Page 66 of Anger Bang
ASTRID:So you say.
NOLA:So I know, but that’s not the point. Thea, what happened? Do you want to talk? Is a call easier?
Thea smiled even though she ached like she’d gone down the rapids of the Stinkingwater River in a cardboard box. This was why she loved her friends. The promises of avenging her through questionable means from Astrid. The string of concerned questions from Nola. They took care of one another, told one another their secrets, and were always there for each other through the good times and bad. And this was definitely a bad time.
THEA:He said he wouldn’t even remember my name in a few weeks.
NOLA:Who said that? Who could ever forget you?
THEA:Kade.
NOLA:No!
ASTRID:That’s it. We ride at dawn.
Thea sniffled and wiped away the tears that were flowing again with the back of her hand.
NOLA:But he seems to really like you on the live stream (sorry we’ve been watching, everyone has been watching). I thought it was real. What is going on? How can we help? Are you just acting about the relationship?
THEA:I’m not.
The ache of that filled her up, taking over almost everything else. The little dots of an incoming text appeared and disappeared several times as her friends were no doubt workshopping what they could say to make her feel better when the reality was such a thing didn’t exist.
NOLA:Oh, Thea. I’m sorry.
ASTRID:We hate him.
Thea wished she did, but it was all too fresh for that.
NOLA:Okay so we might know people.
ASTRID:I knew it! I’m always right.
That’s what Thea had thought, too. That’s why she’d been so sure with Kade. She been confident that she couldn’t get hurt. She’d never been so wrong in her life.
THEA:I should have known better. I kissed him. I swore I wouldn’t. That it would all be for fun. Revenge plus orgasms. What could go wrong, right? And then I kissed him. And I couldn’t stop. And I didn’t want to stop. But he’s not even going to remember my name in a few weeks.
ASTRID:I’m on the Southwest app right now. We can be there by four tomorrow afternoon.
NOLA:Will you be all right until we get there?
Despite everything, she smiled at her phone screen, picturing Nola and Astrid pooling together the couch cushion money for a last-minute flight to Wyoming. They really were the best. But she couldn’t do that to them. She’d make it through this. There were only twenty-four hours to go, and then it was all over.
THEA:You don’t have to come. The wedding is tomorrow, and then I’m at my dig for two weeks. I’ll see you when I get back to Harbor City.
NOLA:Are you sure? We’re here for you whatever you need and whenever you need it.
THEA:Yeah, I’m sure.
ASTRID:Does that mean we can’t send the uncles either?
THEA:No Irish mobsters either.
NOLA:Good because they’re in their seventies and Uncle Mick doesn’t even have a driver’s license anymore so he doesn’t have ID to get through airport security.
Thea chuckled softly and dried the last of her tears. Tomorrow was going to be awful, but she had her dig, she had her friends, and she had acting experience to fall back on so she could make it look like she wasn’t dying inside.
THEA:I love you two.
