She bursts out laughing and places the bill and the phone in front of me, but when I try to switch it on, I realize it’s dead. I heave a sigh just as the barista sets our coffees down in front of us, immediately brightening up my day.
“Okay, I’ve been waiting all morning to talk to you about this. Let’s get down to the big news! Can you believe Tyler and Tiffani broke up?” Rachael explodes after taking a sip of her coffee, looking at me with wide eyes. “I mean, I’ve been telling her for ages that he’s a piece of shit—I’m sorry, I know he’s your brother and I know I’m supposed to be his friend, but seriously, he treated her like crap.” Her hands move as she talks, frantic and quick, like she’s a reporter announcing some breaking news. In a way, it kind of is.
“Has she spoken to you?” I set my eyes on her, wondering if Tiffani has told her the full story: the version that includes me. I try to ignore the fact that Rachael’s taking Tiffani’s side. Sure, Tyler didn’t treat Tiffani all that great, but can anyone blame him? She was controlling him and he didn’t want to be with her.
“She came over last night,” Rachael says, and I listen while holding my mug to my lips, sipping slowly at my latte. “He broke up with her. How insane is that? I think she said it was on Sunday morning.”
“Yeah, it was. I was there.” I shift my eyes to the windows, observing the constant stream of people and cars passing by.
Rachael’s eyes widen again, her entire mind focused on the drama. “Can you believe he cheated on her again?”
Immediately my eyes snap back over to her and I slowly lower my mug. I wrap my hands tight around it. My heart is throbbing in my chest. “Did she tell you who the girl was?”
“No,” she says, and the biggest wave of relief flows through my body. “Do you know?”
“No,” I lie. I turn away again, hoping she doesn’t see the guilt in my eyes or hear the waver in my voice. “Another girl from out of town, I think.”
“I just can’t believe he turned around and broke up with her when it should have been the other way around.” She purses her lips and gives a small shake of her head. “She was so pissed off, she told his mom about the coke.”
I frown. That’s not the only thing she told her. “Yeah, he got kicked out.”
“I know,” Rachael says, “which is why I can’t believe she’s letting him stay at her place.” Holding her coffee to her lips, she takes a long swig.
“Wait, what?”
She glances at me. “What?”
“He’s staying at Tiffani’s place? He told me he was going to Dean’s.” This new information hits me hard. I get that the situation Tyler is in just now is tricky, but I didn’t expect him to just throw himself back into her arms so easily. My heart beats even faster.
“Well, he’s definitely not at Dean’s,” Rachael says, an eyebrow raised. She shrugs. “I don’t know. I thought it was weird too. But you know how Tiffani is. She’s so possessive over him, no wonder she’s forgiven him. She can’t bear the thought of some other girl claiming him. She says they’ll definitely get back together, which is so stupid, because he’s nothing but a cheater, so why the hell would she want to get back together with him?” She puffs out her cheeks once she stops babbling. “She’s kind of a lunatic. She just can’t let go.”
“She’s pregnant, Rachael,” I say in a hushed voice, and it slips out of my mouth so fast that I begin to panic. It’s not up to me to break the news. Maybe Tiffani wanted to tell Rachael and Meghan herself.
Rachael’s jaw drops, and I swear she almost tilts backward off the chair, her coffee splashing out of the mug when she slams it down on the table. She immediately huddles closer to me, her eyes blinking quickly from the shock. “What?”
“She told him on Sunday,” I whisper, feeling sick again at the idea of it all again. “Right after he broke up with her.” The more I think it all through, the more it makes sense. Of course he’s staying at her place. That’s what happens when couples end up with a kid on their hands. They throw the past behind them and stick together. “She has to forgive him and he has to go back to her.”
“This is insane!” Rachael whisper-yells into my ear before pulling away from me. She tries to process the news, her eyes still blinking wildly as she stares out the windows. A perplexed expression crosses her face. She looks back over to me. “Wait,” she says. “She was drinking at Dean’s on Saturday.”
I don’t reply. I just think about her words for a second, trying to recall everything that happened at Dean’s before I got drunk in the garage. Rachael’s right. Tiffani was more than keen to join in with the game of shot roulette, which she shouldn’t have been if she was pregnant. She was tipsy when I spoke to her in the backyard.
“Wait,” Rachael says again, holding up a finger, one eyebrow arched. “You said she told him right after he broke up with her?”
“Yeah. Like, five seconds after.”