He’d looked at her, amused, and Teddy instantly knew she was a goner. Here was someone who, she could tell, needed her. Here was someone she could help. It turned out that Richard, a few years older than her, was studying to become a dermatologist, which seemed so much more important than what she was doing (currently, not much of anything). After a few months of being together, of helping Richard study and quizzing him and making sure he ate balanced meals, Teddy unofficially switched her major to Assisting Richard. Officially, she ended up graduating with an English degree, more out of convenience than because she had plans to do anything with it. With Richard, she felt useful, because unlike the rest of the world, Richard needed her.
Not anymore, it seemed.
Teddy walked up the steps of Eleanor and Kirsten’s tiny brick duplex, their porch covered in pumpkins, mums, and a knit throw resting on an Adirondack chair. Before she could knock on the door, it opened.
“Get in here,” Kirsten said, ushering Teddy inside and wrapping a blanket around her as if she’d saved her from drowning in an icy pond.
“What are you doing?” Teddy choked out through her sobs. “It’s not that cold!”
“Sure, but now you’re cozy,” Kirsten said. “And being cozy makes everything better.”
Eleanor burst through the swinging door to the kitchen, holding one of her beloved vintage teacups. “Oh, honey. What happened?”
Teddy sat down on a pink velvet sofa and started crying harder. “Richard broke up with me.”
Eleanor and Kirsten were silent, and Teddy looked back and forth between them. “Did you hear me?” she asked. “The love of my life asked me to move out!”
“Richard?” Eleanor asked at the same time Kirsten asked, “The love of your life?”
Eleanor wrapped her arms around Teddy. “Tell us about it.”
And so Teddy told them the entire humiliating story, and they winced and gasped at all the right parts.
“And now you can never listen to ‘My Heart Will Go On’ again,” Kirsten said sadly as Teddy finished.
Teddy nodded. “I thought that was one of the worst parts, too.”
Teddy looked around, pulling the blanket tighter as if she had come in from a blizzard instead of a slightly chilly fall evening. Eleanor and Kirsten’s place had a hominess and lived-in quality that her place—well, Richard’s place—didn’t, no matter how hard she’d tried to create one. She’d never felt entirely comfortable there, but she already felt that way in Kirsten and Eleanor’s apartment. It looked like the home of an artist and a kindergarten teacher, because that’s exactly what it was. Each room was painted a different bold color—the living room shone with Goodnight Moon green, while the kitchen was clear-sky blue. Kirsten’s art decorated the walls, and scribbled crayon drawings from children covered the fridge.
“Thanks for letting me come over,” Teddy said, her voice hoarse from all the crying.
Eleanor gave Kirsten an almost imperceptible nod, and Kirsten said, “Okay, it’s time.”
“Time for what?” Teddy asked as Kirsten grabbed her hand and led her and Eleanor into the kitchen.
Kirsten opened the door to the freezer and Teddy gasped as she realized what she was seeing. “Is this freezer entirely full of ice cream?” she asked.
“Yes,” Eleanor said.
“How have you never told me about this?” Teddy asked in wonder.
“You’ve never needed it before,” Eleanor explained.
“We’ve got local favorites,” Kirsten said, pointing to Jeni’s and Graeter’s. “Your socially conscious classics.” She gestured to Ben & Jerry’s. “Dairy-free options, and gelato, and rainbow sherbet because Eleanor likes it for some reason.”
“Guilty as charged,” Eleanor said.
“So there you go, babe,” Kirsten said. “Pick your poison.”
Teddy had only just stopped crying, but receiving this kindness in the form of ice cream made her start crying again. “Brambleberry Crisp,” Teddy said.
“Flawless choice.” Eleanor grabbed the pint from the freezer and handed it to Teddy with a spoon.
The three of them returned to the living room and once again sat down on the velvet couch. Kirsten and Eleanor had lived here for years, but Teddy had been in the apartment only a few times. Typically when they met up, it was for a quick brunch or coffee. Although they always invited her to their elaborately themed movie nights, she declined because she didn’t want to miss out on being with Richard in the evenings. How would he feel if she wasn’t around to take care of him?
Well, pretty good, apparently. She started to cry harder.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person cry for so long,” Kirsten said.
“Teddy,” said Eleanor, putting a comforting hand on her back, “where are you staying?”
Teddy shrugged the best she could while shoveling ice cream in her mouth. “Dunno,” she said with a full mouth. “I guess I could ask my mom or Sophia. Or Josie.”
“Stay here,” Eleanor and Kirsten said in unison.
“I can’t do that,” Teddy said. “I’m already imposing on you guys.”
Kirsten gave her a genuine laugh. “Friends can’t impose. Especially not after a breakup.”
Teddy sighed into her ice cream. “I can sleep on the couch, right?”
Eleanor wrinkled her nose. “Well, maybe not. For one thing, the velvet’s not exactly comfortable . . .”
“And for another thing, we definitely found it on the curb last week,” Kirsten added. “But you’re in luck—we have a guest room!”
Eleanor tilted her head. “Well, technically it’s a large closet.”
“And even more technically, it used to be my studio. But I got a space somewhere else, so we stuck a bed in there for when Eleanor’s sister is in town.”
“But,” Eleanor said, “Maureen is currently Eat Pray Love–ing it all over Europe, so don’t worry. The room’s yours.”
Teddy set her ice cream on the coffee table (which was dark brown and covered with golden giraffes—surely also found on a curb somewhere) and crossed the living room. She peeked in the door of her new room.
It was small, sure. The bed took up almost the entire space, and there wasn’t a window. But she felt something she couldn’t identify—nausea? excitement?—when she thought about that tiny closet room being hers.
“Are you guys sure?” she asked, surprised that Eleanor and Kirsten were standing beside her and looking in at the room with her. “I mean, this is really nice. I’ll do all the chores to make up for the inconvenience. Vacuuming. Laundry. The dishes . . . this spoon! I’ll start with washing this spoon.”