by Hazel Kelly
“Good one, but there’s not a wicked bone in your body.”
“There was last night.”
He laughed. “See why you have to come? I’ll be miserable without you.”
“It’s too soon, James.”
“You’re wrong, Brie. If anything, we have a lot of lost time to make up for.”
“If I agree, will you keep your hands to yourself?”
“That’s not really in line with my character.”
“Promise me,” I said. “Or I’m staying home, and you can tell me all about it.”
“Fine,” he said. “I promise. No funny business. Just good old-fashioned, long overdue family fun.”
I cringed, dreading the thought of seeing Maddy. Not because I didn’t want to, but because no one had ever made me feel more rejected. Yet at the same time, my heart ached to make James happy.
“Trust me,” he said. “It'll be even more fun than that time Neville scored ten points for Gryffindor, and they won the house cup.”
My eyes popped wide. “You read Harry Potter?”
“Only the first one,” he said. “And only because I’m trying to impress this girl.”
“Any idea if it’s working?” I asked, my cheeks swelling with a smile.
“No idea,” he said. “Can’t even get her to come to a party with me.”
I groaned. “Fine,” I said, hoping I wasn’t making a huge mistake. “I’ll go.”
T H I R T Y O N E
- James -
Brie was so visibly nervous I was starting to doubt whether inviting her was a good idea.
“You good?” I asked, glancing across the backseat of our Uber to where she was sitting with her hands wedged between her knees.
“Yeah.” She stared out the window, her sequined headband the only evidence of the cherry red flapper dress beneath her coat.
My phone buzzed in my pocket a third time, and I knew before I pulled it out that it would be Maddy. I texted her to say I was bringing Brie shortly before we left the house, since Brie’s nerves were downright contagious and the last thing I wanted was to make anyone feel ambushed. I tapped out another text that said, “Thanks in advance for being so cool about this,” hit send, and set my phone to silent. Then I unbuckled my seatbelt, slid into the middle, and draped an arm around Brie’s shoulder. “Hey.” She turned to look at me, and I couldn’t help but notice her cheeks looked abnormally pale. “You don’t look like someone who’s off to a party.”
She shrugged. “I’m sorry. I just feel so awkward.”
“Why?” I asked. “If anyone should feel awkward, it’s Maddy. She’s the one who behaved badly.”
“Your dad is the one who behaved badly.”
“True,” I said. “But she still owes you an apology.”
“I don’t need an apology. What I need is for everyone to forget the whole thing ever happened.”
“Forget what happened? Your friendship? How many people have you made secret handshakes with over the last ten years?”
Her lips curled towards a smile. “Define secret handshake.”
The glint in her eye reminded me of the night before, shortly after our Scrabble game took a sexy turn and…let’s just say there were tiles everywhere this morning, and I’d spelled things with my tongue between her legs that she was too good a girl to ever repeat. “That’s not fair,” I said. “Don’t make that face and then ask me to keep my hands to myself.”
“Sorry,” she said, waving a hand over her expression to erase her obvious satisfaction. “I’m just still reeling from last night.”
I leaned over to kiss her forehead, my lips finding the narrow strip of skin between her horizontal headband and her hairline. “I’m glad my vocabulary exceeded your expectations.”
“Your vocabulary?” she asked, craning her neck back. “Is that what we’re calling it now?” Her eyes stole down to my lap, making my tuxedo pants feel uncomfortably snug.
I pressed a finger to my lips and let my eyes stray toward the driver. He was clearly uninterested in us based on the number of phone calls he’d taken since we got in the car, but still. He didn’t need to hear about my impressive vocabulary.
“Anyway,” she said, dragging out the word. “I’d thank you for inviting me tonight, but I think I’ll wait and see how the big reunion goes first.”
“It’s going to be fine. Worst case scenario, Maddy will be a little awkward and embarrassed.”
She scrunched her nose.
“But you keep your chin up,” I said, letting her see in my eyes how much I meant it. “You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
She cast her eyes down and wrung her hands together. “I don’t know about that.”
“I do,” I said, knocking into her shoulder.
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and trusting.
“And I really appreciate you doing this for me.”
“I’m not doing it for you,” she said. “I’m doing it for me. For closure.”
My brows drew together. “Closure?”
She nodded.
Closure wasn’t what I was hoping for at all. I was hoping for a modicum of civility going forward. Granted, it was too soon to let Maddy know how things had progressed with us, but until she and Brie patched things up, the tension between them was like a thorn in my side.
Maybe that was stupid. Maybe I shouldn’t care so much. But I couldn’t unsee the pain they went through when their friendship dissolved, couldn’t unhear the tears I’d heard them cry into their respective pillows. Even now, I hated how Brie’s eyes lost their sparkle when her old friend’s name came up.
I held no delusions that they could ever recover the relationship they once had, but that was fine. If they did, it would only complicate my pursuit of the honey-haired sweetheart under my arm. But by her own admission, Brie had been made to feel like the black sheep of our family, and that pissed me off. Because no one was more innocent in this than she was.
“I just want Maddy to know I don’t hold anything against her for the way she handled things and that I wish her well.”
