Page 39 of The Friendsgiving Pact

“Why?” Avery replied, shifting her weight from foot to foot. She had an abrupt, overwhelming memory of Theo’s fingers curling into her hair as she knelt in front of him, and she shoved it away before she could blush. Mrs. McAvoy still had half a dozen angel figurines to ring up, so they were going to be here for a while.

“He was making all sorts of weird posts to PopTalk, about, like, snakes and shit.”

Avery hadn’t seen that because she’d blocked him from her PopTalk on the drive home. “He just got really drunk,” she said. She knew it probably wasn’t just that—Cam had been pretty pissed when he left—but for some reason she didn’t want to bring up the fight between him and Theo. She just didn’t really feel like talking about Theo with them today.

Because Avery was rapidly realizing that, no matter how it had started, things with Theo felt real. She had spent most of last night telling herself it was just her overactive libido getting the better of her once again, but then this morning Theo had shown up to help do a stupid chore he didn’t even have to do, and he’d been so sure about her. She had always sort of assumed that, deep down, Theo felt the same way she did—that she was just an overly ambitious nerd who was the closest thing to someone he wanted to hang out with in their tiny little town, and that someday he’d find somewhere (and someone) he’d fit in with better.

But this morning he’d made it clear that he didn’t see it that way, that the differences that loomed so large in her mind were barely anything in his. She wasn’t totally sure his take was accurate, but hearing him say it, so clearly and with eyes that were shining with something she couldn’t bring herself to name, she had realized that, as dangerous as it was to her heart, she was starting to feel something for him. Something real and powerful but also so new and fragile that she couldn’t bring herself to reveal it to the others yet. When she saw him tonight, she knew she had to talk to him—she could stomach telling a small fib to their friends, just for a few days, but something like this she couldn’t keep from him. She would have to tell him she wanted it to be real, and let the chips fall as they may.

“It seemed more than that,” Harper argued. “Like, really pointed stuff about, like, not trusting people.”

To be honest, that could have been about Avery or Theo, although her money was on Theo. Cameron had seemed really pissed off about Theo and homecoming, which had sort of surprised her—Cameron was the one who screwed up homecoming in the first place, so why was he still holding a grudge? And why did he seem to think Theo had had ulterior motives all along? If that were true and Theo had had feelings for her, he wouldn’t have been with Izzy for so long. She knew Theo really well, and that much she was sure of.

“Speaking of secrets, what’s up with Tommy?” Grace added.

Avery frowned. “What do you mean?”

“He’s also being weird, but mostly about Theo. It’s like he’s keeping something from us, you know?”

“What do you think it is?” Avery asked.

“No idea. I thought you might know, but if not, maybe it’s something about Izzy? Theo seemed kind of freaked out at the party. I don’t mean to shit-stir or anything, obviously he’s with you now so it’s not like he’s got secret feelings for her or whatever, but maybe he feels bad for her or something?”

“But why would Tommy keep that a secret?” Harper pushed.

“Maybe Theo told him it in confidence?” Grace suggested.

Avery laughed. Up ahead, Mrs. McAvoy had finally finished buying a battalion’s worth of angels. “Since when has that ever stopped Tommy from gossiping?”

Both of the other girls laughed too. “Fair enough,” Grace admitted. “He’s good with really big shit, but something like that? Yeah, we’d know.”

Avery grinned, but inside, her stomach felt unsettled. Because if what Tommy knew about Theo wasn’t worth gossiping about, that meant he was sitting on something much, much bigger.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Theo

Avery: Is it weird if I already have a Christmas gift for you?

Theo: If it is, then I’m weird too

By which I mean I got you one as well

Avery: When did you even go shopping?

Theo: Jake and I went with Tommy this afternoon. When did you go?

Avery: I went with the girls this morning. Must have just missed you

I was going to wait until Christmas, but I think I’ll just bring your gift tonight

Theo: Yours is already wrapped, so I’ll bring that too

See you soon

Theo stood in the roller rink, waiting. He felt strange in a way he hadn’t felt since he was standing outside Avery’s house before homecoming with a corsage he had grabbed from the grocery store on his way over. This time it wasn’t an unwieldy bracelet of flowers in his right hand but rather a package of highlighters, pens, and Post-its, wrapped in last year’s Christmas wrapping paper that he had dug out from underneath his mom and Karl’s bed. Avery had decided to go analog with her books, but had been complaining to him that she was struggling to figure out how to keep track of the things she’d read.

Maybe study aids weren’t the most romantic gift, but they were something she needed, and he hoped she would see that it meant he was listening when she complained.