Chapter 29 My Best Friend is Better Than Yours
-Annie-
We have been back from the cruise for almost two weeks.
My parents are leaving with Miles tomorrow to take him and all his stuff to the university in Texas.
They insisted they needed to get him settled before football camp starts.
I get the house to myself for three whole days, and it's the first time in my life I’ll be home alone.
Mom and Dad agreed that Meg can come over.
We are going to make a girls’ weekend out of it.
She has been dating a new guy she works with at the cafe.
We have so much to catch up on, and I think I have a confession to make to my best friend.
***
Waving goodbye to my family the next afternoon is sad.
It’s weird to think that when Mom and Dad return, it won’t be with Miles.
I text Meg to head over when she wants, and I lounge around the house until I hear the doorbell.
I race across the house, yanking the door open to reveal my best friend.
We both reach out and we hug and bounce, because well, Meg always bounces a little when she’s happy.
We break the hug and grab her stuff from her car.
We take seats on the couch and start our in-person recap of what we have missed being apart over the summer.
She tells me all about Tom, the guy she has worked with for a while but never gave more than a passing glance.
Her eyes look all dreamy as she talks about him.
Has she ever looked like this? I try to think through all the years, and I come up empty.
I do feel a pang of worry when I think of her time with Drew and about the fact that Drew is her ex.
I have to tell her about the flirting, but I’m not about to interrupt her telling me about Tom.
“Annie, he is just the best guy I’ve ever met.
I can’t wait for you to meet him tonight,” she beams. I may be having a few friends over tonight to celebrate the upcoming school year and the fact that this is the first time I’ve ever had the house to myself.
I’ve invited the friend's group and let Meg know she could invite a few other people but that we aren’t having a full-on party while my parents are away.
“I can’t wait to meet him,” I tell her, because if he can make her this happy, I want to make the effort to get to know him, too.
***
Our conversation is interrupted by the vibration of my phone on the coffee table.
Meg grabs it for me and freezes, looking at the screen.
At first, I was concerned I had a text that my parents were coming home.
Then my brain clicks, and I realize I haven’t changed my lock screen since the cruise.
She is looking at a shirtless Drew on my phone.
She looks over, and her smile surprises me.
“Annie Marie, have you been holding out on me?” She flashes me the photo on my phone.
It makes little butterflies spring to life.
I’m not sure when it happened, but I’m crushing hard on Drew Davis.
I cave, word-vomiting all the details of us texting all summer.
The mistake at the pool leading to the photo of me and the return photo he sent and how it became my lock screen.
I tell her the part I’ve been the most worried to confess, that if we played the game from last spring of Yes, No, or Maybe with Drew.
Without a doubt, he would get a YES from me.
She sets my phone down on the table and grabs me into a hug.
“Annie, this is perfect—you two would be so cute together.” “You’re not mad at me?
I mean you all dated for months,” I say into her hair as we are still hugging.
Meg pulls back, holding my shoulders. “Let’s talk facts: yes, we dated, but it was never more than hooking up.
I broke up with him, so as long as it doesn’t bother you that we dated, it doesn’t bother me.
” Did it bother me that they had been together?
Honestly, over the last week, I’ve been more worried about her reaction to my crush. Because that is what I had on Drew.
After the first photo, he had sent me another of him with his jersey on in the dugout.
I’d sent him one of me in my formal dress before the state dinner.
I got butterflies talking with him that I hadn’t gotten before the photos.
I was curious to see him in person to see if this spell would continue, or if it would feel weird in person and the butterflies would flutter away completely.
“It doesn’t bother me,” I tell her truthfully.
I give her all the details about how I’m feeling and the concerns I have.
“What if this is just one-sided? We both know Drew never wants anyone to feel awkward.” “Oh, Annie my girl, I’ve got just the plan.
” Meg doesn’t give me details. I should be worried, but I know Meg.
I know that maybe this time it is better not knowing what she is planning for me.
We continue to catch up on other hot topics while we make our way up the stairs to my room to get ready.