The One After [SHAWN MENDES]

Chapter 120

I was going on my first date since Shawn and I broke up. I hadn't activated any dating apps yet, but a month after Liam's initial invitation (and several subsequent offers), I decided he deserved a chance. He was due to pick me up at seven, so an hour beforehand, I began getting ready.

As I rustled through my closet, I wasn't sure what I should wear. I called Fallon and asked her to put her phone on speaker so I could get Briya's input, too.

"Are you going for sexy or person-next-door?" Fallon asked.

"Definitely not sexy. I think I went too far in that direction at your party, so hopefully he doesn't think that's how I always dress."

Briya giggled. "But that was different. You wanted to look good for a certain someone and clearly it worked. Are you telling Shawn that you're dating?"

"No. I told him that night that I was going to start, but I don't think I need to let him know that I'm finally taking the plunge."

"You two are definitely on the same page?" Fallon queried further. "Meg told us that Brian said he calls you a lot. What if he thinks you are working towards getting back together?"

"This is all a bit too middle school for me," I replied with exasperation. "I don't know what Shawn thinks. We're friends, and that's for the best. He never forgave me for keeping the dream from him, and I'm assuming he still believes that while we were together, I didn't love him as much as he loved me. If he thinks we're going to kiss and make up, wouldn't he share with me that he was over those things?"

"You already covered the kissing part," Briya reminded me. "You both need to realize that you're meant for each other and let go of the past mistakes."

"I thought we agreed that you two meddlers were going to back off," I said sharply.

"Sorry. I guess this isn't great timing for this topic anyway since you're about to go out with our neighbor. Think you'll have sex?" Fallon asked.

"Doubtful."

"You've had a pretty long drought," Bri said. "The pipes might be getting rusty."

"Ew. Can we please get back to the reason I called? What the fuck am I going to wear?"

"Your black pocketless pants always make your ass look good, why not those with a silky blouse?" Fallon suggested.

"I can't do pants or jeans because they are all too big."

"Are you still having trouble gaining back the weight?" Briya asked.

"Yes. I lost two more pounds even with the addition of weight gain shakes, so I'm scheduled to see a gastroenterologist next week for an upper GI endoscopy. They have to sedate me for it, and I'm dreading that. It's too much like being in a coma, even if it's only for a short time."

"Do you need one of us to take you? I can take off work," Fallon kindly offered.

"My dad already arranged to do it, which meant I had to have an honest discussion with him about what's going on. I did it over dinner with Jennifer so that she could reassure him I'll be okay. My uncles are making me a bunch of soup for afterwards, because of course he told them."

"Is there a chance you won't be okay?" Bri asked.

"A slight one, otherwise they wouldn't be doing the procedure. The specialist I met with said it is highly unlikely that a healthy person my age has cancer, but they have to rule it out."

At my appointment with Dr. Nguyen this past week, I learned that my mom's brain tumor only increased my risk level by around five percent since hers was not genetic. Other cancers, like breast or ovarian, would have put me in a higher risk group. This helped ease my mind.