72 hours

people i'd take a nerf bullet for

Say yes to heaven
Say yes to me
I've got my eye on you - Lana Del Rey

Elizabeth
It takes about an hour after Jeremiah leaves for me to fully process the meaning of our interaction. We're neighbors. And we're going to the same school.

Jeremiah Fisher and I are going to the same school.

- Ellie, your phone is ringing again. - Barney shouts across the door. I've been locked in the bathroom for a few minutes too long. - It's Nicole.

The concern in his voice is easy to notice, but I decide to ignore it. He's holding my phone when I step out, and a pang of fear flashes in his eyes.

Maybe I've been hiding for longer than I thought.

- Are you ok? - My uncle raises an eyebrow but keeps his voice low, meaning he doesn't want Robin to hear him. She'll flip her shit if she finds out I was locking myself away.

- I'm fine. - Not entirely true but it's not a complete lie either. - I should take this.

Barney doesn't insist. I head to the bedroom and find a place to sit amidst the boxes occupying the bed.

- Ellie! - Her voice makes me smile in an instant. - How did the trip go? How's the apartment? Tell me everything!

- Hello to you too, Nick. - I reply, looking around the room. My room. It still doesn't feel real. - The trip was fine, lots of show tunes but that was expected. Our apartment is huge but ... it's nice. I guess.

- I can't believe you're only 40 minutes away now. - She squeals. - I'm gonna visit you all the time!

- You better!

A beat of silence. It's not long, but with Nicole, it never had to be.

- What's wrong? - It might sound like a question, but it's not, she won't let this go. This girl always knows when it's the stuff I need to talk about and when to not push. - Don't try to say it's nothing. I know you.

She really does.

- There's just one... interesting thing that happened today.

- What?

- Jeremiah dropped by a while ago. - The memory makes me grin. - Because apparently, we're neighbors.  

- No! Fucking! Way! - Nicole gasps dramatically. I almost visualize her covering her mouth with one hand while the other holds the phone. - Why did he stop by?

- Susannah sent a welcome basket. I'm pretty sure he didn't know I was the new neighbor until he got here. - The shock on his face was a mirror of my own, at least for the first 2 seconds of that interaction. Afterward, he seemed weirdly pleased about the whole ordeal. - We're also going to the same school.

My best friend laughs at my misery, but I don't blame her. It's tragic but also comical.

- I don't even know how to react to that information.

- That makes two of us. - A sigh rumbles in my chest. I'm not sure how this thing with Jeremiah is gonna play out. Are we friends? That doesn't sound right. - I'm still in shock.

- Try not to murder him. - Nicole teases, going into another fit of laughter.

She knows everything that happened in Wellfleet, from the bed sharing to the bowling to the pool and everything else in between.

- No promises. 

A couple minutes later I knock a box over so I can lie down while she vents about her mom. All our conversations end up on this topic somehow, and up until a few months ago, there was also the moment I'd talk about my dad.