BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

"Shana! I mean it, we have to leave. Let's go, already!"

Now I'm pissed. This is probably the fifth time Livia has banged on the damn door in the last hour, each time sounding more and more anxious. She is always so uptight. God, does she ever lighten up?

"In a minute!" I yell back, again, and hear her stomp off down the hall.

I look over at Tommy, who has barely opened his eyes through all the noise. He passed out a while ago, after a lengthy talk and an even lengthier sex session. I don't want to shake him awake, demanding answers like a crazy woman and ruining any chance of a reconciliation. Livia wanted to leave a long time ago, but I just can't take off without finishing what we've started. What if Tommy tells me we're getting back together? If I leave now, I'll be even more confused about our relationship than before I got here.

But then, I hear the sound of an engine turning over, and when I peek out the window, I can see Livia sitting in her jeep, executing a K-turn. She doesn't pull away, however, and honks the horn impatiently.

I leap out of the bed and into my clothes in one hurried motion. I run through the living room to the front entryway just as Livia slams the door to her running car and comes at me on the porch. Before she can unload on me, I ask, "Just what exactly is your problem?"

"Three hours?!! Three hours, Shane? Really?"

I didn't realize we'd been here that long. But this is important. She should have figured that out by now.

"Liv, I couldn't just leave. We were having a great talk and I couldn't just walk out in the middle of it."

"Talk! Right. Ever hear of a phone?"

Hmph. "Why the hell are you so pissed at me? When I was in college, my roommates and I used to get each other's backs like this all the time. I thought as my friend, you'd be willing to help me out."

I may have said that last part a little too snottily, because Livia's head looks like it's about ready to explode. It does.

"Your friend? Your friend? Are you kidding me? I let you talk me into leaving Monty's house, just leaving him flat with everything to do for the party to come down here because I'm your friend! Meanwhile, a real friend wouldn't just ditch out on her host like that after he's fed us, housed us and invited us to his party which we are currently missing right now! A real friend wouldn't drag me down here and hold me hostage all day, completely blowing off the entire reason for coming down to the shore in the first place!"

I catch the eye of a few girls passing by who whisper something to each other before giggling. From one of the other houses nearby, someone yells out the window to keep it down. Liv yells back. "Hey, mind your own!"

We are now, officially, causing a scene.

Now not only am I insulted, I'm embarrassed. What is up with her? "Why the fuck are you being such a selfish bitch about this?"

She looks at me like I just shat in her cereal. "I'm being selfish? Me? Me??? I'm the one who sat my ass on a beach chair for three hours so you could... what? Get laid??? And I'm the selfish one? Do you even remember that Jack and I once broke up on this very day a few years ago? That we made a pact never to spend the Fourth away from each other ever again? Do you even care? He's been calling like crazy, wondering what the hell we're doing down here that's so important that we'd miss Monty's party, and I have no answer! What are we even doing here? You have a boyfriend!"

"Shhh!" I glance behind me to make sure Tommy didn't hear that.

Livia throws her hands in the air. "Oh, that's just perfect. You didn't even tell Tom about Charlie? So this whole little adventure wasn't even about closure? You lied to me?"

Oh, please. Welcome to the real world, Livia Chadwick. "I didn't lie. You knew I wasn't ready to say goodbye to him when we broke up."

This defuses Liv's rage, but only slightly. She puts her fists on her hips and says, "Well, I hope you're ready to say goodbye to him now, because I'm leaving. Are you coming with me?"

Is this a test? A her-or-him kind of thing? Well, fuck that. I don't respond to ultimatums. I put my own hands on my hips, mirroring her pose. "No."

Liv shakes her head as a maniacal giggle croaks from her throat. "Fine. That's just great. Have fun. Happy Fourth of July."

She turns her back to me and hops back into the jeep, speeding away before I can get the last word. Good thing, because it would have been "fuck you."

I walk back into Tommy's room to find him sitting up in bed. "What the hell was all that about?"

I give a shrug and a smile before answering. "That," I start in, while climbing back into bed, "was this little visit... turning into a sleepover."

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