Chapter 9

• “Did you ever think it would be this way?” Funmi’s voice rings out from across the room, cutting through the tension that hangs thick in the air. Her words are casual, but I know she’s not asking out of curiosity. There’s something else beneath the surface, something more than the innocence of her question.
• I glance up at her from the corner of the room, where I’ve been avoiding her gaze. There’s a heaviness in the way she stands, arms crossed, eyes focused on me as though she’s trying to figure me out. I should have seen this coming. I should have known that the way I left things between us—between us—would unravel.
• I don’t answer right away. I can’t. How could I? After everything that’s happened, after the way she and I have danced around the truth for so long, how could I give her an honest response?