“What?” I accidentally brush shoulders with a guy as I pass him, and he fires me an indignant glare. I can only shrug in return, and then I scuttle away from him, desperate not to piss off anyone else. “How’d you do that?”
“I’ve been over at my own apartment boxing up some of my stuff and I didn’t think to take keys with me because I thought Tyler would be here. Like, he’s been in bed all day so I didn’t think he’d go anywhere, but I’ve been knocking for ten minutes straight and no one’s answering,” Emily explains, sighing across the line.
“Where’s Snake?”
“I’m pretty sure he took your friend out on a date,” she says, and she’s right. Dean’s already filled me in on that, about Rachael and Snake heading out for lunch together. It’s kinda weird. “At least I think that’s what he said,” Emily continues. “I have no idea; I was still half asleep at the time because Tyler kept us up all night.”
“How is he?” Last night was the worst night of the entire summer and Tiffani was the reason behind it all. If she’d never arrived in New York, if she’d let go of her deluded vision of being with Tyler years ago, then none of this would have happened. I wouldn’t have told Tyler those lies and he wouldn’t have reverted to his old mindset, where being reckless is the best distraction anyone could ever ask for. “Tyler, I mean.”
“Hungover, but he was starting to feel a little better by the time I left,” Emily answers with a laugh, like she’s rolling her eyes. “You don’t happen to have a spare set of keys on you, do you?”
“You’re in luck,” I say. “I’ve carried the spare with me for the past two weeks. Never used it yet, though.” Tyler finally trusted me enough to give me the spare, just in case I ever did need to get into the apartment when I was alone, and I’ve had it stored in the zipped compartment of my wallet ever since.
“If it’s not too much of a hassle,” Emily says, “do you think you could bring it over?”
“Sure.” My voice is loud over the buzz of the city. Like a true New Yorker. “I’m on my way back just now, anyway. I’m only a couple blocks away.”
“Perfect,” she says. “Thanks, Eden. See you in a few.”
Ending the call, I slip my phone back into my jeans. As I head along to Tyler’s apartment I can see the building towering over on the corner of the block, just across the street, but my eyes don’t rest on it for long. They end up drifting back to my wrist and I feel the same disbelief I’ve been experiencing the entire way over here. Even on the subway I stared endlessly, twisting my left arm in every position possible as I tried to get the light to hit my wrist at just the right angle. Even as I climbed up flights of stairs and weaved my way back through the stations, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my arm, occasionally running the tips of my fingers over the Saran Wrap just to remind myself that I’m completely and entirely insane. My dad will quite literally kill me when he sees me. That’s if my mom doesn’t kill me first for traveling around New York on my own.
When I reach the apartment building, I sweep past the mailboxes and head straight for the elevator. In the ten seconds that it takes for me to reach the twelfth floor, I quickly grab a hoodie from my bag and pull it on, ensuring that my wrist is covered. I don’t want Emily to question me about it and I really don’t know how Tyler will react when he sees it. I just hope he’ll understand what I’m trying to tell him, without the need for me to even say a single word. Tiffani said I couldn’t tell Tyler what was really going on, but that doesn’t mean I can’t attempt to show him the truth.
Emily’s sitting crossed-legged by the apartment door when I reach her, looking slightly worn out. She gets to her feet immediately, pushing herself up and smiling.
“Hey,” I say, quickly adjusting the drawstrings of my hoodie as I think about our phone call five minutes ago. I didn’t really pay attention to her words then, but now that she’s in front of me it’s like I suddenly remember everything she said. “I didn’t know you had your own apartment.”
“Yeah, over in Queens,” she says with a shrug.
“So why’ve you been staying here? Tyler’s never told me the reason.”
“I was sharing an apartment with this guy, and it was great for a while, but recently it wasn’t working out. We got into a huge fight and he pretty much kicked me out,” she admits, not quite meeting my eyes. Her voice has grown softer and she sighs, frowning. “Honestly, he was just a prick, and I didn’t know where else to go, so I called Tyler.”
I swing my backpack off my shoulder and unzip it, raising my leg and balancing it on my knee as I rummage around for my wallet. I keep talking to Emily, but I’m too focused to look at her. “Why were you boxing up your stuff?”
“Because I’m about to ship everything home,” she says. “I’m heading back to London next week.”