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“My mother’s getting worse.”
Her eyes widened. “Did something happen?”
“Just more of the same.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what to do. It’s hard when I know soon I’m not gonna be around her every day. Some days I think maybe I should take some time off from school, but I know she wouldn’t let me do that. It would stress her out even more.”
Noelle expelled a long breath. “I want to say something to make you feel better right now, but I’m a firm believer that you shouldn’t say things just to say them when you don’t know shit about what it’s like to be in someone’s shoes. I’d like to tell you everything’s going to be fine. I just don’t know.”
“I appreciate that. I don’t need smoke blown up my ass.”
She placed her hand on my arm. “I can’t promise you that everything’s gonna turn out perfectly. But I promise you can always call me if you need to talk.”
When she removed her hand, I was quite aware of how much I’d enjoyed her touch. I cleared my throat. “I can’t believe how fast this summer is flying by. I’m not ready to leave.”
“Neither am I.”
“Who knows what it’s gonna be like next summer—if we’ll even be here, depending on how Mom’s doing.”
Noelle frowned. “I couldn’t imagine not getting to spend the summer with you all again.”
“Buying this house was kind of bad timing,” I said.
“Or good timing, depending on how you look at it. Your mom has had her moments this summer, but she seems to be enjoying herself.”
“That’s true. That part does make it all worth it.”
Between these confusing feelings for Noelle and being down about my mother, I came up with what seemed like a brilliant idea.
“Wanna get drunk?”
“That was random.” She laughed. “Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Dead serious. We’ve never gotten drunk together. We can’t have this summer pass without one drunken evening.”
“Am I missing something? We’ve been a little drunk at the beach together.”
“Yeah, but we’ve never had a drunk movie night here.”
“That sounds like fun. But, um, hello? Not sure we can get away with drinking here while our parents are home.”
I wriggled my brows. “Sure we can.”
“How?”
“We’ll be discreet.” I winked. “I’ve got an idea.”
• • •
“What the hell?” Noelle looked down at the handful of plastic Easter eggs I’d arranged on the grass.
“I told you I’d figure it out.”
“What is inside those eggs this time?”
I winked. “Why don’t you open one and find out?”
It was amusing to watch her open the Easter eggs, each filled with a mini bottle of liquor. Because the eggs were the larger kind, the bottles fit perfectly. I’d made a special trip to the one liquor store I knew from experience would take my fake ID. Thankfully, I wasn’t too far from my twenty-first birthday, so I wouldn’t have to risk criminal charges to get booze for much longer.
We put on a movie, and egg after egg, buzzed slowly grew into full-on hammered. Thankfully, our parents hadn’t come out to check on us once, and I made sure to place each empty bottle back inside the egg it came from.
“It’s a good thing Holly and Henry aren’t around tonight,” I said, laughing.
“Great point.” Noelle hiccupped. “I hadn’t accounted for the possibility of them.”
After the movie finished, we lingered on the grass, looking up at the night sky and enjoying our pleasantly fucked-up state. I sensed our parents were already in bed since the lights on the second floor had gone out. Then our conversation took an interesting turn.
Even in the darkness, I could see Noelle’s cheeks turning redder than I’d ever seen them. She kept fidgeting and looked like she was ready to burst.
“What’s up?” I finally asked.
She opened and closed her mouth a few times and then shook her head, seeming to think better of it.
“Noelle, what’s going on? You’re acting weird right now.”
She hiccupped again. “I’m drunk.”
“I know. But still…”
Then she blurted, “Are you attracted to me?”
Ohhkay. I must have blinked fifty times without saying anything. Her question had stunned my drunk ass into silence. Of course, I was attracted to her. But admitting it was a slippery slope. The only solution was to stall. “Why are you asking me that?”
“We spend a lot of time together, and you’ve never…tried anything. I was just wondering if that was because you don’t find me attractive.”
Fuck. “We’re friends. Why would I try anything even if I…wanted to?”
“I’m not saying you should. I’m just curious whether you find me attractive.”
I wasn’t sure if being drunk right now was a good thing or not. On one hand, it made the awkwardness of this conversation easier to bear. On the other, I wasn’t completely sure what was going to come out of my mouth. “You realize you’re backing me into a corner, right?”
