“No one has even looked twice at us yet.” I stole a glance at Ezra, who looked a little ridiculous wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a hoodie as we walked through the hall of my dorm.
Maybe he was overreacting about possible angry students recognizing us. Either that, or people just hadn’t heard about last night’s events yet.
Even though the sun was going down, it was eighty degrees outside, and I probably looked equally silly in the beanie and oversized leather jacket. When I’d told Ezra I needed to come here to get the information on Melanie, he’d insisted on going incognito. He had his cane, and he wasn’t even trying to hide his limp, because most people didn’t know about his leg issues. For once, it was working in his favor.
Still, I didn’t like that he was out and about when he should’ve been at home, resting. “I could’ve done this on my own, you know.”
“Not a chance. Just be quick,” Ezra whispered as I turned the key to my room. “I don’t want to leave Pierre for too long.”
I nodded, because I completely agreed. Hiding out with them at the apartment for the rest of the weekend sounded like heaven.
As soon as we got inside, Ashlyn jumped up from her bed.
“Oh my God. I’ve been waiting for you all day! Are you okay?” she asked me, then turned to Ezra. “And your dog?”
“Yeah,” I sighed. “We’re all okay. Just hoping all this drama will blow over soon. Thanks for being there last night.”
“It’s no problem.” She shook her head. “When I saw you guys across the street, I couldn’t just do nothing. Have you seen the news? Pi Kap is imploding,” she said, dramatically throwing out her hands. “It’s all anyone is talking about right now.”
Frowning, I shot Ezra a look. Guess he’d been right after all.
“No,” I replied. “We’ve just been trying to tune everything out.”
“We’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone anything,” Ezra said. “We’re going to lay low for a couple days.”
Ashlyn gave us a sympathetic smile. “I get it. Listen… Kayla, could I talk to you for a few minutes? I kinda need to get something off my chest.” Her eyes flitted toward Ezra, obviously wanting him to give us some privacy, but he wasn’t having any of that.
Putting an arm around my shoulders, he made it clear he wasn’t leaving. His protectiveness made my lips quirk up, even if it wasn’t necessary. Ashlyn wasn’t going to beat me up or anything.
Still, I snaked an arm around his waist in a gesture of solidarity. “I’m all ears, but he stays.”
Nodding, she glanced down sheepishly. “I just wanted to apologize for being such a dick before. The first week here, I was homesick and miserable. My best friend since kindergarten moved all the way across the country, and I miss her. I guess I wasn’t really in the mood to make a new best friend. It’s a pretty pathetic excuse for acting the way I did… but forgive me?”
“Absolutely,” I responded without hesitation.
“Thank you.” Ashlyn smiled brightly, blowing out a breath like it had been weighing on her.
Now I wished I’d made more of those friendship rocks, because I would’ve loved to give her one to show there were no hard feelings.
“You want some chocolate?” I asked, moving across the room. The offer was the best peace gift I could think of. “I try to save it for emotional emergencies and today definitely qualifies.”
“Sure.” Grinning, she sat on her bed across from mine.
I opened my mini-fridge and took out two Hersey chocolate bars. When Ashlyn reached for it, she gave me a funny look. “You keep these refrigerated?”
“Yeah. My dads always kept them cold, so I got used to eating them that way.”
“Your dads?” She tilted her head to the side.
And here it was. The first awkward college conversation about my unique family structure. Coming to sit next to me on the bed, Ezra gently rubbed the small of my back.
Having him with me lent the courage I needed to lay it all out there. “They’re gay. They’re married. And they adopted me when I was a baby.”
“That’s awesome,” Ashlyn commented happily, completely unfazed. “My aunt and her wife are in the process of trying to adopt right now. Rough times out there.”
Excited, I nodded because Ashlyn understood. “Yeah. You know, my dads are lawyers and one of them specializes in family law. I can give you their office number if you want to pass it onto them.”
Now she was the one nodding quickly. “That would be great.”
I rattled off the office number to her and she wrote it down.
While I nibbled at my chocolate, Ashlyn gobbled hers in two bites before jumping off the bed and going over to her small vanity to quickly apply some red lipstick.
“Well, it’s about time for me to go,” she announced, shoving her feet into some torturous-looking high heels.
“Where are you going?”
Shuffling from one foot to the other, she suddenly seemed shy. “I have a date.”
“With who?”
“The onions and vomit guy.”
That made me laugh, and Ezra asked, “Jeff? I didn’t expect that, but that’s great for you guys. Maybe you shouldn’t call him that to his face, though.”
“Are you kidding? I’m never letting that shit go. See?” She showed us a text on her phone. “I’ve even got him programmed in like that.”
I laughed harder, suddenly glad that I’d gotten paired up with Ashlyn as a roommate. She wasn’t so bad after all.
Grabbing her purse, she said, “See you later.”
Then it was just Ezra, me, the last surviving rectangle of my chocolate bar, and the heaviness in the air of what I needed to do. Popping the last bite of candy into my mouth, I went over to my desk and opened the drawer.
Of course, John and Rob had been totally cool with me wanting to know more about my biological parents. Deep down, I knew they would be. They’d even offered to reimburse me for the money I’d spent, but I told them if they really felt the need to shell out a thousand dollars, they could donate it to Shauna’s shelter in Melanie’s name.
Wiping my hands off on my yoga pants, I picked up the folder and turned to Ezra. “This has everything in it. Other than the letter Shauna gave me, I haven’t seen any of it.”
His eyes were soft when he asked, “Do you want to go through it alone?”
“No. I want you with me and I’d rather do it at your place.”
“Let’s go.” Standing, Ezra held out his hand and I took it. “Think we’ll get lucky enough to make it out of here without being recognized?”
I smiled. “I’m up for the challenge.”