CHAPTER 20
L-I-V-E-L-Y.
The perfect word to describe Daisy’s house.
We sat on the couch in her living room, the central hub of the house.
I could see almost the entire ground floor from where we sat, and had a clear view of the stairs, where half of the kids had raced up.
Toys were scattered in different places, like little Theo had grabbed one toy, changed his mind, and went to choose another.
And upstairs, someone let out a shriek.
“Penn!” Daisy shouted, looking at the stairs. She sat at the opposite end of the couch, and pushed up so quickly that she nearly dumped the bag of cheese puffs in her lap. “Who was that?”
From the second floor, the second oldest Carmichael, Penn, shouted back, “Ivy!”
Daisy frowned. “What was she—”
Penn cut her off, “She’s fine!”
“I’m sorry,” Daisy said for what felt like the millionth time, her face screwed up. “They’re part banshee, I swear. I think Dad had a secret lineage that he never told us about.”
I snorted, reaching into the bag and taking a cheese puff. “That’d make you part banshee.”
“I take after my mom.”
“Do not,” the third eldest Carmichael, Junie, said from the kitchen, where she was twisting pipe cleaners into what looked like a flower. Her strawberry blonde hair was loose around her shoulders and slightly tangled. “Mom is cooler than you.”
Daisy ignored her.
I hugged my knees closer to my chest, looking over at my best friend.
She was focused on me, but I could tell half of her attention was still on the staircase, listening in case she heard something that needed checking.
It was strange to see her playing the parent role, because the personality shift made her seem like almost a different person entirely.
“Theo’s been quiet,” she said, mostly to herself, and then turned. “Junie, go check on him, would you?”
The ten-year-old was all sass. “Why can’t you?”
“Because I asked you.”
“So?”
“So?” Daisy mimicked. It made me smile, because that was so sisterly. “Go check on him. Make sure he hasn’t cracked his head open on his dollhouse again.”
Junie, with a dramatic sigh, dropped her pipe cleaners and got to her feet. “Sure, motivate me with anxiety.” She shot Daisy a glare as she walked by. “That’s manipulation, you know.”
“Oh, and telling me you’ll starve if I don’t feed you Cheetos isn’t?”
Junie stuck her tongue out.
Daisy ignored her again. “Sorry,” she repeated to me, dropping her head onto the couch cushion. “See, this is why we meet at your house.”
“I like it. It feels homey.” And I’d meant it, but I wasn’t sure how she was able to stay sane dealing with it all day, every day, honestly.
Four siblings—four loud siblings. Junie seemed like an angel at the moment, but I’d witnessed firsthand how big her lungs were before.
I was worried for Daisy after next week, when the kids would be out of school for the summer.
“If you ever need a break, you know, I’d be more than happy to—”
Daisy started shaking her head. “Ah, I’m good, I’m good. Penn’s going through the whole ooh, I’m such an angsty teenager, I hate everyone phase, and Junie likes to counter everything, and I’d never put you through that. But I appreciate the offer, girl.”
“Well, just know it’s a standing one.”
Daisy smiled, then sat up straighter. “So. I’m guessing we’re not having a No-Jamie-Allowed meeting for no reason.”
Right. After school had ended—the last day of school, which still was wild—I’d asked Daisy if I could come over. Without Jamie. Some conversations really didn’t need brothers, especially ones involving my love life.
I decided to dive straight into it. “Carter came over on Wednesday. He told me he doesn’t like me romantically, but wants to be in a fake relationship so his parents get off his back.”
Daisy shook her head a little, as if the information was physical as it hit her. “Woah. Okay. Not where I thought we were going, but—a fake relationship?” She wrinkled her nose. “That’s kind of ironic, seeing as how you were trying to pressure me into one.”
“I know. I told him I had someone perfect in mind—”
She threw a cheese puff at me. “You did not—”
“—but alas, he was too set on me.” I gave my eyes a sarcastic roll. “He wants me to meet his parents at the birthday party tomorrow, charm their diamonds off.”
Daisy nodded, rolling a cheeseball in her palm. “Which is a win-win, since you want to get in favor with Dr. Pembleton anyway.”
“I don’t know if I do.”
“Dude, since when?”
“Since I decided I like Beck.”
Daisy choked. “Since you decided?”
“I decided I was allowed to.” I leaned forward.
