The Winning Ticket (Circle of Friends #1)

18. Seeing You Was What I Knew I Needed To Feel Better

brIANNA

18

After saying goodbye to Jake on Sunday morning, when he promised to return next week, I lie back down on my bed and attempt to read for a while, but my mind keeps wandering back to the moment in the lounge room yesterday afternoon.

I could have sworn he was going to kiss me when he pulled me up from the couch. His gaze had dropped to my lips, and I’d felt his heart race under my palm, but he’d stepped back and let me walk away. Which I’d done, and now I am second-guessing myself, because as much as I keep protesting every time Morgan brings up things with Jake, I have thought about his lips far too often lately.

The intercom sounds, and I sigh, dragging myself off the bed. I make my way to the intercom. On the monitor, I see Mum and Morgan standing patiently, and I lift the receiver.

“I’m sorry, no doorknockers, thank you,” I say with a grin, and Morgan scowls at the screen.

“Ha-de-ha. Let us in, we have coffee.”

“Well, in that case.” I hit the button for the front door and let them up.

Minutes later, I open the door and gratefully accept the coffee from Mum.

“Did we have plans I’ve forgotten about?” I ask, sipping my latte and savouring it.

“No, we were in the neighbourhood, so we decided to drop by.”

“What were you doing in the neighbourhood?” I ask, squinting at her.

Morgan sighs. “Wedding dress shopping.”

“I knew it. You were supposed to wait for us!” I glare at my sister, and she shoots me a guilty look before glancing at Mum.

“Well, I thought it should be something Morgan and I did together. I mean, your father and I are paying for the dress, after all,” Mum says.

I roll my eyes but don’t say anything. This is typical Mum behaviour: making one or both of us feel guilty for wanting to do something different from how she thinks it should be done and then reminding us that she’s spending money that we didn’t ask her to spend.

“Did you find anything you liked?” I ask Morgan, ignoring Mum.

She shakes her head. “No, I have this vision in my head but can’t find anything that matches it.”

“Why don’t you look at getting it made then?”

“I’m starting to think that’s how I will have to go. But it’s only a few months away now…”

“Well, at least you got the dress trying-on experience you needed then,” I say to Mum, keeping my tone light.

I don’t want to cause any arguments today. Or any day, really. I tend just to let Morgan and Mum fight their own battles. Regardless of what Morgan says, she is so similar to Mum and rarely backs down. I prefer to keep the peace.

“True. At least we’ll be able to find the bridesmaids’ dresses in a store,” Mum says, and Morgan grimaces behind her.

“Oh, are you coming along for that as well?” I ask, a sense of dread creeping over me.

“Oh yes, I don’t want to miss any of the excitement, and Morgan values my opinion.”

I can tell from Morgan’s expression that this statement is a bit of a stretch.

“So, we’re still going with the ice blue colour?” I ask Morgan.

“Yeah, I think it’s the best colour of the ones I’ve considered that will look good on both you and Lis. It’s hard because your colouring is so different, but the ice blue suits blondes and redheads. I think I’m leaning towards you both having different styles, though,” Morgan says, but Mum shakes her head.

“Oh no, they have to be matching.”

They begin arguing, but I tune them out, knowing that this is just a preview of what bridesmaid dress shopping is going to be like. At least if it was just Morgan and Annelisa, I might stand some chance of getting to decide anything, but if Mum is there, there will be no point in opening my mouth.

“So, what are you up to this weekend?” Morgan asks, looking around the apartment.

Her eyes stop on the two cups and bowls sitting on the bench that I haven’t put in the dishwasher yet from breakfast after Jake left.

“Nothing much. Yesterday, I wandered around the city taking photos and hung out in the spa, and today, I’m going to edit the photos.”

“Alone?” Her eyes are still on the bench.

I sigh, knowing that I shouldn’t have to consider lying, but I don’t want to deal with any questions about why Jake was in town but didn’t see any of them. “Jake was here, too.”

Morgan looks at me, and I swear she’s two seconds away from saying, “Ah ha!”

“Oh, that’s lovely. I always liked Jake. I thought you two would make such a lovely couple,” Mum says, love hearts practically floating from her eyes.

“They’re just friends,” Morgan says quickly, looking at me.

I feel a stab of annoyance, although I don’t know why, as it’s exactly what I’ve been telling her every time she gives me a hard time. But I’m growing frustrated with her interfering in my life since I’ve been back in Brisbane.

