“Do you think they’ll want cheesecake before or after they kill us?” I asked as we sat in the Cheesecake Factory waiting for Justin and Rachel to arrive. They had both gotten into town in the past two days. Justin first, the night before last, and Rachel last night. Cooper and I had decided we’d tell them about our relationship in person, not over text or phone. So here we waited. I’d already told Lacey the night it had happened. She had been happy for me, but this was different. Lacey knew about my feelings. Justin and Rachel didn’t.
“The real question is, should we get cheesecake now or have faith that they won’t kill us?”
“Probably now.”
“That’s what I was thinking.”
I smiled.
He squeezed my knee under the table. “Do you know one of my favorite memories of you from this summer?”
“No, what?” I asked.
“Quad riding.”
“Of course you’d like the thing that terrified me.”
“No, I like the thing that made you cling to me with everything you had. We should do that again.”
“I can do that without the quad if you’d like.”
Cooper smirked.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, thinking it was a text from Justin or Rachel about their arrival time, but it was an email notification. My cheeks went numb. “The winter program,” I said aloud.
“What?” Cooper asked.
“It’s from Wishstar.”
“Did you apply?”
“I forgot to tell you. I did.”
“Wow. Congratulations.”
“Don’t congratulate me yet. I don’t know if I got in.”
“I was congratulating you for applying. It’s about time.”
I nudged his shoulder with mine. “Funny.”
“Well? Are you going to open it?”
I nodded but took my time. This was the last moment to savor not knowing. After this I’d either be happy or devastated. And I’d handle either. I clicked on the email.
“Congratulations,” I read out loud. “You have been accepted to our winter course at the Wishstar Institute of Visual and Performing Art.”
“That’s amazing,” Cooper said, kissing me. “I knew you could do it.”
“Thanks.”
“Am I late?” Rachel’s voice had me flying out of my seat. Had she seen our kiss? She didn’t act like it as she continued talking. “How come you two are both already here? And how come you haven’t ordered cheesecake?” She picked up a piece of bread from the basket on the table, which we hadn’t touched, and ripped off a bite. “I’m starving. I’ve been sleeping for eighteen hours straight. I’m never going to sleep tonight. Jet lag.” She flung her arms around me in a hug. “Hi!”
“Hi!” I said with a laugh. “Welcome home.”
Cooper stood and hugged her as well.
“It felt like I was gone for years, but I’m back and everything is exactly the same. It’s this weird time-warp thing. Where is Justin?”
Cooper looked over Rachel’s shoulder. “Right there.”
Justin headed toward our table with a big smile on. “My friends,” he said. We all took turns hugging him. “Next summer, we do a trip together. This was way too much time away.”
“That’s what I was telling Abby last month,” Rachel said. “Was that last month? That we need to take on Europe together after we graduate.”
“How come there’s no cheesecake on this table?” Justin asked, looking around for a waiter.
“We weren’t sure if you’d want cheesecake before or after you killed us,” Cooper said, then laughed when I gave him wide eyes. That wasn’t exactly how we’d practiced doing this. When we practiced, we’d eased into it, talked about how we’d been friends forever and how that had developed over the summer to something more. This wasn’t that.
“Why would we kill you?” Rachel asked, sitting down in the seat next to mine. Justin sat as well, noticed the bread, and picked up a piece.
“Did you guys eat at all this summer?” I asked.
“I ate too much,” Rachel said. “In every city, any new thing I saw. It was amazing. But now my body expects to be fed every two hours.”
“I haven’t had American food in a long time. Well, I guess last night, but . . . you know what I mean,” Justin said through his mouthful.
“Abby has great news,” Cooper said. “She got into the art program she’s been drooling over.”
“What! That’s amazing!” Justin said.
“So amazing. Congrats! Is that why we’re going to kill you? Why would we kill you over that?” Rachel asked.
“We’ve all been friends for a long time,” I started, back on track with how we’d planned.
The waiter appeared at our table. “I see your whole party is here now. What can I get you?”
“I love Abby,” Cooper said matter-of-factly. “It wasn’t until this summer that I realized what an idiot I’ve been for not making her mine.” Then he looked at the waiter. “I’ll take an Oreo cheesecake and some fries.”
“Wait. What?” Rachel asked a piece of bread halfway to her mouth.
“Should I come back?” the waiter asked.
“No!” Justin said. “I want lemon cheesecake. This news doesn’t change that fact. Also,” he said to Cooper, “it’s about time.”
“What?” Rachel asked again, this time looking at Justin. “You knew this? Am I the only one who didn’t know this?”
