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Jazzy nodded in approval. “Wear the dark skinnies,” she pointed to a pair of jeans folded on Everly’s nightstand, “and put that dress in your closet. Maybe you can use it for the Collective’s gala next month.” Her gaze cut back to her own image in the mirror. “I should probably change too, huh?” Jazzy was wearing a skintight halter dress in a ruby red.
“I mean, you’re Jazzy Germaine. You can do whatever you want and everyone will be in awe.”
“I want you to be the only one standing out tonight.” Jazzy guided Everly in front of the glass and stood behind her. After fluffing her hair (which Jazzy had styled in beachy waves), she placed her hands on Everly’s shoulders to straighten her posture. “Everyone can be in awe of you, too.” She gave Everly an encouraging squeeze. “You just have to believe it.”
These first few weeks ofOn the Plus Sidehad already made that a little easier to do. Sometimes, when she looked in the mirror now, Everly saw herself the way Grandma Helen always had.
Jazzy stepped away to sort through the discarded top options.
Everly watched her through the mirror’s reflection. Trading outfits, taking something off and saying, “Oh, this would look better on you,” was something she’d never gotten to experience before. She hadn’t realized hownormalit would make her feel. And how much she’d craved that.
Not surprisingly, Jazzy ended up in something only Jazzy Germaine could pull off: a pair of light-wash boyfriend jeans rolled up to her ankles to reveal silver sandals with spiked heels, and a black AC/DC T-shirt cut up and corseted on the sides.
By the time they headed out, the two of them still looked far too good for a night at Harry’s, but Everly didn’t care. For the first time in a long time, she felt genuinely awesome.
Striking.
No caveats.
Jazzy aimed her phone at Everly as they walked, the same way she’d been doing all night.
“No Logan?” His name was a reflex, tumbling from her mouth before Everly could stop it. She wasn’t supposed to be thinking about him. It shouldn’t matter where he was.
“He’ll catch up with us at the bar. He had some things to take care of.”
So much for a night safe from the camera. And the distraction that was Logan. The slap of her black sandals against the sidewalk drowned out Everly’s sigh.
“Tell me what you’re feeling,” Jazzy said.
“I look amazing.” Everly did a little pose like she was modeling, causing Jazzy to erupt into a series of catcalls. “And I’m excited to hang out with you tonight.” Everly chewed on her bottom lip.
“But?”
“I’m nervous, too.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know why James invited us. It’s not like he and I hang out outside of work.” If Stanton hadn’t immediately accepted and turned thisinto a wholeOn the Plus Sidemoment, Everly would have declined. She didn’t want to give the show any more footage for the #Jeverly plotline, and, after working with Alex today, she was ready to focus her energy on her art career and see where the show could help her go.
Jazzy cocked her head. “Well, the whole internet seems to think he’s into you.”
“The whole internet is wrong.” Everly thrust her hand forward like a stopping guard. “Hear me out. We could dodge him and the three of us could get sloshed.”
“Or. Hearmeout. You could stop avoiding things.” Jazzy flashed a smile that was too knowing. Too right.
Everly feigned shock. “I don’t avoid things.” She couldn’t even keep a straight face as she said it. Who was she kidding? She was practically a professional avoider. It was the very essence of being comfortable, of staying off people’s radars. But, Everly was learning, it was also a surefire way to ensure you never got anything you wanted. And even if she was pretty positive James was no longer on that list, she needed to start chasing the things that were rather than running away.
Rock music bombarded them as they pushed through the doors of Harry’s. There was a band playing, so the place was more packed than usual. The square bar that filled the middle of the room and the booths around the dance floor were jammed with bodies. More people leaned against the windows and walls and crowded around pub tables at the back. Twinkle lights framed the ceiling and snaked around the counter, giving everything a soft, fuzzy glow.
Everly had been to Harry’s so many times, and it always looked the same. In high school, one of the bartenders had been her friend’s brother, and he used to slip Everly and Becca one drink apiece as long as they were walking home. The two of them whiled away most of their summer weekends at Harry’s during college, too, dreaming of being back in Providencewith its bigger, more modern bars and sophisticated drinks. Now it was the perfect place to drown a stressful workday. Sometimes, a person needed to knock back enough glasses of frosé to make their head spin.
When Everly and Jazzy spotted Stanton waving from the bar, they locked arms and maneuvered through the crowd. Both the same size, they slipped smoothly between people, taking up the same amount of space. Everly couldn’t help but think back to all the times she’d been to places like this with Becca and her other straight-sized friends, bumping into everyone as she moved, sucking in her stomach as she’d slid into a booth, praying she’d fit, standing instead of using the barstools because she worried they wouldn’t have enough room for her ass.
Everything was an endless obstacle course, and normally she was forced to navigate it alone, but as she and Jazzy reached him, Stanton was shoving aside a barstool, scowling at it like it had insulted his mother.
It was proof the problem wasn’t Everly. It was the world.
She needed that reminder sometimes.
