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This pulled a full-fledged laugh from Luna, and it felt so good for that moment, just to be walking and laughing with friends, not worried about the future and what it might hold.
When they sat down at the table, Luna said, “So, what’s been up with you guys? Tell me everything. I could use the distraction.”
“Forget that!” Genevieve cried. “I want to know what’s been happening with you. Specifically with Connor, and specifically since I sent you out to my backyard shed to talk to him while he worked on the car.”
“Wait, what now?!” Abby slapped her palms down on the table, leaning forward eagerly. “You’ve seen Connor? I want every detail.”
“Yes, yes, yes,” Ella agreed. “Nothing less than every dirty detail will do.”
Luna leaned back in her chair, laughing and shaking her head. “Oh my gosh, you guys. We just regressed to a cafeteria table at Val High. What is it about being back here and being around you guys that makes me feel like a teenager again?”
“Wait,” Gen piped up, “in the ‘I’m invincible and the world is my oyster’ kind of way, or the ‘I can’t get rid of this pimple, my homeroom teacher hates me and I forgot my locker combination’ kind of way?”
Luna considered. “Can I go with—some from column A and some from column B?”
“Yeah, it must be really confusing, being back here after all this time, seeing us, seeing Connor, your grandfather being sick…it’s a lot,” Ella said, patting her hand sympathetically.
“Thanks, El. It is a lot. But by all accounts, my grandfather is going to be okay. And I’m doing everything I can to hold onto that. I know that my main priority needs to be taking care of him, and supporting Grandma Grace.”
Genevieve gave her a sly half smile. “Buuuuut….”
Luna’s eyebrows shot up. “But what?”
Gen’s short bark of a laugh came at her in response. “Oh, look at you, the picture of innocence! You said you know that’s what your main priority needs to be. Not that it’s what your main priority is. So, tell me, Luna of the Valley. What is your actual main priority?”
The other two girls leaned forward eagerly and Luna couldn’t help but laugh. “Okay, you guys. Now you’re even using my high school nickname? Come on. You’re making it too easy to slip into gossip mode.”
“Exactly, because that’s what we’re trying to do!” Abby exclaimed, and they all laughed.
The waitress came over and took their orders, and as soon as she left, Ella said, “You might as well wipe that ‘Oh, thank goodness—saved by the bell!’ look off of your face because we can’t be side-tracked by a little thing like an interruption. Now, come on. Spill.”
Luna leaned back in her chair and sighed. It really did feel good, ironically, to be grilled by her old friends like this. It meant not only that they knew her well, but that they cared.
Her group of friends in San Francisco were really more like acquaintances. People to have a coffee with sometimes, or invite to a dinner party.
She thought, now, that maybe she’d kept them at a distance on purpose. That maybe the unresolved situation with Connor had always weighed on her mind. Because looking back at it now, she could see that she’d caused her own pain by never taking control of the situation. She’d let it happen to her, rather than making what she wanted happen.
She surrendered to a resigned smile and gave in. “Fine,” she said. “Thai food and gossiping about guys. What better welcome back to the group could there possibly be?”
