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Twenty-Four
Magnolia
Everyone is headed to Mahiki tonight but Henry’s doing his living best to convince me that I shouldn’t come, that I should stay home with Bridge, that I won’t be missing anything. Instead, I’m doubling down because I feel like I need to after how fucking indifferent his stupid brother was when I told him I was staying.
I stare up at Henry defiantly. “What do you think — the pink dress or the red one?”
“Neither.” He shakes his head.
“The red.” I nod to myself.
My best friend shakes his head. “No.”
“Yes.” I try to move past him into the bathroom but he grabs me by the shoulders.
“No.” He shakes his head firmly. “You’re not ready.”
“I am too ready.” I frown, though I might not be.
“Magnolia—” He laughs. “A half an hour ago you were crying in my arms during the ancestral song from Moana.”
My bottom lip starts going. “It’s a very precious song to me—”
“You—” He shakes his head. “Are not Samoan.”
“Could be,” I tell him, my nose in the air.
“Your great grandfather was born on the Mississippi River.”
I cross my arms. “Says who?”
Henry crosses his. “His New York Times best-selling biography.”
I swipe my hand through the air and dart over to the mirror, trying to assess how much work I need to do to my face to make BJ rue the day. Henry comes and stands behind me. He looks sad. “Magnolia,” he says gently, “you’re not ready.”
I look back over my shoulder. “But he’s ready, Hen—” I give a small shrug. “So I must be also.”
For better or (probably) for worse, I’m steeling myself with alcohol.
Not as much as last time, mind you. That feels embarrassing now.
I can’t remember what happened really, other than waking up and BJ being on the floor — also embarrassing. Because I was touching him? I could die. I could honestly die. He could have slept in the guest room, though. I wasn’t the sort of messy that he might have worried I’d choke on my own vomit in the middle of the night, so he could have slept in the guest room but he didn’t, and before I might have read into that, but then even after everything he wasn’t even excited to find out I was staying — so maybe it means nothing at all.
That aside, how much I drank that night obviously left much to be desired, so to curb it this time, I eat a piece of toast and book a Banana Bag IV for the morning to hedge my bets.
I make sure I look extra beautiful to make life hard for him — freezing my arse off in mid-December in the water-toned floral Alexandre cut-out mini dress from SIR. The Label with the navy Gucci chain-trim button-front knitted cardigan and the Gaia 140mm velvet sandals from Jimmy Choo which I take off as soon as I’m inside because I want him to see as much of me as possible so he thinks about touching me but then he can’t and then his night is ruined.
“Hi,” I sing to all of them as Henry and I walk in. I only kiss Taura on the cheek.
BJ stares at me how I hoped he would and it doesn’t give me the high I was after at all.
His girlfriend gives me a tight, uncomfortable smile.
I glance around at them. “I hope you’re all ready to help us move this weekend?”
Tausie and I give them big grins and there’s a general murmur of displeasure but agreement amongst the boys.
BJ nods at me. “Where’s the new place?”
