Chapter Twenty Three: The Morning After
Nora hears about it before she sees it. By second period, it’s already circulating — quiet enough to pretend it isn’t gossip, loud enough that everyone knows. Eli. Dinah. The party. Someone shows her a picture. She doesn’t ask to see it. They show her anyway. Dinah is smiling up at him, her hand curled into the front of his shirt. Eli’s head tilted down toward hers, lips close enough to erase doubt. He doesn’t look conflicted. He looks calm. That’s what hurts. “Did you know?” one of her friends asks carefully. “About what?” Nora replies, too evenly. The friend hesitates. “Never mind.” Nora hands the phone back. It shouldn’t matter. She leans into Liam in the hallway afterward, her arm slipping through his like it belongs there. It does belong there. He is her boyfriend.
- Writer
