So, you could sit there in this hurt

 "Are you really OK?" The question stung Izzy. How could she answer her friend Rylie over the phone.

"Yeah, I'm just fine," she finally managed. She was back at work and school doing her best to act as if Brick didn't exist. "I might have posted something I shouldn't have."

"What? You posted something?" Rylie hadn't seen it, at least. "Not FACEBOOK."

"Never." Who posted on Facebook anyway. It was only on one of those chats for twenty-four hours, actually. She had to rant about Brick. She just had to.

But no one chatted about it. Maybe she didn't say enough, she now thought. Oh, nobody would know it was really about Brick. She didn't think. Maybe not.

After all, she said her baby was just a baby. Maybe it was nothing. Yeah, that was it. Why did she tell Rylie anything?

"Oh no," Rylie sounded hurt. "How could you? He didn't do a thing to you."

"Precisely." Izzy was being honest.

"I'm so worried about you," Rylie said.

"I'm OK." She thought, anyway. It had been weeks ago. How could she let this feeling go? She knew now she needed to have sex with someone. Anyone. Maybe.

Of course, she told Mercer all this and he looked at her blankly as if she might be possessed. He was no help. Was he even a friend?

"Don't do this, OK. Just try to stay calm." Rylie said she was coming. She was going to drive up from Kansas City with a friend.

"What kind of friend?" Izzy wanted to know.

"A co-worker." Honestly, Rylie was so boring. Could it get any more boring?

"You need to keep busy. Keep studying. Be nice to yourself. Stay off social media." Rylie told her not to make things worse. "Just give it some time. Maybe you and Brick can talk."

Izzy didn't want to. It was over with Brick.