AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Can’t forget Chloe, Jas or Savvy,” Mateo says, sipping at his beer. I know Chloe is working, because I asked Carla this morning if I’d be seeing her. I have no idea who Jas is, but I can guess on the last one.
“Right.” I turn to Seer next to me, wholly overwhelmed with the amount of people I’ve met tonight. “Is Savannah coming tonight?”
“She’ll be here later,” Seer says with a note of surprise in her voice.
“Good.” I point to my purse, tucked into a corner on the bartop of Frannie’s modern farmhouse kitchen. “I brought one of Lisa’s cards with me.” From his spot next to Freddy on another couch, Fitz gives me a confused look, and I mouth “later.”
I take a look at my phone - there’s a conversation going in our group chat about what we’re wearing to the reunion, and I’m feeling pretty triumphant, having already squirreled away most of my outfit. I see a text from my mother about Hunter’s upcoming birthday dinner after the 5K next weekend, and an email from one of the companies I interviewed with this week - a thanks, but no thanks.
I try not to let defeat cloud the moment too badly, and lock my phone, staring at the wallpaper.Life isn’t about finding yourself, it’s about creating yourself, the scroll text reads, gold on a purple background. My motto for the year - to create a life I want to live, not to hope I find one by happenstance. And if the recent months are any indication, I’d say this is a pretty good start to creating that life.
But something catches my eye.
The date.
I stare.
It can’t already be this late in May. Not being at work every day, seeing time and date stamps on emails and submissions, not crossing days off my calendar, I didn’t even notice.
For the first time in years, the middle days of May passed by without a second thought. The anniversary of Mickey’s death, of the shitshow of a funeral, of the days leading up to and the days following May 16. Those days haunted me like the worst kind of poltergeist, the grief creeping up unseen and unheard. But just like that, the days had passed, and I hadn’t even noticed. Because I’m happy. God, jobless, unstable financially, but gloriously happy and creating a life I love.
FITZ WESTFALL
You ok?
I look up, meeting his eye across the room, and he raises a brow. I give a silent nod, tucking my phone under my thigh, letting the conversation still happening around me wash in like a tide, taking away any thoughts of Mickey and those days with them. I deserve to be happy. To forget those times, just for a while, and live in the now, not the past.
Behind me, the door opens and the alarm system beeps. From upstairs, I hear one of Andrea’s kids scream “Auntie Jas!” and there’s the sound of feet thundering down the steps and a quiet “oof.”
“Hey there,” a familiar voice says, and I turn to catch Fitz’s attention again. After a minute, the feet make their way back upstairs, and around the corner walks Jasmine Norton. We both spot each other at the same time, and the squeal she emits is near comical as I barrel off the couch, throwing my arms around her in the biggest bear hug I can manage.
It’s been years since we’ve seen each other, and with my lack of social media presence, I couldn’t even tell you what she’s been up to. But as I hold her at arm's length, looking over her, she looks like she’s glowing. Her deep skin is always flawless and dewy, and her tightly coiled hair has blonde highlights in it that give her a summery, vacation-ready look.
“Will someone please explain what’s going on?” Freddy says dryly, and we turn to face the rest of the room, who are looking at us with confused gazes.
“Sorry,” I say, a little out of breath from my excitement. “Jasmine and I went to color guard camp together, what was that, fifteen years ago?” I catch her eye, and she nods. “She also photographed my wedding.”
“Hold on,” Fitz says, raising the hand that’s not clutching a beer. “You were in color guard.” It’s not a question, more of a statement of shock, and I glare.
“Yes, yes I was.” Next to me, Jasmine laughs, shoving playfully at my arm.
“For, like, a whole six months.”
“What an interesting development.” Seer gives Fitz a look. “She can’t handle a sword, but she can do rifle tosses?”
“I didn’t even make it that far,” I say honestly, “I fell and hurt my ankle the week before school started and spent the whole freshman football season in a boot on the sidelines.”
“And how did we hurt our ankle?” Jasmine asks playfully, and this time I shove her.
“Felldownmyfrontporchsteps,” I grumble. Seer holds a hand up to her ear, hearing aid clearly visible.
“Sorry, can’t hear you, what was that?” Her face tells me she heard exactly what I said. I wheeze out a laugh, pinching the bridge of my nose.
“I fell down my front porch steps, okay?” I sigh, running a hand down my face. “On lunch break from drills, went home for an hour, went to get in the car and fell down three steps.”
“I always wondered what that boot was for,” Fitz muses out loud, and I cut him a look. He’d noticed my boot?
“Why they let me have a flag, I’ll never know, I nearly knocked myself out with that thing more times than I can count.” I wave my hand as they all laugh at my expense. “Yes, yes, Piper is a clumsy bitch, we’re all aware.” I move to sit back down next to Seer, and Jasmine sets her purse down. It’s only when she’s about to sit down next to Jesse, and I see the two of them next to each other, that it clicks. “Hold on.” I point at the two of them. “He’s your twin, isn’t he?” Seer snorts next to me, leaning her head against the back of the couch.
