Oh, no.
“Asher…” I approach him like I would a wounded animal.
Asher’s staring blankly at the gaudy piece of paper, just like I had.
“Asher, wait—” My voice catches when his face drops. “I—I was going to tellyou.”
“She’s getting married?” he whispers, staring at the paper. His voice cracks at the end. “I know it’s been nine years, but I don’t know. I had thought… Maybe …”
Maybe she’d come back.
I held out hope for the same thing for a long time.
Then, one day, it was time to wrap those memories and that hope up in a teeny, tiny little box and shove it to the back of my mind. I couldn’t go on grieving my friendship with Juniper forever—not when she’s alive, not when shechoseto leave.
Eventually, Asher stopped talking about Juniper, too. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe he had fully moved on, if he ever could.
Uncertainly, I walk around the island and stand next to him. I’m not great at comforting someone, but Asher’s also the loose cannon out of all of us when he’s emotional. His easygoing demeanor often fools people.
“I hoped for the same,” I admit.
When Juniper broke up with Asher, she didn’t only abandon him. She left me.
We were friends years before anything romantic happened between them. I’m not saying my friendship with Juniper was perfect, but I never truly thought there would be a time in my life that she wasn’t around for.
Juniper was always an all-or-nothing kind of person, though.
I miss her every damn day anyway.
“Do you—” His voice catches. “Do you think she loves him?”
Blinking back tears, I consider his question. There’s a part of me that hopes she does—that she’s finally found happiness. Another selfish part of me wishes she never loves anyone the way she loved Asher. It was passionate and consuming, and, for a long time, unconditional.
“I don’t know,” I quietly admit. I flick one of the gold foiled corners. “Something about this has Deb writtenall over it.”
Debra, that snake of a woman, was always Juniper’s most faithful critic.
Wiping one of his tears, Asher side-eyes me. “She always wanted to get married in June.”
My gaze swings to the date.
July 27th.
“She—I forgot about that.” I let out a breath.
That’s right. She did.
Even as little girls, she’d always made sure her Barbies were married in June. When she would fantasize about her dream beach wedding, it was always at sunrise in the middle of the month. Never once did she falter on that.
Maybe her mind changed after their breakup, but… I don’t know. Juniper is stubborn, and no one can change her mind other than herself or her mom. And that date was never about Asher, outside of him being her partner for such a long time. I don’t think she’d change her mind on this.
However, Debra never cared what her daughter wanted. Juniper was no better than a show pony in her mom’s eyes, with all the pageants, dance classes, modeling, and a ridiculous number of other activities.
“Like I said,” I mutter and wrap an arm around his shoulders. “This has Debra writtenallover it.”
I don’t want to feed into any of his delusions that she will come running home one day, but something feels off about this whole thing. On top of the date, I’ve wondered why the hell she even invited me. She hasn’t spoken to me in years—now this?
“You’re probably right. It doesn’t matter anyway.” He smiles but it turns watery as he breaks down into another sob.
