16 
16 OKAYISH
ON FRIDAY MORNING, I WASN’T SURE IF I WAS going to go to classes or not. Almost all night, I’d thought of a dozen excuses I could give Livvie that would convince her to let me take the day off. Just thinking about Jacob telling Callie the truth made me dizzy. It felt like my chest was being crushed with that, classes, and the show on Sunday. A show Callie and I would both be attending.
I grabbed my phone and texted Jacob. When r u telling C?
He wrote back almost immediately. Aftr class. U ok?
I paused, but didn’t want to take too long or he’d think something was up.
Okayish.
Hope 2 run into u 2day b4 I talk 2 Callie. I want u 2 feel good with this decision 2.
And that’s when I decided I was going to class. If I stayed in bed all day, I’d just worry and make myself crazy. I needed the distraction of other people. So I climbed out of bed, got dressed, and followed Paige out the door.
Luckily for me, English class was a review for Monday’s test. There was no assigned homework.
“Finally,” Paige said. “At least we know one class doesn’t have homework even though we’ll be studying all weekend for the test.”
“I know,” I said. “I mean, studying is lots of work, but we both have tons of notes, and I know we’ll get good grades on it.”
“Always,” Paige said.
“See you later?”
“I’ll see you later,” Paige replied as we reached the stairwell.
Almost in a daze, I hurried down the stairs, not even paying attention to where I was walking.
“Sash.”
I looked up and Jacob stood a step below me, smiling.
“Hey.”
“I only have a few minutes before my next class,” I said. “But can we talk for a sec?”
Jacob and I stood on the landing at the bottom of the stairwell. No one was coming up or down, at least not yet, but I kept my eyes on the doors.
“Jacob, I want us to try being together. I really do. And I want Callie to know the truth, even though I know it’ll hurt her. She does deserve to know. But if I’m being totally selfish? I’m stressing so much about you telling her today. I’m worried that it’ll throw off the show for her—and for me—to have something like that dropped on her this close to our show.”
Jacob took a breath. “There’s never going to be a right time to do this,” he said. “But I see your point. I’m willing to wait, but only until Sunday when you all come back and the show’s over.”
“Really?” Anxiety flooded out of my body and I almost dropped my backpack. “You sure?”
“Totally sure,” Jacob said. “It’s your first show for the YENT, and Callie’s riding in another division, I think. So there’s no way I want to mess that up for either of you.”
The door above us opened, and I stepped back from Jacob. “Okay,” I said. “Sounds like a plan.” I didn’t want to say too much and give us away.
We hurried in opposite directions, and I didn’t dare glance back at him. At the bottom of the stairwell, I pushed open the door and exited the building. Once I got outside, I took in a gulp of fresh air. I knew this was not news Callie needed before she attended a show. And I was lucky that Jacob understood that, even though it meant he had to wait longer to tell the truth. A couple of extra days felt like nothing after how long we’d been hiding the truth to protect Callie’s feelings.