Page 21 of P.S. I'm Still Yours

“Hobos don’t have closets—they’re homeless. That’s the whole point,” Lacey counters, and I snicker, scrolling through my conversation with the Craigslist seller I’m meeting later.

Brie rolls her eyes. “I’m just saying she looks like actual shit with those oversized clothes.”

I fight the urge to tell her that not everyone is as comfortable with wearing skintight clothing as she is.

Brie is a crop top and skirt kind of gal. Meanwhile, Aveena is one of the many girls in our grade struggling to adapt to her new curves and the changes happening in her body. I’m not surprised that Brie’s running her mouth about Aveena’s.

The poor girl has been Brie’s punching bag since middle school. All because Xavier Emery, Brie’s crush, said Aveena was prettier than her while playing twenty questions.

That’s all it took for Aveena to become a target for Brie’s mood swings and cruel remarks.

I had every intention of skipping her bitching tonight, but Lacey insisted that we meet up at her place before they head out to a party at Finn Richards’s place.

I can still picture the look on Lacey’s face when I told her I wasn’t going to the party.

She kept hounding me, asking what could be so important that I’d ditch our first high school party, and I made up a story about needing to help my mom with the store.

I could hardly see myself telling her that I have a date that’s not really a date with my childhood crush tonight.

Just like I couldn’t tell her that I’d rather bail on a thousand parties than miss one of my brainstorming sessions with Kane.

Kane and I have been meeting in the shed every Friday for a month now. We both started new projects, which we want to finish before sharing, so we spend most of our meetings talking and cracking jokes.

My phone chimes when Lacey starts gushing about Theodore Cox—she’s been obsessed with him since we were kids. They made out in the woods next to the school yesterday, and she’s hoping to kiss him again at the party.

I unlock my phone to check my new message.

I figured it would be the Craigslist seller, but it’s not.

It’s Kane.

I’m so glad Mom finally convinced Evie to add Kane to the family plan. She gave him Gray’s old phone since they had to sell his old one after Mr. Wilder died.

Kane

See you tonight?

I have to chew on my bottom lip to hide my smile.

Hadley

Absolutely. But I might be a little late. I got to take care of something.

His response lights up my screen a minute later.

Kane

You mean you have a life outside of our meetings? HOW DARE YOU?

A quiet chuckle rips from my throat.

Hadley

I know. Scandalous, right?

I assume we’re going to leave it at that until he texts me again.

Kane