Old Enough by Haley Jakobson

Author:Haley Jakobson [Jakobson, Haley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2023-06-06T00:00:00+00:00

20

I had one last class in the morning before I could leave for break. I would take the train home in the afternoon, and Izzie’s shower was the next day. Vera, Candace, and I were in the dining hall, sharing a plate of fries.

“So you have your friend’s bridal shower this week, right?” Candace turned to me. “What’s her name again?”

I really didn’t want to think about the shower. I really didn’t want to think about Izzie.

“Izzie. And yeah, it’s on Saturday.”

“Are you excited?” Vera asked. She was filing her nails into sharp Vs. I tried not to think about how she managed having sex with them.

“Um, yeah, sort of. It’ll be nice to be with her, but I don’t really love all the people who are going. Izzie’s friends from school aren’t, like, my favorite group of people I’ve ever met.”

“That sucks. What are they like?” Candace dunked a fry in mayo, then ketchup.

Loud, white, and probably pro-life.

I shrugged. “They’re all in a sorority. They can be overwhelming.”

“In theory, sororities sound amazing,” Candace said, leaning back in their chair.

“Because in your theory you are somehow sleeping with the entire sorority?” Vera asked.

“Yes. In theory, I am.”

“Some of them are nice.” I poked at a soggy fry on my plate. Death by ketchup.

“How come Izzie did the whole sorority thing?” Candace asked.

“I think she just wanted to have a group of friends.”

“But she likes it? All the weird rules and chapter meetings and dues and stuff?”

“Yeah.” I nodded. “She does.”

“Huh,” Vera said, looking up from her nails. “It’s funny to me to think you’re friends with someone who is into all of that.”

“Well, Izzie’s different with me.” I came back at her fast. My voice was sharp.

Vera looked taken aback. She nodded.

“Oh, yeah, I’m sure she is.” Her voice was gentle.

It was true. Izzie was different with me. She dropped the whole sorority girl act and went back to being the goofy person she was at heart. But what I didn’t say to Vera, the thing I really didn’t want to admit, was that I was different with Izzie too.

“The best-best-best-friend thing,” Candace interjected, mid-fry, “I never got that.”

“I had it in middle school, with this girl Raya,” Vera replied. “It was kind of fucked up.”

My shoulders tensed. I pushed a fry around in the dregs of my ketchup.

“Why do you think that?” I asked.

“Um, it was really intense, I think. Too intense. And the whole thing kind of blew up. It actually really hurt. I still think about her sometimes.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Yeah.” Vera nodded. “Thanks. It’s a lot to promise, you know? That you’re gonna be in the same friendship for your whole life.”

“We do that romantically, though,” Candace said. “I mean, that’s the basic idea, if you believe in marriage and stuff.”

“Yeah, but that feels different,” Vera argued. “You go into a romantic relationship knowing it can completely combust and leave you wrecked. You basically sign up for that. I feel like friends don’t talk about that happening.

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