“Oh, that’s a shame. He would be so good for you after that awful Richard,” Mum says with a pout.

“Well, it wouldn’t be fair on Jake to be her rebound,” Morgan says.

I wonder why there is even any point in me standing here, as they are having this entire conversation without me.

“Well, I still think they’d be good together.”

I chime in before the conversation can go any further. “Well, as one half of the not-couple you are referring to, Jake and I are just friends, but it was nice to have his company this weekend. I do want to get started on editing those photos, though,” I say, hoping they’ll get the hint and head off.

Morgan studies me closely for a moment before nodding. “We should get moving. Chris is waiting for me before we head over to see Annelisa and Will,” she says to Mum, who stands and picks up her handbag.

“When will you be over for dinner next? I have missed having you around after those weeks you lived with us. And this little one,” Mum adds, moving towards Maddie, who hasn’t moved from where she’s lying across the top of the couch, already her favourite place to lie.

Mum bends to scratch Maddie’s ears, earning her a sneaky lick on the hand.

“I can come whenever works for you. My social calendar is wide open these days.”

“Okay, well, I can make your favourite, lasagna, on Wednesday night. How does that sound?”

I follow them both to the door. “Sounds good to me. Maddie and I will be there.”

“I want lasagna, too!” Morgan says, pouting.

Mum sighs. “Of course you can come too, Morgan. No need to be so dramatic.”

My sister and I smirk at each other before looking at Mum.

“What?” Mum asks, and I laugh.

“Who do you think she learnt that from?”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Brianna. I’m not dramatic.”

“You are literally the most dramatic person I know,” Morgan says, and Mum looks offended while they walk out the door together.

They wave goodbye to me, and I can hear them continuing to bicker while they walk to the elevator.

I shut the door and lean back against it, closing my eyes for a moment. I hear my phone ding and go back into my room to see a message from Jake on the screen.

Just Jake

Hey, miss me yet?

I smile. He must be bored on the drive and using his voice to text.

Brianna

I do, actually. I just had my mother and sister here.

Just Jake

Bad?

Brianna

It’s not that I don’t love my family, but sometimes they drain the life out of me.

Just Jake

That doesn’t sound great. What happened?

I chew my lip while I think about how to respond. He has to know by now that Morgan is giving me a hard time about our friendship.

Brianna

Morgan was giving me a hard time about you. She saw the two cups and bowls on the bench and then got really weird… again.

Jake doesn’t reply immediately, and I begin feeling anxious for some strange reason. Maybe I shouldn’t have told him.

When five minutes pass, and I still haven’t received a response, I leave my phone and start editing my photos. Playing with photos has always been fun for me, and I definitely need the distraction with the apprehension churning through my stomach.

I open my laptop and begin uploading photos from the memory card. While the images slowly start to move across, I hear my phone ring, and I race into my room. My heart beats a million miles an hour, and I try not to think about why that might be when I accept the call.

“Hey.” Jake’s voice sounds far away.

“Hey,” I reply while I twirl a lock of hair around my finger, one of my many nervous traits.

“Sorry I didn’t reply. I went through a dead zone. What’s this about Morgan giving you a hard time about me?”

I swallow, and my tongue suddenly feels like it’s made of cotton wool. “She’s been really weird about us hanging out ever since she found out I’d slept in your bed that first night I was back. So when she realised you’d been back and not told them, she was going out of her way to tell Mum that you and I are just friends in a very pointed way. It’s not a big deal. She and Mum were just being their usual selves.”

“I don’t understand why she and Chris are being so weird about us hanging out. We hung out all the time back in school.” I can hear the frustration in his voice.

I’m quiet for a moment before responding. I didn’t know Chris was still being weird about it.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone else you were coming back?” I ask quietly.

Now it’s Jake’s turn to be quiet, and if it weren’t for the road sounds echoing through the phone, I’d wonder if he had hit another dead zone.

“I… I don’t know,” he finally says.

“Really?” I can tell he’s lying, even through the phone.

“No… I just wanted to hang out with you. I’d had a crappy week, and seeing you was what I knew I needed to feel better.”

I feel like he’s reached into my chest and squeezed my heart. I hate that I can’t see his face during this conversation.

“I liked hanging out with you, too.”

I hear him let out a breath. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. It was the nicest weekend I’ve had in quite a while.”

He’s quiet again, then. “Me too, Little B.”

We chat for a little longer, and when I hang up the phone and return to the couch, I know that my smile is wide, and it’s because of Jake Boyd.