Loving Cousin

"You don't understand. She's got enough credits to transfer now and in the last few days she's been talking non-stop about finishing her degree at Old Dominion."

I felt my mouth dry up. "Are you serious?"

"As a heart attack," she replied, taking another long drag before stomping out the butt. "And you know she can afford to do it."

"What am I going to do?"

"What you should have done! Christ, Kate, just fucking tell her already. You can't let her find out some other way. It's cruel and that's not like you at all."

"I don't want to spoil her night. I'll tell her tomorrow. Will you come with me?"

"If she finds out I knew all this time, she'll kill me. Let's go back inside. I'm freezing."

After we made our way back inside, I lost Holly in the crowd while I worried about what she'd said. Another glass of champagne found its way into my hand and I looked for a place to sit and think. The music was playing again and I couldn't see John anywhere, so I sat down in an empty chair near the firep