Fall from Love

to run around the living room, looking like a crazy person. “Have you seen my purse or my phone? Oh, my God; oh, my God; oh, my God.”
    “Hey, calm down,” I tell her. I’m only halfway awake and she’s starting to freak me the hell out.
    “Calm down? I have a test in Dr. Langford’s class in...” she finally finds her phone and checks the time, “thirty minutes! Oh, my god, I’ll never make it.”
    I lean up slowly from the couch, gripping my lower back. “You’ll make it. Just take a quick breath.”
    She doesn’t listen to me and begins scrambling, pulling her shoes on and slinging her purse across her chest. “I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta go. I can’t believe I fell asleep. I’m so freaking screwed.”
    I don’t even have a chance to tell her goodbye before she’s out the door. “Well, that was interesting,” I say to myself, falling back onto the couch.
     
    ❧
     
    After the way my morning started with Holly freaking out, the rest of the day goes by without incident. I’m back at home, trying to keep myself busy with laundry and homework, as well as trying to keep my mind off Holly and the feelings I’m starting to have for her.
    “Hey, is your family still planning on coming over for Thanksgiving?” Josh asks, poking his head in my room.
    “Uh, yeah, I think that’s the plan.”
    He nods. “Cool, I’ll tell my mom and hopefully she’ll get off my back about it. She said she tried to call your mom, but can’t get in touch with her.”
    “Yeah, she’s been busy with doctor’s appointments. I’m pretty sure we’re coming, though. When I talked to her the other day, she was worrying about what kind of pie to bake.”
    “Dude, you know my mom’s gonna cook enough to feed us for like a week, right? Tell her not to worry about it.”
    I nod. “I’ll tell her, but you know she’ll insist on bringing something.”
    “So what’d you do last night?” Josh asks, picking up the football that’s lying on my bed and it catches me off guard. My first reaction is to lie. I’m not sure why, but I know he’ll give me crap if I tell him that Holly and I hung out alone together. The two of us rarely hang out by ourselves. Normally, it’s the four of us. Even if I do end up telling him that she came over, forget about telling him that she accidentally fell asleep on my chest... he’ll read way too much into it. Forget it, I’m not saying anything.
    “Not much. Just hung out.”
    He grins and nods. “ Right. So did this ‘just hanging out’ involve, I don’t know, a hot brunette named Holly?”
    Okay, so the stupid grin on his face tells me that he already knows the answer to that question. “Yeah, Holly came over and we watched a movie.”
    “About time, man.” He reaches over and slaps me on the shoulder. “I can’t believe the two of you held out for this long. So was it combustible just like I thought or what?”
    “You’re a moron,” I say, shaking my head. “For us, watching a movie doesn’t mean making out. That’s just a code word for you and Jenna.”
    He shrugs, agreeing with me. “I just don’t get you two, man. Jenna doesn’t, either. We knew something was up when Holly didn’t come home last night and when she still wasn’t there this morning.”
    “How did you know she was over here with me then?”
    “I didn’t... it was just a hunch I had. You just confirmed it, though.”

 
     
    Chapter Twelve
     
    Love isn't something you find. Love is something that finds you.
    ~ Loretta Young
     
    HOLLY
    “Damn, what happened to you?” Jenna asks as I walk into our apartment. She’s sitting at the bar, eating out of a bag of chips. “You look like hell.”
    Of course I look like hell. I haven’t showered, washed my face, or brushed my teeth in over twenty-four hours.
    After waking up at Carter’s this morning, I rushed to school and luckily made it to class before the test in Dr. Langford’s class started. I tore through the door just as he was handing out the test and, aside from the strange look he gave me as well as the snickering from the rest of the class, nothing was said.
    “Ugh, don’t ask,” I groan, throwing my backpack and purse on the floor, take a few chips, and shove them into my mouth. I also haven’t eaten all day.
    “Did you leave early this morning or something? I didn’t see you when I got up.”
    I shake my head. “No, I slept at Carter’s.”
    Jenna coughs, seemingly choking on a chip. “I’m sorry; I just thought