Chapter 4
Perhaps from the heat or nervousness, large beads of sweat dripped from Arian's forehead.
He rushed to my mother and explained, "Mrs. Watson, please don't get the wrong idea. That girl is just a friend of mine.
"Her parents couldn't come because they're out of town, so she asked me to help her move at the last minute. I hadn't had a chance to tell you yet."
Inside the car, my parents and I were speechless.
Arian became more anxious and called out to me, "Hannah, say something. You know Josie and I are just friends. Don't let your parents misunderstand."
I snorted. Just friends? The kind who kissed?
Before I could speak, my mother retorted, feigning surprise, "I didn't know friends kissed each other on the cheek. Did your father teach you that?
"I don't think I'm comfortable with Hannah being friends with you then."
Arian froze, his face turning red.
He stammered, "N-No, Dad never taught me that. It's just... She insisted on kissing me, and I couldn't dodge because I was carrying the boxes. Mrs. Watson, please don't tell my parents. It's really just a misunderstanding."
My mother waved at Arian. "There's really no need for you to explain. Now that the SAT is over, you're free to date who you like. It's none of our business.
"But since you are already in a relationship, you should have clarified it earlier. If Hannah had known, she would have kept her distance from you and wouldn't have given you those notes.
"Your girlfriend wouldn't have to throw away the notes too. You're disrespecting both girls this way.
"Your girlfriend is still waiting for you. Go on now."
With that, my mother rolled up the car window, not giving him another chance to talk.
My father stepped on the accelerator, leaving Arian behind.
In the rearview mirror, I saw Arian stand motionlessly by the roadside, watching us.
Josie was beside him, but she might as well be invisible.
Soon, their figures grew tiny, disappearing into the streetscape.
I couldn't help but feel a little sentimental.
If not for Josie, would Arian and I be sitting in the car together now, planning our graduation trip excitedly?
But there were no what-ifs.
Even without Arian, I would still see more of the world and even more wonderful scenery.
I smiled with relief and started browsing travel guides on an app.
It was ridiculous how powerful social media algorithms were nowadays.
It pushed a trending gossip post from the school's confession page to me, featuring none other than Arian and Josie.
The leaker revealed that on the night the SAT ended, Arian and his friends partied until very late. Everyone else went home, but Arian and Josie did not.
The post also included photos of them leaving a hotel together the next morning.
Josie was snuggled close to Arian, holding his arm, while Arian stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling as he looked down at her.
Some people in the comments started shipping them.
[I knew something was going on with these two for a long time. They finally went public after the SAT. Hurray!]
[Both of them look so good. They're even better when they're together. I'm completely smitten.]
I was also mentioned.
[Wait a minute. Does no one here remember that there's always another girl with Arian? I heard they are childhood sweethearts.]
[Maybe Arian and Josie would have already gone public with their relationship if it weren't for that girl. They wouldn't have needed to hide it for so long.]
The most popular comment was: [Can't believe I saw a post about me. Thanks for all the well wishes. We'll be very happy together.]
The poster of the comment had a profile picture of a selfie of Josie.
I clicked into the profile and so that it was indeed her.
Her latest post was published early this morning.
The image was Arian's sleeping face as he lay opposite her. The hotel's warm yellow light shone on his bare upper body. It looked as though they'd just been intimate.
Josie had written a caption under it. [Finally, there's no need to hide anymore. Our summer has begun—just you and me.]
I had to admit that she really knew how to write her captions.
This post was even more popular than the one on the school's confession page.
In the comments, some praised Josie, some found it suggestive, and some criticized me.
Scrolling down, almost every one of Josie's past posts was related to Arian.
Only then did I realize that every Saturday afternoon when Arian said he was going to play basketball, he was actually on a date with Josie.
I also discovered that when Arian and I walked home together at night, Josie was always 10 feet before us for the first half of the journey. When Arian and I chatted, his eyes were on Josie ahead.
I also found out that when Arian was hospitalized for his relapse, the red mark I saw on his neck when I brought him notes wasn't a mosquito bite. It was a hickey from the possessive Josie.
I felt like a voyeur, only then getting a glimpse of the sweet times Josie and Arian shared behind my back for the past year.