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I leaned back and watched my mom and Joseph. He did laps, and she cheered him on. After a few minutes, Dottie got up and joined them. She shouted and clapped with them.
Soon after, Felix and Sandy came into the backyard. They walked right past me and over to my sister and mom. They didn’t even see me, I doubted they were even looking for me. I had been busy since I got there.
As Joseph did with everyone, when they got there, he jumped out and hugged them. Sandy lifted him in the air and twirled him around. It was surreal to see them all so happy. Tears stung my eyes. It was something out of a novel.
I looked over to see Ethan. He had stopped his meeting with his dad and was watching Joseph with my family. I laughed, soon to be ‘our family.’
wiping away the tears I saw Mr. Moore, Ethan’s father. He was the only one not looking at the pool. He was looking directly at me. His eyes drooped as he plastered a scowl across his face. I quickly averted my eyes and turned my attention to the pool again.
“So this is the famous Ava Palmer that has my Ethan all flustered,” a voice said behind me.
I jumped. When did someone else come outside? I turned to see a tall, beautiful woman with long braids past her breasts. Her eyes were the color of honey, and her teeth were blindingly white. I stood and stuck out my hand. Really, I just wanted to see if her skin was as soft as it looked.
“Sorry to startle you. I’m Tasha, Ethan’s best friend.” She shook my hand. Yup, it was as soft as it looked.
“Hi, I’m Ava. Wait, you knew that. How did you know that?” I realized I was still holding her hand and released it.
“Ethan told me. He said the atmosphere at Tristan’s is different. He was right.” She nodded toward the pool.
“I don't know how it was before, but this is wonderful.” I fussed with my nails. Hers was perfectly rounded. I should have done mine like that instead of more squared.
“It wasn’t like this, and Ethan wasn’t like this. He’s happy. That’s an emotion I didn’t think he was capable of.” She placed my hand on her knee. “Thank you.”
Yup even her knee skin was soft. I didn’t know how to respond to her. How did I begin to explain to her how happy he made me? In four days, he flipped my world upside down and fixed it. Fixed me.
Felix and Sandy came over to join us. Good, maybe they could help me. I was having trouble speaking around Tasha.
“Hi, I’m Felix, and this is my girlfriend, Sandy. We’re Ava’s family. So are those two.” He pointed to my mom and sister. “I guess soon, Joseph will be our family too.”
“That’s just wonderful. I can’t wait for the wedding.” Tasha clapped her hands together. “Ava, what are you gonna wear?”
My heart sank. My closet was ruined. The blood had destroyed all of my clothes. I had nothing to wear. Ethan had CeCe grab me a few items to wear until he could get more, but nothing fit for a wedding.
“Not sure yet, but we are gonna find her something wonderful.” Felix stepped in and spoke for me. After years of doing it for Sandy ,he had become a pro at it. And I was thankful for it.
“Oh no. That won’t do. I could come by tomorrow with my tailor Frizzo. He is wonderful. I would do it tonight, time is of the essence, but I’m going to a fight.” Tasha pulled out her phone and started clicking away.
Felix, Sandy, and I all looked at each other. They both had to be thinking the same thing I was. Maybe, there was an explanation. Maybe, I heard Tasha wrong.
“Did you say fight?” Felix asked.
Tasha looked up from her phone. “How does noon sound?
“Huh?” I scrunched up my face.
“Noon. Frizzo can fit you in. Said he will make you a dress fit for a princess.” Tasha went back to her phone.
“Fight. You said you were going to a fight tonight.” Felix’s eyes grew wide.
“Oh, that. A few of my friends heard about a place that does fights. Like in a ring. Totally boring, but one of the girls going is so hot.” Tasha fanned herself.
“All of those places closed down a few weeks ago,” Felix said. He was like me, fighting was a part of us. If the rings were open again, we were gonna go.
“No, I don’t think so.” Tasha clicked furiously on her phone. After a few dings, she held it up to us. “See, they are all open. We are going to Peaks, but if it’s lame, the others are open.”
I stared at her phone and read the message a few times. The rings were open. I could fight. Yes! I could hug Tasha.
Felix pulled Sandy in for a hug and kissed the top of her head.
