday afternoon, I walked with Tyler and Everly to The Roasted Bean. We were going to have a study session after our classes, and I was surprised Sabrina wasn't tagging along. Everly made a point to leave her phone at the dorm before we left.

"Are you having issues?" I asked her as we walked across campus.

Everly shrugged. "It's fine."

"Ev. Tell me." Tyler exchanged a look with me and started walking ahead of us. I was amazed how we were so in sync sometimes that we could communicate without saying anything.

Everly shrugged again. "Sometimes, I think I'm too much of a free spirit for her. Look how different we are. I want to be a freelance photographer, and she's going to be a marine biologist. That's so structured, and photography is, well, not."

"But, you love her, right? And, she loves you?"

She hesitated. "I never told you I did."

"You didn't have to. If she really does love you like she says she does, you won't be too much for her. Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Just don't want you to lose who you are while you're trying to figure out who you are with her."

At the counter, I decided on a peanut butter cup shake. It was pretty straight forward – salty peanut butter and sweet chocolate chunks mixed in creamy vanilla ice cream.

Everly and Tyler both looked at me expectantly after I tried it. "I think my favorite is still apple cider."

We spent the next few hours working on homework and joking. Everly and I laughed harder than we had in months, and Tyler couldn't stop smiling with us. It was a great afternoon, and I think we all needed it.

***

Tyler went back to his room when we got back to the dorm.

"What's the story with you two?" Everly asked me as we stood outside our closed doors.

"We haven't really had that conversation yet," I admitted. Then, I said softly, anticipating her next question. "But, I think I'm starting to fall in love with him."

"Talk to him. I'm pretty sure he's in love with you, too."

I opened my mouth to dispute it, but she cut me off. "You haven't seen the way he looks at you."

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and I was almost sure that it was Tyler.

"I'll talk to him," I said, pulling her into a spontaneous hug. "And, I hope you can smooth things over with Sabrina."

She smiled at me and then turned around to go into her room.