Travis stood up. “I’m going to take

Travis stood up. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”
“Is there something going on with them?” I asked.
“No, he’s just paranoid.”
“It’s because of us,” I guessed. Travis’ eyes lit up and
he nodded.
“What?” I asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
“You’re right. It’s because of us. Don’t fall asleep,
okay? I wanna talk to you about something.”
He walked backward a few steps, and then
disappeared behind the bathroom door. I twisted my hair
around my finger, mulling over the way he emphasized the
word us, and the look on his face when he’d said it. I
wondered if there had ever been lines at all, and if I was the
only one that considered Travis and I just friends anymore.
Shepley burst out of his room, and America ran after
him. “Shep, don’t!” she pleaded.
He looked back to the bathroom door, and then to me.
His voice was low, but angry. “You promised, Abby. When I told you to spare judgment, I didn’t mean for you two to get
involved! I thought you were just friends!”
“We are,” I said, shaken by his surprise attack.
“No, you’re not!” he fumed.
America touched his shoulder. “Baby, I told you it will
be fine.”
He pulled away from her grip. “Why are you pushing
this, Mare? I told you what’s going to happen!”
She grabbed his face with both hands. “And I told you
it won’t! Don’t you trust me?”
Shepley sighed, looked at her, at me, and then
stomped into his room.
America fell into the recliner beside me, and puffed. “I
just can’t get it into his head that whether you and Travis
work out or not, it won’t affect us. But he’s been burned too
many times. He doesn’t believe me.”
“What are you talking about, Mare? Travis and I aren’t
together. We are just friends. You heard him earlier…he’s
not interested in me that way.”
“You heard that?”
“Well, yeah.”