The weekend before the start of Spring Term, Alice received a text from Georgiana. Her mentor was back from Paris and she wanted to meet up.
Alice popped her head inside Madison’s room. “Hey. You busy?”
Her roommate was lying on her made-up bed, enthralled by some nineteenth-century literary tome.
Madison raised her bespectacled face. “Huh?” Her expression was one of not-so-veiled annoyance that she usually gave when someone interrupted her reading.
“Georgiana is back from Paris,” Alice said. “I’m meeting her for coffee.”
Madison lowered the book to her knees. “So she didn’t stay in Paris? Pity.”
“Eh…” Alice could not understand how two people—cousins—she liked so much could despise each other. At least, she knew Madison didn’t like Georgiana—she wasn’t sure if it went the other way around, too. “I take it you wouldn’t want to join us?”
“I’d rather stick a fork in each of my eyes.”
“How would you read, then?”
“Audiobooks.”
Alice walked into the room and sat on the only chair available next to Madison’s desk. “I honestly can’t understand why you don’t get along with her.”
Madison snorted. “And I honestly don’t understand how you can be so blind to the fact that my dear cousin is a stone-cold bitch!”
“She’s always been kind to me.”
“You must be part of an elite group of chosen ones.” Madison drummed her fingers on the hard cover of her book. “As for the rest of us, we only get to see her Queen Bee side. Everything has to be about her and never anyone else.”
“But did she ever do something bad to you?” Alice asked.
“You mean like stealing my boyfriend?”
Now, that explained a lot of things. “She did that? I didn’t know.”
“Well, it’s not like she’s going to tell you or even admit it. If you asked her, she’d tell you he wasn’t really my boyfriend. That the relationship was all in my head since I had a childish infatuation. And, anyway, she couldn’t help it if he loved her and not me.”
Alice did not recall Madison ever being with someone in a long-term relationship. “When was this?”
“High school. I was a freshman, and she couldn’t stand me dating a senior. She didn’t even like him; she did it just to spite me.” Madison’s features contracted in anger. “She made freshman year a nightmare for me; the day she graduated was the best day of my life.”
“Sounds like a long time ago,” Alice said. “Couldn’t you give your cousin a second chance?”
Madison huffed. “Listen, Alice. I know she’s your friend and I’m glad she’s nice to you. But we’re like oil and water; we don’t mix. I already have to spend spring break trapped on a tiny island with her; I want to avoid any unnecessary suffering.”
“Okay, okay. I get the message.” Alice lifted her hands in surrender. “Where are you going for spring break?”
“Martha’s Vineyard. It’s my other cousin’s—Vicky, the nice one—wedding, and she made it a one-week event in the middle of March on an island you shouldn’t touch until late May or June. But never mind, she’s the one cousin I love.”
Alice chuckled. “Your family is complicated.”
“You tell me.”
“I gotta go now.”
“Have a good time with Maleficent.” Madison waved, then stuck her nose back in her book.
Alice stopped at the door. “Are you sure you’ll be all right? Is Haley out, too?”
Madison lifted her gaze again. “She’s at Scott’s, I think. And Alice, I’m not suicidal. You can leave me alone for an afternoon, I promise.”
Madison was trying to appear strong, but Alice could tell she was in a lot of pain.
“Okay. I’ll see you later,” Alice said. She still felt responsible for what had happened between Haley and Scott. She’d made one of her best friends the happiest person in the world, and the other miserable.
Madison smiled, then made a point of staring intently at her book. The this-conversation-is-over message all too clear.
Alice walked out of the room, guilt comfortably nestled on her shoulders.
***
Georgiana was waiting for Alice at the Starbucks on Broadway. She’d already ordered two venti cappuccinos and was seated at a round table in the corner near the wall-wide window.
“Hey,” Alice greeted.
Georgiana’s eyes widened. “Whoa, it’s you.” She stood up to hug her. “Alice Brown! For a moment, I didn’t recognize you. This new hairstyle is amazing. When did you dye it?”
“A while ago. I needed a change.” Alice shrugged. She had forgotten the last time she’d seen Georgiana, she’d been a blonde. “You look amazing, too.”
They both sat down. The weather was freezing, and Alice gladly wrapped her hands around the warm coffee cup.
