Never by Ellery Rhodes Read Free Book Online

but she answered.
    "What's up?" I could hear the hum of the TV in the background.
    "He didn't show," I said softly, just saying the words aloud bringing tears to my eyes.
    "Hold on a sec." The line went quiet, except for her shuffling the phone around. "I think I heard you wrong because it sounds like you said your boyfriend stood you up."
    I drew a haggard breath, not really eager about repeating myself.
    It wasn’t because I was surrounded by people obviously having the best night of their lives. There was a group of girls watching some video like it was the funniest thing they’d ever seen. Two bro-looking guys were talking about how trashed they were gonna get whether it was Tuesday night or not. And of course there was a couple sucking face right across the aisle from me.
    I felt all kinds of pathetic sitting in the restaurant waiting for my invisible date, but I didn’t leave Kim’s request to repeat myself unanswered because I was embarrassed. I didn’t say anything because on top of everything else, I refused to cry. If I had to say that Lucas stood me up again, I was gonna start sobbing .
    She didn’t push me. “I just can’t believe he’d—” She tiptoed around it. “Something must have happened.”
    “I already thought of that.” I grit my teeth. “That’s what kept me sitting in the booth, drinking water and telling myself that there was a reason and any minute he’d call or text or walk through the door. And then I called and it went straight to voicemail.”
    “Well that’s not exactly scientific—”
    “It’s close enough,” I growled.
    “I’m so sorry, Juliet,” she said quickly. “How far are you from the dorm? As soon as—”
    “I’m not going to the dorm.” I pushed away the tears in favor of steely determination. “I’m going to his apartment.
    I didn’t need to be face to face to know that she was probably slackjawed and confused. “Do you think that’s a good idea?”
    “Absolutely.”
    “You think going to his complex, kicking down his door and getting into another argument is a good idea?”
    “Well, I had no plans of kicking down doors, but that sounds pretty cathartic right now.”
    “I’m being serious.” Her end was quiet for a few moments. “Maybe he has a great excuse and the last thing you should do is invade his space.”
    “Invade his space?” I repeated, getting angrier with each word until I erupted. “He didn’t show up, Kimberly. I was sitting there like some loser, drinking me sad little water while he was doing God knows what. Heck yeah I’m gonna invade his space!”
    I seemed particularly adept at drawing attention to myself tonight since all eyes were turned in my direction.
    “Okay,” she said, her tone still disapproving. “Just let the record state that I think this is a terrible idea.”
    “Duly noted,” I peered out the window as the bus pulled to the stop a few blocks from Lucas’ apartment. “I better go.”
    “You called me for a reason,” Kim added, still trying for an intervention. “I think on some level you want me to talk you out of doing something crazy.”
    I stood up, letting out an irritated sigh at the guy in front of me, walking so slow he was almost going backwards. “You’re the one talking about kicking down doors.”
    “And you’re the one sounding like one of those crazy girlfriends. What proof do you even have that he ignored your call?”
    “The phone rang six times every other time I called and then the last time I called it rang once before it went to voicemail.” Before it seemed like more than enough evidence for a conviction but now, it had more holes than a slice of swiss cheese.
    “You counted the rings?” she said incredulously. “I’m gonna have to activate the powers of the BFF and insist that you come back to the dorm, calm down and approach this with a clear head.”
    By the time I stepped off the bus, I wondered if she had a point. There were plenty of logical explanations for why