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Stanton rushed to meet them, a wide smile spreading across his light brown cheeks. His dark curls spilled out of the hood of what looked like a white hazmat suit. He had another one draped over his arm, presumably for Everly. Once again, she regretted her choice of footwear.
“Are you ready to smash your negative feelings?” he asked.
On the TV over his shoulder, a man slammed a golf club into a wine bottle, the pieces of glass exploding across his feet like shrapnel. Everly cringed. There was nothing safe or fine about swinging heavy objects at breakable items. But that was the exact mindset she was supposed to be challenging. “Uh. Sure.” She did her best to muster some enthusiasm.
“Us too, right?” Ellis’s brown eyes grew into rounder and rounder Os as he took everything in. Their whole lives, Everly’s brother had loved taking things apart—the toaster, their mom’s hairdryer, Everly’s dolls—tosee how they worked. And more often than not, he did this by smashing them open. Everly’s Barbie graveyard had been a macabre sight; thank god they’d gotten most of them for cheap at thrift stores.
“How else are you supposed to help Everly break through her barriers?” Stanton wagged an eyebrow.
Doing a little fist pump, Ellis dragged Becca off to get changed into their protective gear.
Stanton directed Everly to another dressing room behind the counter so she could do the same. When she emerged, Sady and Logan were positioning her brother for an interview.
Which meant that, for a brief second, Everly wasn’t the center of attention. She took it in with a sigh of relief and leaned against the wall to enjoy a little peek at the inner workings of her favorite show.
Sady gestured for Ellis to stand in front of the barn door, so the invitation to come break things perfectly framed his head.
She peered into the camera’s viewfinder, then cut her gaze to Logan. “Do you think it’s too…?” She waved her hand to indicate something. Everly had no idea what she meant, but Logan clearly got it. Nodding, he stepped forward and guided Ellis to a blank wall.
“What about this?” He and Sady glanced at the camera’s screen again.
They both cringed and said “No, too bright” at the same time, like some sort of hive mind.
Everly’s cheeks warmed. She’d never been as in sync with anyone—even Becca—as these two seemed to be. How many projects had Sady and Logan worked on together?
After rotating Ellis through a few other spots, they finally agreed on the right lighting and background and began his interview.
It was too awkward to have someone talking about her like she wasn’t standing two feet away, so Everly wandered toward the merchandise. Butwhen she heard Sady ask Ellis what he wanted for his sister, Everly froze, listening without meaning to.
“I want her to find herself again.”
“What do you mean?” Sady prompted.
“She used to be one of the most confident people I knew. But over the last couple of years, she’s started to doubt everything. It’s like she’s afraid to be herself or something.” Her brother’s face was more serious than Everly had seen it in a long time. “She has this laugh.” Ellis shook his head. “It’s loud and… I don’t know… full of life or vigor or whatever. I miss it. I missher.”
Everly tugged at the elasticized waist of her white suit. She’d had no idea her brother felt this way. He’d never said anything.
He missed her. The real her.
And, really, so did she.
She just wasn’t sure how to find her way back to that version of herself. Or if there’d be anything left of her once she did.
The sledgehammer weighed more than expected but, god, swinging it at the old CRT TV was satisfying. As the gray screen crunched inward, the whole thing toppled to the floor with a bang.
“Yeehaw!” Everly yelled.
Stanton stopped mid-swing to arch a brow at her. “Excuse me, cowgirl?”
She grinned. “Breaking stuff should always be accompanied by yelling.” To prove it, she let out a guttural scream like the final girl from a horror film as she turned and brought her hammer down on a half-broken wooden chair.
“She’s not wrong,” Becca piped in. She followed up her golf swing at a set of green wineglasses with a Tarzan call.
“Sexy, baby.” Ellis winked at his wife.
Everly gagged. “That’s my best friend you’re making suggestive faces at.”
“You know I do more than that with her, right?”