“I can’t be that amazing.” Georgiana pinched herself on a cheek. “I’m still super jet-lagged. We landed only last night.”
Georgiana loved false modesty. Right now, she had the look of a porcelain doll: perfect skin, perfect hair, no bags under her eyes, and no signs of tiredness on her face.
Alice ignored the bait for compliments. “How was Paris?”
“The usual.” Georgiana waved a hand casually. “Cultured, so European and romantic.”
“Is everything good with Tyler then?”
Georgiana’s boyfriend hadn’t exactly been eager to move across the globe for a semester. Georgiana had pulled some serious strings in the exchange program so that she and Tyler could go to Paris. All to keep him away from his best friend Rose—now Ethan’s girlfriend.
Georgiana tilted her head to one side, then the other. “Yes and no.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think there’s still something going on between him and Rose.” Georgiana paused and stared at her with big eyes. “By the way, I was so sorry to hear my idiot of a brother dumped you for her. You’re so many leagues above her, it doesn’t make sense.”
Alice waved her off. “Ah, it was a long time ago. I’m over it.”
“Dating anyone new?”
Alice took a sip of coffee before saying, “Yeah.” She gave Georgiana the highlights of her relationship with Peter. They did the conventional round of Facebook stalking on their phones before Alice brought the conversation back to Georgiana’s love life. “So, Tyler and Rose; why are you still suspicious?”
“Have you ever had a male best friend?” Georgiana asked.
Jack. “Yeah, why?”
“If you didn’t have an interest in him that went beyond friendship, would you stop talking to him if he moved to Paris for a semester with his girlfriend?”
The thought of Jack in Paris for a semester with an imaginary girlfriend chilled Alice to the bone. She hadn’t told Georgiana about her feelings for Jack. The only two people Alice had trusted with the knowledge were Madison and Haley.
So Alice decided to give Georgiana a neutral answer. “If I didn’t have feelings for the guy, no. I’d be happy for him to have this opportunity. Why? Rose and Tyler stopped talking because he moved to Paris with you?”
“More or less. In the weeks before we left, Rose went AWOL.” Georgiana’s eyes sparked maliciously. “I know they didn’t talk much, if at all, while we were there, and she moved out of his house a month after we left.”
“Wasn’t she there only temporarily, to begin with?”
“In theory, yes.” Georgiana leaned forward, lowering her voice. “But before Paris, she wasn’t even looking for a place. I kept arguing with Tyler about it. Then she gets the house all to herself and moves out in a blink. Why the rush?”
“Is she still dating your brother?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Georgiana admitted. “She couldn’t get her claws in my boyfriend, so she stuck them in my brother instead.”
“But if she’s dating Ethan, she won’t be after Tyler anymore,” Alice pointed out.
“I don’t know.” Georgiana leaned back in her chair, unconvinced. “With a girl like that, she might want to have her cake and eat it, too.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
“Nothing for now. I’ll see how things evolve.” Georgiana pursed her lips, determined, before adding, “But I’m not leaving Tyler to her if it’s the last thing I do.”
Alice secretly thanked the sky above that Jack had never had a girlfriend this resolute. Why was she thinking about Jack, anyway? Her boyfriend was Peter. P. E. T. E. R.
“I’ll ask Tyler to come to my sister’s wedding with me,” Georgiana continued. “If he says yes, it’ll show how committed he is.”
“Ah, yes. On Martha’s Vineyard, right? Madison told me about it.”
Georgiana winced. “Sometimes I forget my cousin is your roommate. That must be a pain; she’s so boring.” Georgiana made a gesture as if she was swatting away an annoying fly.
Maybe Madison’s prejudices weren’t all inside her head.
“We get along well,” Alice said noncommittally. “Will Ethan bring Rose to the wedding?”
“He’s stupid enough to ask her, I’m afraid.” Her friend sighed. “Call it a happy reunion.”
“Well, at least you’ll be able to study how she and Tyler interact.”
“Yeah, that’s the only silver lining. What about you? Any fun plans for spring break?”
“Not yet.” Alice shrugged. “Something fun with Peter, hopefully. The basketball season will end in early March, so he’ll have more free time.”
Another trip with Peter. Alice wasn’t that eager but tried to be optimistic. A basketball-free, Jack-free trip, had real potential.