“Brie—”
“That’s it.” She raised her palms like she was going to push the passenger seat in front of her. “That’s all I want from tonight.”
“Besides a bit of Bond?”
She scowled at me. “Have I really not made a big enough fuss about your costume?” she asked. “I’ve been humoring your hand-guns all week.”
“I still think I should’ve brought the fake one.”
She shook her head. “This is Chicago, James. Carrying a fake gun around isn’t a good idea.”
I knew she was right, though I did like how the replica felt when I spun it around my finger.
"Nor do I think it lends itself to a party atmosphere.”
“Good point” I said. “Guess I’ll have to disarm people with my wit.”
She laughed. “Won’t that be a treat for everyone.”
I hugged her against my side, a rush of warmth swirling through me when she laid her head on my shoulder and wiggled it into the crook of my neck. It felt right, the way we fit together. Funny how easy things were between us once we stopped fighting our attraction to one another.
Sure, it sucked that it had to be a secret, since I wanted to brag to everyone I knew that I’d bedded the sexiest writer on the North Shore. But that could wait. All that mattered now was the fact that we were finally together. Finally us.
And it was strange how natural it felt. As if we’d always been a couple.
As if we always would be.
T H I R T Y T W O
- Brie -
I was doing a pretty good job compartmentalizing in terms of what happened with Professor Herstall, but when James said I had nothing to be ashamed of, the pit of guilt festering in my stomach throbbed a little. I wished I’d already confronted the asshole. Not that I necessarily thought confronting him was the best thing to do.
Confronting the blank page again felt more urgent than anyth
ing.
And Maddy. I had to confront Maddy. Not in a confrontational way, but I promised myself I wouldn’t shrink or cower. After all, James was right. I needed to keep my chin up. So what if there was a deeply buried part of me that was still desperate for her approval? I was an adult, and I was going to act like it.
I slipped my coat off outside the door, which was decorated with a moaning skeleton and a wreath made of giant, plastic candy corn.
“Wait,” he said, pausing before he rang the bell. “Are you an angry flapper or…?”
I elbowed him and plastered a smile on my face.
“Nice,” he said, pressing the doorbell. “That doesn’t look fake at all.”
I laughed and a genuine smile reached my eyes moments before a tall girl with perfect Twiggy lashes answered the door.
“James! I’m so glad you came!” She threw her arms around him before stepping back and turning my way.
“This is Brie,” he said, deflecting the attention she seemed so eager to lavish on him. “Brie, Alicia.”
I shook her hand and admired her waspy thinness since my mother wasn’t there to do so. And while I couldn’t be certain, admiring wasn’t the word I would’ve chosen to describe the look she gave me. It was more like she was sizing me up, evaluating me based on some specific criteria I wasn’t privy, too.
My curves aren’t contagious, I wanted to say. And I don’t want to be here any more than you want me here.
“Alicia throws the best parties,” James said, as if he sensed the weird vibe between us.
“Stop,” she said, slapping his chest playfully.
I clenched my jaw.
“So are you guys…?” She looked between us.
“I’m his stepsister,” I blurted, already uncomfortable with the way she was breathing down my neck without even being behind me. What was this sorcery? Speaking of which, I would’ve cast a personal space spell on her if I’d known one.
“Oh,” Alicia said, her body visibly relaxing. “How fun! Do come in.” Alicia took my coat, and as soon as she turned her back to lead us inside, James shot me a look.
“What?” I whispered. “It’s the truth.”
He dropped his face towards mine. “You didn’t have to say that.”
“And you didn’t have to bring me to your ex’s house on top of everything.”
“She’s not my ex.”
I scoffed. “She’s not your friend.”
“She’s seeing someone else now.”
My eyes popped wide as I smacked his shoulder. “I knew it! What the hell is wrong with you?”
“It’s a long story.”
“Wish I could say I was looking forward to it,” I said, stepping into Alicia’s house of tricks. I had to hand it to her, though. The girl could decorate. From the Halloween balloons to the cobwebs to the interactive, 3D tombstones lining the walls, I could see why this was the only party in town. There wasn’t a budget costume in sight, and there were even people bobbing for apples in the kitchen to our right.
And then I saw her.
It took me a second to realize it was her because she had a bright red Wilma Flintstone wig on, but she hadn’t changed at all otherwise. Fortunately, her big round eyes landed on James first. Two seconds later, he was hugging her so hard her feet left the ground, which gave me a chance to collect myself.
It was sweet, seeing them together. These two people I cared so much for in such different ways. And as silly as it was, I was relieved to see how clearly he related to her like a sister. From the platonic warmth in his eyes to the familial way he smiled at her, seeing their bond in action helped cement my belief that what we had was different.
My body accepted that he wasn’t my brother a long time ago, but my mind was still trying to come around to the idea that what we were doing wasn’t wrong. But now that I could see the contrast, I was more certain than ever that there was nothing fraternal about the way he looked at me, the way he loved me. And love was the word. He hadn’t said it or anything, but I could feel it. When he touched me. When he held me. It was different than the love they shared, and as the three of us stood there, I realized it always had been.