“You didn’t tell Rachel about last summer?” Cooper asked. “I thought she would be the only one not surprised.”
“I didn’t tell anyone.”
“Exactly,” Rachel said. “In this friend group we all get the same things or no things. You were right. I am going to kill you.”
I should’ve told her about my feelings for Cooper a long time ago. I could tell she was hurt. “I’m sorry,” I said softly, just to her.
“I’m going to come back,” the waiter said.
“Wait,” Cooper said. “Rachel. Order. Then we’ll talk about your strange rules.”
“Fine,” she huffed. “I want chocolate. Your most chocolate cheesecake.”
The waiter wrote down her order, then turned to me. Right, I still hadn’t ordered. “White chocolate raspberry,” I said.
“At least some things haven’t changed,” Rachel said with an eye roll.
The waiter left quickly and silence took over.
“How did this happen?” Rachel finally asked.
“What do you mean, how did this happen?” Justin threw a crust of bread at her. “They like each other. We left them alone for the summer, and they finally realized it.”
She turned to us. “And you both thought this was a good idea? To put a ticking time bomb on our friend group? Soon we will implode and end up scattered into pieces, and then how will you feel?”
“Ouch, Rach,” Cooper said. “I’m glad you have faith in us.”
“Can we just call dibs now on who gets custody of who in the breakup?” Rachel said, a smirk finally coming onto her face. Oh, good. She would forgive me, eventually, at least.
“I call Abby,” both she and Justin said at the same time.
I laughed.
“What?” Cooper said. “Why Abby?”
“She’s funnier,” Justin said. “And more chill.”
“I guess that’s reason number five thousand why I’m not letting her go.”
“Oh, wow,” Rachel said. “They say cheesy things about each other now. This is going to take some getting used to.”
“For me too,” I said.
“What do you mean, for you too?” Cooper asked, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me against his side. “Maybe I should say more cheesy things so you’ll get used to it faster. All of you.”
I pushed him away with a laugh.
“Justin, don’t get any ideas,” Rachel said. “We will always be just friends.”
“Absolutely no ideas happening over here,” he assured her.
The waiter came back with our cheesecake and a basket of fries for Cooper. Rachel reached across and snatched one of his fries. He smacked her hand.
“You still don’t share?”
“The world didn’t change while you were gone.”
“Are you sure about that?”
Cooper smiled at me. My world had changed. I smiled back, then picked up my fork and took a bite of cheesecake.
“So does this mean no four-amigo trip next summer? Because it was going to be epic.”
“Why would this mean that?” I asked. “We will definitely do that trip next summer. We will crush that trip.”
Rachel pushed my shoulder. “I’m pissed at you for not telling me, but I’ll be happy soon. Really.”
“Enough about us,” Cooper said. “We need to celebrate Abby’s awesome news and then hear everything about your summers.”
We stayed at our table long after our food was gone and probably long after the waiter wished we would leave. Rachel and Justin shared their adventures, and even though things were different, everything felt right.
As we left the restaurant, Cooper tugged on my hand, allowing Justin and Rachel to walk ahead.
“Are we good?” he asked. “Did that work out how you hoped?”
“Yes. It went great.”
“You just seem quiet.”
“I do?” He held open the door for me, and we stepped outside. Rachel had climbed up on the fountain out front and was walking around the rim with her arms out.
“You’re not having doubts, are you?” His face had taken on a worried expression.
“What? No.” I reached my arms up around his neck. “I love you,” I said quietly, then threw my head back and screamed, “I love Cooper Wells!”
“Get in line!” Justin called out.
I laughed and Cooper’s shiny smile was back.
“Good,” he said. “Because unrequited love is the worst. If I had a choice between unrequited love and never being able to love at all, I’d definitely choose no love.”
I smacked his chest. “So you did know what Lacey was talking about at that party. And here she thought you were clueless.”
“Lacey. Is she going to be coming around more?”
“I think so. We’re friends now.”
“Better friends than us?”
“You’re my best friend, Cooper. Irreplaceable.”
“I love you.” He kissed me, stealing my breath away.
Okay, maybe this wouldn’t be too hard to get used to. “Thank you, heart list,” I said under my breath.
“You’re giving credit to that list for us?”
“I’m giving credit wherever I can. I won Cooper Wells’s heart and I’m caging it up and never letting it out.”
He chuckled. “Be gentle with me.”
I went serious. “I will.”
“And, Abby,” he said. “It may have taken me a while to figure it out, but I’m the one who won.”