Chapter 19 #2
Ruby clocks it and points at herself. "I'll go first." She thinks for two seconds.
"High: Sloane turning Trent into Princess Tinkles.
Iconic. Legendary. The stuff of feminist myth.
" She sweeps her arm wide, nearly knocking over Candace's drink.
"Low: Nash refusing to admit he almost smiled at me when I stole his fries. "
"That's your low?" I ask, amused.
"Look, bitch, I am thriving. Next."
Frankie sips her drink, considering. "High: Rider not bleeding out on my floor last month. Low: discovering Ruby sings Taylor Swift into her tattoo gun when she thinks no one's listening."
Ruby gasps. "You swore you'd keep that between us."
"I did not. I said, 'Do that again and I will tell everyone.'"
Candace snickers. "High: Ruby's dad thinking she's at a 'networking event' right now instead of desecrating Twister with us."
Ruby tosses her hair. "Listen, the man means well, but he sends me hourly check-in texts. Hourly. I'm basically on parole."
Frankie grins. "He's a judge, Rubes. He sees corruption everywhere."
"Exactly!" Ruby points as if this proves her point. "He practically makes me share my location so Winston Graves can't human-traffic me into a country club."
Candace snorts. "He hates Winston with a holy fire."
Ruby lifts her drink. "To overbearing fathers who prevent kidnappings and ruin my freedom."
Candace clinks. Frankie clinks without missing a beat. I lift mine too, but something tugs low and sharp. All eyes swing to Candace. She stares at the blanket, fingers twisting Malachi's sleeve. When she lifts her head, there's a fragile steadiness.
"High," she says, the word catching before it lands. "Waking up and… not being alone. Ruby showing up. You guys being here. Malachi…" Her voice hitches on his name. "Malachi kicking my door down and refusing to let me disappear."
Frankie looks away like she's giving privacy. Ruby wipes at one eye with dramatic annoyance.
"And your low?" Frankie asks softly.
Candace exhales, a humorless half-laugh. "Existing in the same universe as my father."
She looks down, eyes shining. "But if I didn't," she adds, quieter, "I wouldn't be here. With you. So maybe that's not a low. Maybe it's just… complicated."
She hates her father for what he tried to do to her. I hate mine for what he did to others. For what I watched him do. For how long I stayed silent. Anna's face flashes. She didn't get out.
Without thinking, I reach over and hook my pinky through hers where her hand rests on the blanket. Her fingers tighten. They all look at me.
"High," I say, keeping my voice light. "Ruby not getting us banned from the hospital after the Trent situation."
Ruby gasps. "You're welcome."
"And low…" I pause. "Low is… knowing good things are happening and still waiting for the other shoe to drop."
The room settles into something quieter and warm. The movie hums, someone shifts to get comfortable, and the closeness of bodies in a shared space makes everything feel softer.
The door nudges open and Maggie peeks in. "You all need anything? Water? Cookies? A fire extinguisher if Ruby starts summoning spirits again?"
Ruby gasps. "That was one time, and the candles were scented!"
"Mm-hmm." Maggie steps fully inside and sets warm cookies on the nightstand. "Behave. Or don't. Just don't break Malachi's lamp. He's nostalgic about that ugly thing."
Candace groans. "He is. I hate it."
Maggie winks. "That's why he keeps it."
We all laugh, and she squeezes Candace's shoulder before heading out. Time blurs. We drift from Twister to UNO. Frankie wipes the floor with us, calling "UNO" with the cold satisfaction of a mob boss. Ruby accuses her of witchery. Frankie doesn't deny it.
Candace starts dozing sitting up, head tipping toward my shoulder. I nudge her down, rearranging pillows so she can stretch out. She ends up half-curled against the wall, hoodie swallowing her whole again, hair splayed on the pillow.
"Stay," she mumbles when I shift to get up.
I freeze, hand braced on the mattress. "What?"
Her eyes already mostly closed. "Stay here. Please."
"Okay. I'm not going anywhere."
I settle beside her, back against the headboard, close enough that my arm rests along the edge of her pillow.
Ruby flops down at the foot of the bed, stealing a blanket.
Frankie kicks her in the shin affectionately and curls up on the floor right beside the mattress, arms folded under her cheek like a cat pretending she isn't ready for affection.
The movie ends. Another starts without anyone choosing it. The room smells like popcorn and candle smoke mixed with cheap soda.
I reach for my phone. A new text from Knox.
Knox: You asleep?
I glance at Candace's breathing, slow and even. Ruby's soft snores. Frankie's steady rise and fall.
Me: Not yet.
Less than a minute.
Knox: You okay?
I look around the room. At Candace's hand still curled loosely near mine.
At Ruby's foot dangling off the edge of the bed, resting on Frankie's hip like they've been doing that for years.
At the fairy lights Ruby insisted on taping above the headboard, casting soft halos across Malachi's blown-up mug shot on the wall.
East had it printed as a joke. Malachi never took it down.
The word sisters fits in a strange way. A good kind of strange.
Me: Yeah. They're good for me.
Knox: I know. I like when you laugh with them. Even if it means I don't get to steal you.
Heat prickles behind my eyes. Idiot.
Me: I'll come home tomorrow.
Knox: You're good where you are. Just text if you need me, okay?
I stare at the words, then lock the phone and slide it under my pillow as though I can physically tuck them somewhere safe.
Candace shifts in her sleep, brow furrowing. I reach over and smooth a hand down her hair. "It's okay. You're safe."
The words echo, fragile and dangerous.
Frankie cracks one eye open. In the flickering light, she looks like a witch out of some old story. All ink and knowing and quiet power.
"This exists, you know," she says softly, voice rough with impending sleep. "The laughing. The stupid games. Staying."
"Does it come with an expiration date?"
She shrugs one shoulder against the pillow. "Everything does. But that doesn't make it less real while you've got it."
I don't answer. I don't trust my voice.
She lets her eye drift shut. "Go to sleep, nurse. We'll still be here in the morning."
I lie back carefully, one arm tucked under my head, the other close enough that my fingertips brush the edge of Candace's blanket. Ruby kicks in her sleep and mumbles something about Nash's ass. Frankie huffs a sleepy laugh.
The ceiling is a patchwork of shadows and fairy light glow.
Girls snoring in a stolen room. Candles burning low. My phone under my pillow, silent and solid. Knox somewhere across town, probably glaring at his ceiling and wanting me close.
I close my eyes. For tonight, I let myself have this.