“Now what?” Andy asked.

“I have no idea. Maybe wait around for a few to see if someone comes out?”

“Really?” Andy asked in disbelief.

“Do you have a better idea?” I shot back.

“Yeah, let’s go knock on the door and see if Jesse answers.”

“And what if he doesn’t? Just because she’s here doesn’t mean he is. This might not even be her house. She could be visiting a friend.”

“Okay, you’ve got a point. But do you really think someone is going to randomly walk out of the house this late at night?”

I sighed. I didn’t, but I wasn’t sure what to do. “Not really.”

“Why don’t we come back tomorrow? If the car is still there, we’ll know it’s her house.”

“I guess,” I said, unwilling to leave just yet.

“Come on, Emma, we need to go. We’re starting to act like stalkers.”

He had a point. I never thought I’d find myself desperate enough to sit outside a house, hoping that someone walked out.

“Okay. I’ll drive by tomorrow before class to see if anyone is around.”

No one was outside when I drove by the next morning. I hadn’t really expected to see anyone, but it still sucked. I was starting to feel desperate. There was a good chance that he was in that house, and I couldn’t even see him. I hated the fact that he might be living with Ally, but I couldn’t do a thing about it. I just had to wait and hope for the best.

My two classes were much like the day before. In each one, we went over our class syllabus the entire time. Abby wasn’t in either of them, but I managed to meet a few new people who seemed nice enough.

I sat by myself at lunch. I knew that I could sit with one of the girls I’d met earlier, but I didn’t want to. I was too preoccupied with finding Jesse to be social. After lunch, I dropped off my books in my dorm room before getting in my car and driving to the restaurant where Ally worked.

Her car was parked out front, so I knew she wouldn’t be home. Now was my chance. I had to go while she wasn’t at the house. I was terrified as I drove to the house she had entered last night.

Maybe if I knocked on the door, Jesse would answer. Again, I knew I was grasping at straws, but I didn’t care.

I parked a little ways down from the house and stepped out of my car. My heart was beating out of my chest as I walked up the steps to the front door. I took a deep breath before knocking on the door. When no one answered, I knocked again. I stood outside, feeling like an idiot, as I waited for someone to answer. After the third time, I finally gave up and accepted that no one was home. I turned and walked back down the steps and to my car. I sat in my car and waited for over an hour to see if someone would come home.

With no signs of life, I finally gave up and drove back to my dorm. I had a small assignment from my math class today, and I needed to get it done before I forgot about it.

After I finished my assignment, I drove to the local mall and purchased the printer I’d mentioned to Andy before. It was sad that I was excited to go out for a printer. I had absolutely no life outside of finding Jesse and spending time with Andy. Since Jesse was still a puzzle and Andy was working late, that left me with my printer.

I returned home and took my time with hooking it up and installing the software. When that was done, I checked my Facebook page to see if I had any new messages. I smiled when I saw one from Lucy, asking how I was.

She thought I was nuts for traveling across the country to find Jesse, but she still loved me. When I’d first told her about my plans, she had gotten mad at me. She’d pointed out that there was no way we would be able to stay close while living so far apart. I’d known she was right, but it hadn’t changed my decision.

After messaging her back, I sent my dad an email to let him know that everything was going well. Then, I shut off my laptop and crawled into bed. There was no use in going back out to see if Ally had returned to the same house. Even if she had, it wouldn’t mean that Jesse was there with her.

I closed my eyes as exhaustion took over. The last thought I had was whether or not I was insane.

Over the next two weeks, I fell into my new schedule. I only had morning classes, so after I was finished with those, I went back to my dorm and worked on my homework. When that was done, I’d either go to Andy’s house on his nights off, or I’d park outside of Ally’s house, like a stalker. I knew I was being pathetic, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Occasionally, I’d mix it up by going out for dinner with Abby, but that had been rare. I considered her a friend, but we weren’t close enough for me to tell her why I was really here.

When I went to Andy’s, we’d order something to eat and watch movies. Once in awhile, he’d drag me out to see a movie in an actual theater, or we’d do something dorky, like bowling. I had to admit that I was glad he’d decided to come with me.

I’d made a few friends since school started, but I was too focused on Jesse to put much energy into bonding with people. I knew something would have to give, or I was going to lose my damn mind. My stress levels were through the roof at this point.

Things finally did change one night, but it wasn’t in the way that I’d hoped. As each day had passed, I’d found myself spending more and more hours outside of Ally’s house. More than once, I’d fallen asleep and woken up the next morning, almost late for class. I’d started bringing my Kindle with me to pass the time, and it’d seemed to help most nights.

Unfortunately for me, I’d forgotten my Kindle tonight. Andy was working again, and I couldn’t call him to keep me awake. I’d caught myself drifting off several times, only to jerk awake. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew, it was dark, and someone was tapping on my window. I groaned as I looked at the time on my dashboard. It was after midnight.

As I rolled my window down, I expected one of Ally’s neighbors to be there, waiting for me, so that they could yell at me for parking in front of their house. Instead, I stared at the face of a shocked Ally.

“What the fuck?” she shouted.

I froze as I stared at the person I hated most in the entire world. We’d never been alone together since everything had happened.

“I can’t fucking believe this! I thought I was nuts when I kept seeing this car every night when I came home. What the hell are you doing here?”

“Looking for Jesse,” I said defiantly. I knew I was busted, so there was no point in trying to lie.

“You’re pathetic. Did you really come all this way to find him?”

“Did you?” I asked. “Because I think you did.”

“Maybe I did, but at least I’m not parked outside of his house every night like a fucking psycho.”

“So, he does live here,” I said excitedly.

She’d given me the information I needed. Now that I knew he was here, there was no way that I was leaving without talking to him. She would have to beat me unconscious to keep me away.

“He does, but he doesn’t want to see you. I think you’ve hurt him enough.”

“I did hurt him, but I won’t again.”

I started to open my door, but she slammed it shut.

“Let me out of the fucking car.”

“No. I won’t let you go in there and destroy everything I’ve worked for.”

“What? Are you together now?”

“We are.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the stomach. The moment I had seen Ally that day in the diner, I’d suspected something like this had happened. I wasn’t going to leave until I had the chance to talk to Jesse though. Maybe if he knew I was here, he’d leave her and come back to me.

“We’ll see if you are after I talk to him,” I said as I tried to open my door again.

Ally refused to budge.

“Move.”

“Not until you listen to what I have to say.”