“Hi,” I said, lifting a palm when Maddy turned to me, her eyes still full of excitement over her brother’s arrival.
And then she hugged me. Hard. Like she’d been away on a trip and had really missed me. And when she squeezed me, tears pooled unexpectedly in my eyes like I was home or something. It was so crazy. So overdue. Maybe James was right. Maybe it was time. And when I prepared myself to let go, she didn’t. But she wasn’t hugging me anymore. She was trying to tell me something. Sorry, I imagine. Or I missed you. And it was everything, her show of friendship in that moment. Like releasing a breath I’d been holding for ten years.
“It’s good to see you,” she said when she stepped back, her brown eyes smiling.
“It’s good to see you, too,” I said, trying to hide how goofy I felt from the surge of relief billowing through me. “You look good.”
“Thanks.”
“And not just as a redhead.”
She laughed and pretended to fluff her hair with her palm, cocking her knees to one side as if to show off her perfect Wilma Flintstone costume, which was flawless from her pearls to her bare feet. “Thanks,” she said. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“It’s a good thing, too,” I said, shimmying my hips so the fringe of my red dress swished side to side. “If I’d grown even an inch in any direction, this dress wouldn’t still fit.”
Her eyes traveled from my headband down to the gold buckle on my red T-straps, which I’d scored at Goodwill as a teenager.
“I didn’t know you were a Flintstones fan.”
She shrugged. “I’m not really. I was going to be Tinkerbell, but Quinn liked the idea of dragging me around like a caveman.”
“And on that note,” James said, clearing his throat and setting a hand on my upper back. “I think I’ll go find Fred while you guys catch up.”
“He’s in the kitchen,” Maddy said, pointing at the open doorway behind him. “He’s supposed to be making more monster punch so if you catch him bobbing for apples in that tub of germs—” She stopped talking when James disappeared into the next room, sighed, and turned back to me. “It’s good to see you.”
I laughed. “You said that already.”
“I know,” she said, her eyes shiny. “But I really mean it.”
T H I R T Y T H R E E
- James -
Quinn was pouring ginger ale in the Halloween punch, causing the bony skeleton hand and candy eyeballs to float towards the cauldron’s perimeter.
“That looks disgusting,” I said, sidling up to him.
“I know.” He put the ginger ale down and unscrewed the grenadine, grimacing when he realized the top of the bottle was sticky. “It really packs a punch, though.” He glanced at me and flashed a wide smile.
I scowled to let him know I wasn’t going to make a fuss over his lousy pun and grabbed a Solo cup off the top of the stack.
He sucked the stickiness off his finger before grabbing the big wooden ladle and giving the deadly mix a slow stir.
I held out my cup, my gaze distracted by the way the eyeballs bounced off the spoon.
“Easy, tiger,” he said, grabbing the vodka. “I still need to add the secret ingredient.”
“Not sure how you landed this job.”
“I said Barney, not Bond,” he said, lifting his arm towards the ceiling so the vodka plunged into the mix like a skinny waterfall. “How was that unclear?”
“Oh, come on,” I said, as he screwed the cap back on the vodka. “You didn’t really expect me to come as Barney Rubble.”
“Why else would I email you a link to the perfect wig?”
My eyes drifted up to his, which was comically oversized. “Why didn’t you just poof up your own hair?” I asked, cringing at the thought of having an itchy scalp all night.
An obnoxious gleam appeared i
n his eye. “Because Wilma likes it this way.”
I extended my empty cup in his direction and nodded at the punch bowl. “Do you mind?”
He stirred the bowl again and served two ladlefuls into my glass.
“Thanks,” I said, convinced I could smell the concoction before it was halfway to my mouth.
Quinn topped up his own cup before turning to face me.
“You can stop flexing now,” I said, surprised by what a convincing meathead he looked like with his arms out and an oversized tie tight around his neck.
“I’m not flexing,” he said, pausing before he took a drink. “And if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”
“Of how you look in a catprint tunic?”
“Not everyone is happy to throw on a cheap tux and call it a costume, you know.”
I glared at him.
“That was a joke,” he said. “I know an expensive tux when I see one.”
I tasted the punch and nearly gagged. “Christ,” I breathed, setting my glass down and reaching for the ginger ale.
“My girlfriend’s a fashion blogger,” he said. “In case you didn’t know.”
I ignored him and set about trying to make the punch taste more like juice and less like mouthwash.
“What’s your girlfriend do?”
My neck pulled back. “What?”
“Oh, come on,” he said. “You haven't blown me off this much since we were sophomores and you started sleeping with that Kappa. What was her name?”
I dumped my punch back in the bowl and stirred the eyeballs around again. “I haven’t been blowing you off.”
Quinn scoffed so hard it pushed him back. “My ass you haven’t been blowing me off.”
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.
“First you were a no-show at Chet’s bachelor party.”
“I barely know the guy.”
“Then you said you’d call me back Tuesday,” he continued.
“I have a lot going on with the house.”
“And you made the same empty promise to Maddy on Wednesday.”