"Of course," I said and smiled back, even though her smile was sad. "Richie skipped out on his classes this afternoon so he could come and... oh, I don't even know exactly. So he could come say lewd things to me and Eddie, I suspect."

More often than not, I found myself speechless around Richie. Especially when Eddie was present, too, because Richie seemed to think we ought to be doing all kinds of things to each other and it shocked me how easily he said certain things.

"You can sit with me any time," I told her honestly as we walked back to my table.