No Regrets Read Free

Wait. Henry works there?” His mouth hangs open in shock.
    “You knew , right?”
    “No! I found out from Tate Christensen. We have bio together he told me a position was opening up. I’ve got class all summer so I passed it along.”
    “Tate? He and He nry were best friends in school,” I say like they don’t already know this.
    “They probably still are,” Tricia says. “I’ve seen him downstairs a couple of times.”
    “About that,” I say. “Did either of you have any plans on telling me Henry lives in the same apartment building?”
    “Uh, yeah.” Josh rolls his eyes. “Henry lives with the stoners downstairs.”
    “Thanks.” I give them both the stink-eye. Un-freaking-believable. “Is there a reason you never told me he lived in the same building?”
    “Pretty much because we knew you would lose it,” Tricia says. She glances at Josh. “We were right.”
    Betrayal.
    “He’s hot, isn’t he,” Tricia says, cutting to the chase.
    I sigh. “Hotter than before.”
    “Stupid guys. They never get unhot. Always hotter.”
    I glare at my friend. She squirms , knowing she’s in for a world of pain when I get her alone. The torch I carried for Henry is legendary, including the heavy dose of embarrassment. She knows what I’m going to deal with. How I’m going to turn into a mushy school-girl around him even though I don’t want to.
    “Tate’ s grown into something fierce also. He turned all that football weight into a lean, mean, fuck-hot machine. I kept hoping maybe he was going to join my team, but no, he seems into the ladies still,” Josh says sadly. Davey’s been quiet this whole time but he nods in agreement.
    “So what’s the big deal with this Henry guy?” Davey asks. He’s new to our group since Josh met him at the not-totally-gay-gay-club. Whatever that means.
    Tricia and I give each other a look. Josh sighs and asks, “Do you want to tell him or do you want me to?”
    I slump in my chair. “Do we have to do this?”
    “Yes. Talking about it will make it better.” Josh has taken two psych classes and fancies himself a therapist. He shifts and faces Davey. “In high school, Zadie had the biggest crush on Henry. Beyond a crush. It was completely obsessive.”
    “Josh,” I threaten , but it’s useless. He’s right.
    “ They were on the swim team together which meant they got to hang out a lot even though they weren’t in the same class. Everyone  was pretty friendly and Henry’s senior year, he started flirting with her a little.” Josh makes a sympathetic face. “Even though it’s all pretty friendly, it was obvious to everyone that there was something going on between them. We all thought he’d ask her out.”
    Tricia cuts in. A little too eagerly, I may add. “Around this time, the date for senior prom was announced and all the upperclassmen began asking girls to go. A lot of the seniors ask juniors, so many of the girls in our class already had dates. Brian Merchant, a good friend of Henry’s, asked me to go with him. During all this, Henry remains suspiciously dateless except for the fact he’s hanging out more and more with our group and continuing to flirt shamelessly with Zadie.”
    “So did he ask you to go with him?” Davey asks.
    “Worse,” Josh says dramatically. “He doesn’t ask Zadie but goes around and tells everyone he is going to ask her, then ultimately doesn’t. In fact, he didn’t even go. He had a family wedding or something out of town.”
    “Ouch,” Davey says. My friends nod in agreement.
    “That’s not even the worst part,” Tricia says. They both look at me and I study my nails. “No one would ask her because he told everyone he was going to take her,” Tricia adds.
    “Wow,” Davey says, eyes wide. “So he marked his territory, not wanting anyone else to ask you , but then didn’t even go.”
    “That’s how I see it,” Josh says. “ But it doesn’t end there.”
    “I think Davey’s heard enough,” I say.
    Josh