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Penelope
“MACE,HAVEYOUEVENSTARTED PACKING YET?”
Macie bit her lip and glanced at me guiltily as she bent over a box.
I’d asked her a month ago to move in with me. I began thinking about it the day she told me she’d broken up with Jeremy. She told me she’d been thinking about it too but was waiting for me to ask. Even though I hadn’t asked yet, she’d already started looking for jobs. She’d already quit at Seaside Middle too. I told her she was crazy. She told me she had a hunch.
“You know me, I’ll probably wait until the day before.”
I snorted. I finished packing up the contents of my desk and slid the box onto the floor.
We only had a couple of weeks before we moved, and I, being the most responsible of us all, had already done most of my packing. I think Carter was closer to Macie in that he hadn’t started either.
I’d been seeing a therapist for a while, one that I got in contact with through UCLA itself. I’d only held virtual sessions thus far but planned to start seeing her in person once I arrived. I was still feeling guilty about keeping the entirety of my past from Carter, but through therapy I started to realize that it was more important for me to come to terms with it for myself before I could be fully honest with him. I hated lying to him, and I was still afraid of how he’d react when he found out. I was afraid he’d change his mind about me. But I also knew that healing from my past was something I had to handle on my own first. I had to forgive myself before I could ask it from any other person.
“My mom thinks my decision to move was too impulsive,” Macie said, pulling me from my thoughts.
I shrugged. “You’re an impulsive person. It’s one of your many charms.”
She sighed, placing a hand on her stomach as she stared up at my bedroom ceiling. “My mom thinks I’m having a quarter-life crisis, but I think I’ve been having a quarter life crisis since I was twenty-three. That’s why I started dating Jeremy in the first place.”
“That seems to make sense.” I laid next to her. “God, Mace. He was such a dud.”
“The sex was awful. I don’t know how I survived.”
Laughter bubbled out my throat as I turned to look at her. Her eyes met mine, serious at first. I could actually see within her gaze how terrible her sex life must’ve been, and for some awful reason that made me laugh harder. Our laughter was still filling the room as I heard a commotion at the bottom of the stairs, then heavy footsteps bounding up them.
I sat up. “Shit, he’s here early,” I muttered. The drive from Boise was around eight hours. He must’ve left before it was even light out this morning.
Macie looked at me puzzled just as my bedroom door swung open. “Baby sister!” Easton shouted as he strolled into my room. He bound straight for where I was sitting on the ground and dove across my lap, wrapping his arms around my head. “Missed you.”
I patted his arm. “Missed you too.”
He pulled back and gave me a crooked smile. His hair was longer than the last time I saw him, pulled up into a half bun and shagging down to his shoulders. His facial hair was scruffy and uneven– he’d always had trouble growing a beard.
“You look… rough.” I couldn’t think of another word for dirty.
His brows furrowed, his ice blue eyes growing sharp. “Thanks. I was going to say you look beautiful, but you know what?” He pressed his finger into my chin before I could jerk away. “You have a zit right there.”
I swatted at him, and as he dodged my arm he turned, noticing Macie for the first time. She patiently sat against my bed, arms resting in her lap as she watched us. “Oh, shit. Hi.” He smiled, eyes roaming her body as he decided whether or not she’d be his next conquest. “I’m Easton Mason.”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes.
Macie’s face lit up with amusement, not in a way that showed interest but a way that said she’d like to make a fool of him. “That’s a name straight outta Nashville.”
He cocked his head. “I don’t think that’s the proper way to introduce yourself, Macie.” She shrugged. “Fortunately, since Penelope only has one friend, I already know who you are.”
They began to argue back and forth about whether Easton’s name was inherently Southern and better suited for a country music singer. Reading both their expressions, I could already tell Easton was under the impression he’d have a chance. Macie’s eyes glistened because she knew that he didn’t.
I love my brother, but he’s the definition of pretentious. He just finished his second year of law school. He took a gap year after finishing his undergrad to backpack through Mexico and Central America, posting his adventures on YouTube to show others how they too could live the nomad life (only if their parents were paying their way, of course).
Now that he finished school for the summer, he’d come home for a few weeks before returning to Boise. Sometimes I think that’s why he’s attending law school to begin with. He’s just not ready to be done with the college experience yet.
“So, Macie, will I be seeing you again at dinner tonight?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I’ve got to go start packing up my apartment. You know how Penny is, a real hard-ass. Apparently, I’m slacking.” She slapped her knees as she stood up. Easton was still on the floor next to me. His eyes ate her up as they dragged up her body at a disgustingly slow pace. She blew me a kiss as she walked out my door, and Easton reached his arm out and pretended to grab it before turning to me and grinning.
“You’re disgusting,” I muttered.
