“Yes, friends.” I leaned forward in my chair, as if we were sharing secrets like we were little kids again. “And he asked me to hang out again this weekend,as friends.”
“Okay, then.” She shrugged, but hints of that conniving smirk remained. She was unconvinced, but so what? It was the truth. She could handle it. “Friends are nice, I guess.”
“You’restill my best friend, don’t worry.” I finally smirked back, and Nikki stuck her leg out from under the nylon cape to gently kick me in the shin.
“Well,duh. I’m irreplaceable.”
That warm secondhand burning sensation spread through my chest, and even thoughIknew it was her standard dry humor, I wasn’t suresheknew how true that was to me. There were days I genuinely contemplated that, but being here now, reveling in what felt like normalcy, made that hollow feeling seem further and further away.
Lula came back to the chair and pulled apart a few of the foils from the top of Nikki’s head.
“We gotta let you cook under there now,” Lula said to Nikki. “I’ll be back to check on you in fifteen.”
“Cook?” I chuckled.
“Yeah.” Nikki nodded eagerly. “The color has to activate with heat from my head, or something like that. It sounds right, anyway.”
I snickered. “I see. Maybe you should go to cosmetology school with all that insider knowledge.”
“You know what? I’ve actually thought about that. I might.”
We shared a true, genuine laugh, the way we used to before everything seemed to change, and it made me realize that maybe change was okay. Things weren’t going to go back to the way they were before, but they could change into something else. Something good.
I opened my text messages and typed a response.
NAT:I’m in
Ten
I ran hard that morning. Gray clouds rolled through the sky, ready to unleash rain at any time, and even though rain was just rain, I ran like I could outrun it.
I came back from my shower in lounge clothes and with a towel wrapped around my head to find Nikki sprawled on my bed, and she jumped up like she’d been static shocked when she saw me stopped in the doorway.
“What are you doing?” she asked, scrunching her face up at me.
“Me?” I scoffed. “What areyoudoing in my room and on my bed?”
“Oh, well . . .” Nikki smiled that conniving smile as she scooted off the bed and gestured to a few articles of clothing (some of which might have been hers) laid out on the comforter. “I picked out a few outfit options for your date tonight. Whichyouare going to be late for since you took your sweet ass time out there.”
I sighed as I leaned against the door frame, holding up a finger. “One, I need to run, it’s part of my routine, and since I sweat when I run, I therefore need to shower afterward, and two”—I stuck another finger up—“it’s not a date.”
“Whatever.” She flicked her wrist at me. “Please make a decision and I’ll be out of your hair.”
As I walked over to my bed to survey my options, rain started to patter against the window.
“Is this necessary?” I sighed, picking up a bright-yellow-and-pink-striped off-the-shoulder sweater.
“Absolutely.” Nikki shifted her weight on her fuzzy-socked feet as she folded her arms over her chest. “I’ve carefully curated these outfits for maximum effect. I should be a personal stylist.”
“After you go to cosmetology school, of course.” I chuckled as I pulled on a pair of jean shorts. The oncoming rain would undoubtedly cool the air off, but it was still June in South Carolina. It would be hot from now until October.
“Maybe at the same time.” She shrugged. “Who knows?”
I spotted something out of my own closet—a red-and-white-striped button-down—and plucked it off the bed. “Okay, I’ve picked my outfit. Happy?”
“Not yet.”
She pulled the towel off of my still-wet hair and motioned for me to spin around. I had to crouch so she could tie my hair up in a claw clip.
