Free The Arrival by CM Doporto Page A

someone’s at my door.” She
pushed the open button and dashed into her room.
    I immediately searched for a place to
hide our evidence.
    “Hey, look who’s here?” Kate announced.
    With a broad grin, Gaby stood beside
Kate. Relaxing my shoulders, I exhaled. “Hey, Gaby, come on in.”
    “Wow, what’s all this?” Gaby knelt.
    “Letters from everyone,” I said, plopping
to the floor. I picked a trinket folded in the shape of a heart and covered
with red glitter kisses. “This one is addressed to someone’s boyfriend.”
    “Gee,” she said, running her fingers
over the front of it. “You two were busy. How many girls did you go see?”
    “Well, actually they came to us.” Kate closed
the door and then sat.
    “Really?”
    “Yeah. Girls approached us on the way to
dinner. We joined the group to eat, and Destiny said you had told them about
our plans. Before we knew it, we were surrounded,” I informed her.
    “That didn’t take long.”
    “I know. And I was worried we wouldn’t
have time to talk to everyone, since we fell asleep after Bryce dumped Miranda.
But it looks like it worked in our favor,” Kate confessed. For half a second I
wanted to be mad at Kate, but figured I would eventually end up telling Gaby
anyway.
    I prepared myself for the next question.
As much as I wanted to forget the breakup, I knew they would ask me about it. I
had to keep my focus on the plan, and talking about Bryce only distracted me.
    “Bryce dumped you?” Gaby’s gaze rested
on me, as she waited for an answer.
    “Yeah.”  Averting my stare, I mumbled, “He’s
a total jerk.”
    She placed her hand on mine. “I’m so
sorry. I know it’s not easy and it sucks.” The warmth of her touch declared her
apology genuine. Even though she had a boyfriend, I figured she could
sympathize with me. But what guy would dump her? Gaby had a great personality,
which made people naturally drawn to her, not to mention, she was pretty. Wait,
I take that back, she was cover model-gorgeous without Photoshop and air
brushing.
    “Thanks.” I squeezed my eyes shut for a
brief moment, refusing to give in to the pain creeping in my heart. It waited
patiently for me to acknowledge it. Ready to break me down, again and again,
until nothing was left of me. Nothing but an empty carcass with a hole in the
center of my chest.
    I’m a May and Mays’ don’t cry. We are
strong leaders and never show weakness.
    “I’m here if you want to talk about it,”
Gaby said, in a low voice.
    “So am I,” Kate added. “Even though I
think he’s a total dick for doing that to you.”
    “Thanks. I’ll be okay.” I gave her a
forced smile that had ‘fake’ written all over it. I told myself I would
be fine, and I would be, until I saw him. Saw his half smile that accented the
mole above his top lip. Saw him glide a hand through his wavy brown hair. Held
my breath as he dotted the tip of my nose right before my lips met his. Then
again, those thoughts were only hopeful dreams that may never happen again.
    “Hey, check out the jewelry they made
for us.” Kate held up her hands, trying to change the somber mood.
    Gaby reached for Kate’s wrist. “They
made all of this?”
    I nodded, showing her my arms. “Yes,
they did.”
    Gaby pressed her finger to her trembling
lips. “Wow.”
    I quickly removed one of the pins on my
dress. “Here, you can have this one.”
    She accepted the heart-shaped pin. “Are
you sure?”
    I waved it off. “Yes, of course. Let it
serve as a reminder of what Kate and I have promised to do.”
    “You two are the bravest girls I know,”
Gaby smiled, while pinning the brooch to her shirt.
    “I’m not, but Miranda is.” Kate pointed
to me.
    “Yeah, whatever. So, did you have any
luck at the Med Center?” I asked.
    “You bet I did.”  Gaby’s gaze widened. “I
talked to Dr. Ridus—”
    “What?” Kate’s mouth dropped open. “Why
would you do that?”
    “Yes, please explain.” I had to admit
that I was