It was four-​fifty; I was officially late. And Rina always took her time explaining herself. “Is this about Bill?” I asked. She nodded, drawing out a piece of hair and twisting it around her finger. “Last night,” she began, “I went to meet Jeff at the Yogurt Paradise at the mall during his break to discuss our relationship.“ ”Right,“ I said, trying to move her along. I could just see Roger-​son sitting in front of my house. ”And we did just talkfor the most part. But then at the end, you know, things got a little physical“ ”At the Yogurt Paradise?“ I said. ”We were just kissing,“ she snapped. ”God. But, as luck would of course have it, Bill just happened to be walking by on his way to the cafeteria and saw us.“ ”Yikes.“ ”Oh, it gets better. He was with his entire family, Caitlin,“ she said in a low voice, as tears filled her eyes again. She looked down at her hands, picking at a pinky nail. ”It was his Granny Nunell's birthday. She's, like, ninety. I met her a few weeks ago and she loved me. But you should have seen the look she shot me last night. The woman has a walker, but she meant me harm. No doubt about it.“ ”Ouch,“ I said, trying to be subtle in taking a glance at my watch: five minutes had passed. ”So I'm just busted,“ she said, wiping her eyes. ”I mean, there's his aunt Camille, and his mom and dad, his Gran-​Gran“ ”Gran-​Gran?“ ”and Bill, who is just staring at me, and I'm sitting there with Jeff's hand on my leg. He didn't even say anything. He just walked away. It was awful. Terrible.“ She crossed her arms again, tossing her hair out of her face, Jeff-​style. ”So of course I can't face him at school today. But I figure I can't miss the squad meeting, so I sneak in the back door.“ ”I missed it,“ I told her. ”No kidding. And as your friend,“ she added, changing tacks to become all business, ”I should tell you that you need to be watching your back. There was a vote today, and everyone but me was in favor of a confrontation about your level of serious commitment to the school and the squad.“ ”Oh, God,” I said. A cheerleading intervention. Just what I needed. And now, it was five after five. But Rogerson would understand. He knew about the ceremony. We could buy the present tomorrow. “So anyway,” Rina said, flicking her wrist as she switched gears again, “Bill was waiting for me after the meeting.“ ”What did he say?“ ”What could he say?“ she wailed. ”He asked for his ring back.“ She put her hand on her throat, where the silver chain now hung empty, kinked a little bit from where the ring had been. ”He gave me back my pictures and that shirt I gave him for his birthday. And then ...“ And she stopped, waving her hand in front of her face, unable to continue. I waited. By now, I knew Rogerson was leaving my house, gunning up the street, wondering where I was. I could feel a slow burn starting in my stomach. ”. . . then,“ she began again, catching her breath, ”he told me he was disappointed in me. Which was, like, the worst. I mean, call me a bitch, or even a slut, that I can handle, you know? But to say that... that was just mean.“ She crossed her arms over her chest, looking down at her feet, eyes closed. It was starting to get dark, the lights of the Quik Zip bright and warm behind her. I walked over and put my arm around her shoulder, leaning my head against hers. ”He wasn't right for you anyway,“ I told her, like I had so many times before. ”He was too“ ”good,“ she finished for me, and laughed, still crying a little bit. ”Good men just don't suit me.“ ”That's right,“ I said, brushing her hair out of her face. ”That's exactly right.” I stayed there with her for a while longer, letting her cry and saying all those best friend thingsYou'll be okay, Don't worry, I'm here, Let it out, Screw himwhile the Quik Zip bustled with people pumping gas and rushing home, the smell of hot dogs wafting out each time the door was pushed open, mixing with the strangely warm December breeze. But all the while, my mind was on Rogerson, seeing him in my mind driving across town, angry and wondering why I, too, had somehow let him down.

When I got home it was six o'clock, Rogerson was nowhere in sight, and my parents were finishing dinner with Boo and Stewart. The whole house smelled like steak and the Lamont Whipper Show was on, muted, in the living room. “Honey, where have you been?” my mother asked, turning around in her chair as I came up the stairs. “I was getting worried. The ceremony starts in less than an hour and if we want to get a good parking place...”

“Are you hungry?” Boo said, reaching over to poke at something in a casserole dish with a big wooden spoon. “There's plenty of tempeh goat cheese salad left here.”

“I laid out that blue dress for you to wear and bought you some new panty hose,” my mother added. “You should hurry and take a shower, though, because you really cut it close by”

“I know,” I said, already kicking off my shoes as I headed into my room. I was just about to shut the door behind me when my mother yelled one last thing. “Rogerson came by looking for you,” she called out over my father and Stewart talking. “He seemed to think you two had plans for this afternoon.” I eased my door open, sticking my head back out. “What else did he say?” She shrugged, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin. “I told him you'd be back soon because of the ceremony. And he said that he'd call you later.”

“Oh,” i said. “Okay. Thanks.” I shut my door slowly, telling myself that all this time I'd been worried for nothing. We were just going shopping, anyway. He understood. It was no big deal.