****
“You look like you’re in need of sustenance.” Heather held out a coffee cup to me, and I accepted it with a grateful smile.
Heather and I exchanged a quick hug and sank onto the bench where we always met when we went shopping.
“Rough morning?” Heather blew into the plastic cover on her cup.
I chewed on my lower lip. Then got irritated when I realized that I was doing it. “Yeah, you could say so. My father called.”
Heather winced. “He’s still giving you a hard time, then?”
“It’s nothing that I wasn’t expecting; I just thought I was ready for it.” The confession tore me open a little. I hated showing vulnerability. Heather was just about the only person I opened up to like that.
“You’re stronger than you think, Gabbi. He was never going to make this easy on you, but you can get through it. If you’re still sure that you don’t want to take the bar, that is.” There was a glimmer of hope in her tone.
“I am. I don’t want to do it just because it’s what my dad wants. I want to want it. The way he’s acting isn’t making it any easier. In the meantime, I’m stuck. On the bright side, I’ve ruled out photography, social work, and veterinary sciences.”
Her eyes widened. “Veterinary sciences? You hate blood.”
She knew me too well. “I know. It popped up as an ad on the website I was browsing. Since I’m trying to keep an open mind, I clicked on the link. Closed it almost as soon as it opened.” At least the link didn’t have a virus. I knew better than to click on pop-ups.
Heather smiled. “It’s a good thing you’re keeping an open mind, but I don’t think it needs to be quite that open.”
“You might be right about that.” I pushed away the wave of gloominess that plagued me since my father’s call. “I thought we were shopping, not moping.”
Heather’s eyes brightened. “That w
e are. I seriously need a distraction. I think I’m about to turn into a textbook.”
I laughed. “Good thing you’re not Professor McGonagall, huh? Otherwise, you really could turn into a textbook. Although, that might be useful during the exam itself.”
“You’re such a dork.” Heather punched my shoulder lightly and chuckled as we walked. “For the record, it would’ve been pretty useful to be able to transfigure myself during the exam.”
“And I’m the dork?” Heather and I had watched the entire Harry Potter series one weekend when we were supposed to study for midterms. Then we’d watched it again before finals. Pretty soon, the series had become our favorite escape.
“Always. It was your idea to watch it in the first place. I hadn’t even read the books.” She flipped her hair and tugged on my elbow, leading me into a boutique clothing store where neither of us could afford to buy anything. Not without my father’s credit card, anyway.
“Your loss.” I threw out my hands. “I could only lead the horse to the water.”
Heather laughed, sounding more relaxed than I’d heard her in weeks. “If you’re implying that my weight gain makes me resemble a horse, please remember that I’ve been sitting on my ass studying for weeks. Have a little mercy.”
She was as skinny as a rake. Always had been. I treated her statement with the sarcasm it deserved. I put my hand to my forehead and mimed looking for something far away. “Weight gain? What? Where?”
She rolled her eyes and giggled at me. “You’re incorrigible.”
I grinned proudly. I was incorrigible. It was something I kind of liked about myself. “Got you to crack a smile, didn’t I?”
“You always do.” Her expression softened. “Whatever you decide on doing next, you’ll be great at it. Though, you might need a bigger distraction than our beloved Mr. Potter to get through it this time around.”
“What are you talking about?” I had a pretty good idea what she was talking about, and two seconds later, she confirmed my suspicions.
“You need a man. Like, a stupidly sexy man who can get you out of that big brain of yours and just make you have some damn fun for once.” My mind drifted to James. He had succeeded quite spectacularly in that task on Friday. I didn’t think I’d ever been reduced to such a puddle of raw desire before.
But whatever; he still hadn’t called. I was quite sure I was just another faceless notch in his bedpost by now.
Heather knew all about my dad’s rules about football players, so I didn’t say anything. There was no need to kick that hornet’s nest over a guy who probably didn’t even remember that I existed.
****