You'll Be Okay

Chapter 30

"How was dinner?" Mom asked from the living room as I walked through the door.

"Good," I said after a pause. "I think."

I waited for her response but when there wasn't any, I made my way upstairs to study. In my bedroom, I stared at my phone, finger hovering over Kayley's number to tell her all about my discoveries for the night. Eventually, I decided against it because she definitely had other things to worry about. In the end, I got started on an essay.

By March, the reality of things had firmly settled in and the library became packed after school with students. Usually, it was just Kayley and I working our way through homework and revision for upcoming exams, until Dennis joined us one night to help with Biology. And before I knew it, Jarred, Tyler and finally Reid decided to hang around too. It was even Reid's idea for us to move our group study sessions to the Coast café.

"Endosymbiosis is the theory that eukaryotic cells evolved from prokaryotes," said Dennis as he went over his notes with Kayley in the corner. "Like mitochondria, for example."

"Okay, but did you end up going out with that girl?" Kayley pressed. "Michaela?"

I glanced over at them, taking a sip of coffee as I tried and failed to focus on my passage analysis for Shakespeare's King Lear. Dennis caught my eye and looked away awkwardly.

"Rachel," he corrected. "And no, I didn't."

"You heartbreaker!" Kayley scolded and then looked down at the time displayed on her phone, sighing. "Oh my God, Jarred, we're late for our reservation. I told you to remind me when it's half-past! Are we ready to go?"

"Sure," he replied and closed the lid of his laptop. "Let's go."

Kayley got to her feet, hand automatically moving to her stomach where the small bump was hidden under her fluffy sweater. Catching my eye, she dropped her hand and paled, remembering that she had yet to make the big reveal to the rest of the boys - like me, Jarred had been sworn to secrecy. As they got ready to leave, he went around the table, fist-bumping everyone before helping Kayley gather her books.

The couple left the café and outside, I saw Jarred pull Kayley in to kiss her cheek, opening the car door for her as he dumped their books in the backseat. She said something and he laughed, nodding as he got into the car. Then, his black Jeep pulled away.

I smiled to myself, knowing that if there was one thing that had gone right this year, it was Kayley and Jarred's relationship.

"You alright?" Reid asked, green eyes meeting mine. He was rarely distracted but must've seen the range of emotions cross my face.

"Of course," I replied with a smile. "I'm just... glad that she'll be okay. I worry about her - we've never been separated before but college is a whole new story. I don't think I'll be going to LA. So I'm glad that she has him."

Reid gave me a long, appraising look, shifting in his seat. "I know exactly how that feels. And you don't have to worry - JD doesn't get enough credit for how smart and how intuitive he is."

"Ugh," said Tyler. "Why doesn't anyone give me credit for how smart and intuitive I am."

"Spit it out, then." Reid twirled the pen in his hands without looking up from his Calculus papers. "You've been dying to say something for the past two hours, Tyler."

Tyler slammed his textbooks shut, folding his hands on top of them. Dennis turned down his music but didn't take off his headphones as I looked between the boys.

"I'll give it up, you know." Tyler met Reid's gaze but his voice wasn't quite as steady. "One word from any of you boys - and I'll give up the acting thing. We were all supposed to play together. The first time the four of us walked onto a soccer field, we swore to play together."