Breaking Down (Breaking #4) - Juliana Haygert Page 0,2

right now,” Pedro said, surprising us. I thought he was lost in thought, but apparently he had been paying attention to our conversation. “The school year goes from March to early December, with a two- or three-week break between semesters in July, when it’s winter.”

Hil nodded. “Right. I keep forgetting that.” She turned her eyes to me again. “Just two more weeks, then. I don’t get it. It’s impossible that you aren’t at least a little excited.”

I groaned. “At first, I thought I would be, but now that it’s getting close … ugh, I’m so not ready for this.” And, even though I had just turned twenty, most of my classmates would be eighteen or nineteen. I know. One or two years didn’t really make a huge difference, but since I was trying to run away from college, any excuse was a good excuse. “I want to play polo.”

Pedro frowned. “I thought you were playing. Don’t you have a tournament coming up?”

“I wish. I have six gurias on my team, and if I can get two together to practice, it’s a miracle. As for the tournament …” Frustration filled my chest as I remembered it. “The club isn’t having it. There will be no women’s category. Again.”

My brother tsked. “That sucks.”

“It does,” I whispered. “If only there was a women’s team at the club here. They could hire me and give me a visa, like they did with you guys.”

“I don’t think there are any women’s teams around here,” Gui said.

“Yeah, never heard of any,” Pedro said. “Only private groups, I think, but those won’t get you a visa.”

My chest deflated some more. “I know they won’t.”

Hil reached across the couches and held my hand in hers. “Don’t worry too much, Gabi. I’m sure things will work out the way they are supposed to.”

I squeezed her hand and offered her a small smile, glad this beautiful, amazing girl was my brother’s girlfriend and my dear friend.

Although, as much as I would love to believe her, I wasn’t so sure.

I should have given Bia some credit. My cousin wouldn’t do anything halfway, so when she mentioned having Garrett’s surprise birthday party at a restaurant, I thought it was odd. At a restaurant? So it would be only us—and “only us” was already a lot of people. I had expected more from her.

We stopped at the restaurant’s hostess. She led us to a back room and I knew I had been right. Bia didn’t do anything halfway.

The back room was a large event room with tables and chairs lining the place, a bar along the back wall, a small dance floor in the middle, and double glass doors that led directly to the restaurant's bar.

When we arrived, the place was already half full.

“I thought Garrett was from out of town,” I said as we walked into the back room.

“He is, but you know Bia,” Gui said. He held Hil’s hand tightly in his. It was cute. “She’s friends with everyone, so everyone is friends with Garrett too.”

Beside me, Pedro groaned. “I think I’m gonna just …” He gestured toward the bar, and without saying hi to anyone, he sidestepped and made a beeline to the bar.

Before we left the apartment, Pedro had complained about having to come to a party. We almost left him there, but Gui insisted Bia would be upset with him, and Garrett was his friend, so Pedro agreed to come. I guess he'd be drowning his sorrows with alcohol all night long.

“I wish there was something we could do to make him feel better,” Hil said.

“Have any of you talked to Iris?” I asked.

“Bia said she tried, but Iris shut her out,” Gui said.

That didn’t make sense.

We reached the sea of people and found the rest of our family. A big table had been set up for us. Tio João Pedro and tia Agnes sat in the center, while Ri, Leo, and Hannah stood a few steps behind them, talking and laughing. In the small crowd, I also recognized Reese, Malcolm, Lucas, Megan, Blaire, and Andrea, and more people from the club. But there were a lot of twenty-something girls and guys here who I didn’t know.

After greeting a few people we knew, Gui, Hil, and I joined tio João Pedro and tia Agnes at our table. Tia Agnes pulled me into a hug. I had arrived yesterday afternoon, so I hadn’t seen most of my family yet.

“Glad to have you around for a few days,” tia Agnes