Page 26 of The Other Room

“Deal.” She lifted her beer in a toast, and I paused, realizing the significance of the small gesture.

A peace offering. A sign of friendship. A sign of her forgiveness. The ringing of our bottles together echoed deep in my soul, and I let loose a grin so wide I worried my face would rip.

“Deal.”

As we sat there for an hour sipping our beer and listening to the music, Jo continued softening toward me, her knee-jerk insults diminishing with each interaction. Seeing her smile again, and having it directed at me, felt like the first day in spring after a long winter. The first rays of sunlight illuminating a dark, grey world. I’d known I had missed her... God how I’d missed her, but even I hadn’t processed just how much until tonight. There’d been a hole in my heart when she’d vacated it, and I hadn’t realized until now just how big that hole was. I was surprised it’d managed to keep beating with the few slivers she’d left behind when she’d walked out of my world. But tonight, with each smile, each laugh, a little bit of my heart returned.

“No. Way!” a familiar voice echoed behind us and we spun in our seats.

“Hey, Andrea,” I said, giving a little wave to one of our high school classmates.

“Jo? Matt? It is you!” She pushed through the crowds and tossed an arm around each of us, pulling us in for a group hug.

Her high-pitched squeals caused me to grimace.

“Oh my God, it’s been years!” she continued, and her squeals got louder while her grip tightened.

When she finally let us go, Jo and I exchanged a quick glance. No doubt her thoughts mirrored mine. We’d never been close with Andrea in high school, yet she was acting like we were all the best of friends reunited after ages apart.

“Honey! These are my friends from high school, Matt and Jo.” She pointed to us while she gestured to the little man in glasses who followed through the crowd she’d parted. “This is my husband, Allen.”

“Nice to meet you.” He extended a hand, and I shook it.

“I can’t believe you two still hang out together. Honey, Jo and Matt were best friends since like...” She looked between us. “Well, forever! And I guess some things never change, because here they are all these years later and they’re still besties! I love it!”

Jo and I shifted in our seats, an awkward glance passing between us while she chewed on her lower lip. Last year that observation would have been accurate. Tonight, I was just grateful to be this close to Jo without getting an elbow to the face.

“Andrea and I are up visiting for a week this summer,” Allen said. “We live in Dubuque now.”

“That’s right.” Andrea grinned. “Met this handsome stallion in college and we moved there a few years ago. But I told Allen it had been too many years since I’d been home, so we hopped in the car and came up. And here you both are... and nothing has changed. Just love it, love it, love it!”

“Yep. Nothing changed at all,” Jo said, sliding another glance my way.

“Just the same old Jo and Matt,” I added, glad Jo was playing along and not dishing that I’d kissed Jake’s fiancé, broke up the band, and was just now tonight poking my head above water.

“Well, it has been so fun seeing you both. I’ve got to show Allen all around town, but I’m sure I’ll see you two around before we head back next week. Small towns and all.”

“Looking forward to it,” I lied.

“Nice to meet you, Allen. And good to see you again, Andrea.” Jo forced a smile.

With one last awkward group hug, Andrea said goodbye. Jo and I blew out a mirrored breath of relief and spun back to face the bar.

“She hasn’t changed at all.” Jo laughed. “You’d think she was still leading the pep squad with all that energy and excitement.”

“Does she ever not smile? Ever?” I shook my head. “It must be exhausting always being that perky.”

“No fucking thank you.” Jo shook her head.

“Agreed.” I lifted my beer and Jo clinked hers against it. “It’s so weird we saw her. I was just looking at a picture of us in the yearbook from her fourteenth birthday at Nicolet Beach. Do you remember that day?” I asked, the memory flooding back to me like it was yesterday.

“You mean the birthday party when her parents rented the entire beach, pretty much brought in a freaking carnival, and had that big band come and play? Oh yeah... I remember. My fourteenth birthday consisted of a couple of cards and some cupcakes.”

“That day was crazy. Everyone was there. Not so much because we liked her, but the party was off the hook.”

“Oh my God!” Jo almost spit out her beer. “That was the day we went jet skiing, and I flipped you off the back.” Her eyes squeezed shut while she tossed her head back and dissolved into laughter. “You flew so far!”

Her laughter was contagious, and I joined it while I remembered the moment vividly. “No warning. No ‘hang on’. No nothing. You just gunned it and cranked it left, and I did a full-on airshow for everyone watching at the party. Man, that hurt!”