In the week that followed the bowling incident, Nica seemed to grow colder towards me. I couldn’t say I didn’t deserve it, but it stung nonetheless. I would try to talk to her, tell her good morning when I let her in, ask if she was having fun yet. Her answers were always clipped. Even when she was being friendly, there was a distance to it, like she was keeping me at arm’s length.
She stopped making jokes about Ronnie’s marriage being a lavender marriage whenever he would flirt with me. She stopped going to the smoke spot in the bushes if it was just me out there. Even if she and I were both talking to Nate, it felt like I wasn’t part of the conversation. She’d roll her eyes when I spoke, and if she addressed what I said, she’d still be looking at him.
On Friday morning, Nate called d