“Ever since he came back, I’d been telling myself I couldn’t like him.
Didn’t like him. That I’d be tanking my entire future if I liked him.
” Now I sat back, giving one sure nod. “And I’ve decided that I’d rather give up some abstract future than him. ”
Daisy stared at me, cheese puff in her palm, looking like she was debating lobbing it at me. “Spell nonsensical.”
“N-O-N-S-E-N-S-I-C-A-L.”
“Oh, great, so you are still my best friend and haven’t been abducted by aliens.” And then she did throw it at me. “N-O-N-S-I-N—whatever. That’s you right now. You like Beckham Jennings?”
“Yeah.”
“Like, you want to kiss him and stuff?”
“Daisy—”
“It’s a valid question! I mean, I knew it, too—I knew I could feel that simmering romantic tension—but I never thought—”
My jaw dropped. “What do you mean, simmering romantic tension?” My cheeks went hot. “There—there was no simmering tension.”
“Oh, please. You think I don’t have eyes? The way you two kept taking secret little looks? And then, at pickleball. You go off with Carter, and Beck just happens to go in the same direction? Then I find you, all flustered by yourself? No way Carter had you blushing like that.”
Had I been blushing in the garden? That would’ve been right after Beck’s promise. I’ll remind you what it’s like to really want someone. “I—it wasn’t really like that—”
“And then Jamie told me about y’all playing footsie—”
“Okay, okay!” I threw my palm out. “Okay, fine, you called it. This whole time, I’ve been telling myself it’d be a bad idea to like him. That it’d be imperfect of me to like him. Now… I’ve decided I don’t care.”
Daisy popped a cheese puff into her mouth. “Man, you take me on a wild rollercoaster, you know that?” she said as she crunched. “At least being your best friend is never boring.”
I gave her a small smile. “I live to keep you amused.”
She returned the grin, quietly stretching out and nudging my foot with hers. For a moment, we stayed like that. “About Dalton,” she said, bringing up her ex slowly. Softly. “If I need help… staying away from him… can I let you know?”
“Of course.” I inched forward so I could lay my hand on her knee. “And don’t feel bad about it. First loves are hard to get over.”
“Says the girl who’s planning her happily ever after with hers.”
I puffed my cheeks out, sheepish.
Daisy threw another cheeseball at me. “So, revising Operation Birthday. Phase One: charm the Pembletons for Carter, not for you. Convince them that you’re the world’s perfect couple, so they stop hounding their son to date who they want. Phase Two: confess to Beckham Jennings.”
Just the words caused a little shiver to slip down my spine. “And if he turns me down, we cry over a pint of ice cream.”
“Girl, please.” Daisy couldn’t help but snort. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. He’s not going to turn you down. He’s going to devour you.”
Now my breath caught, stalling in my chest. When you want someone, you’ll look at their mouth. You’ll imagine kissing them. You won’t be able to help it. I bit down on the lip he’d looked at, heart skipping a beat. “D-E-V-O-U-R.”
Daisy smirked.
“DAAAISY!” I was pretty sure that was Ivy calling down the stairs. “Theo just threw up!”
Daisy closed her eyes. “Coming!” She didn’t move.
“Is he sick?” I asked her.
“He’s six. He does that sometimes.” She passed me the bag of cheeseballs. “Five bucks says Junie was making him do somersaults down the hallway and he got motion sick. Again.” Then she stood.
“I offer my emotional support.” I held up a cheese puff with a sympathetic frown. “I can’t do puke.”
Daisy took it from me, popping it into her mouth. “Spell ugh.”
As she headed for the stairs, I called after her, “U-G-H.”
Her footfalls were heavy on the stairs, groaning as she climbed, and my phone buzzed in my pocket.
Jamie
Just so you know, I’m not bitter about you two having a No-Jamie day, because I had Daisy all to myself yesterday.
Oh, sure, because nothing says IM NOT BITTER like saying that you’re not.
Jamie
Is it about Dalton?
I knew he was worried after everything that’d happened with Daisy and Dalton last year, but as Daisy’s siblings squealed upstairs, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was any other reason behind Jamie asking. If there were any other reason he was so concerned.
We’re talking about my love life.
Jamie
Gross.
But I’m Team Beck.
I bit down on the corner of my lip again. Me too, I thought, reaching for another cheese puff. Me too.