27. Reese
27
REESE
I wonder if it would be rude of me to sneak off to the kitchen and scarf down a bowl of mashed potatoes like a rabid raccoon. I’m starving .
Lilian has been busy posing with her sorority sisters for the last hour. Friendsgiving dinner has yet to commence. My breath is beyond fresh with how many mints I’ve sustained myself on. There’s a questionable half-eaten granola bar in my purse I might devour if this doesn’t wrap up soon. So what if it appears to be covered in lint? Fiber’s good for us, right?
Oh God. I look up and glimpse the girls blowing kisses for the camera. Behind them, gold tinsels stream down from the ceiling. Stylistic cutouts of pumpkins and autumn leaves are placed purposely across the wall. It’s very festive, but I might gnaw on a plastic vegetable prop in the next five minutes if push comes to shove.
“Shit, it won’t focus. It’s too dark,” Peyton says, and I eye the kitchen longingly. The turkey will decompose before this finally ends.
“You should let Reese do it,” Lilian volunteers me. “She’s good with cameras.”
I reluctantly put my granola bar down.
Luckily, it goes by quickly. Peyton’s phone is much newer than mine and doesn’t freeze up when taking photos, so I have it done in no time. Handing it back to her, I take a single step toward the cornbread that awaits me when Karla hollers for me.
“Come on, Little Vann! You should take one.”
I make a face. Listen, I love taking pictures, but not of me. It’s a funny conundrum, but I’m too self-conscious about my scar. “I’m good.”
“You don’t want one for Caleb?”
“Caleb?” My brow furrows. Why would I do that?
“Don’t tell me forgot the boy you’re seeing,” Lilian says, her words heavy with a tease.
I freeze. Oh crap . Did I never tell her I broke up with him? In my defense, we’ve both been busy with midterms, but still.
“Oh… We’re not seeing each other anymore.”
Everyone turns to stare at me as if I just announced I’m going to hock knives for a pyramid scheme.
“Wait, what?” A frown forms between Lilian’s brows. “Why not?”
“Did you guys break up today?” Karla gasps, and I barely manage to brace myself when she tackles me with a hug. “I’m so sorry.”
“Um, no.” I splutter as I try to spit her hair out of my mouth. Blessedly, she releases me before the air entirely depletes from my lungs. “We ended things about two weeks ago?”
Again, I’m hit with varying looks of shock and surprise. Maybe I should give a sales pitch on hocking knives to break the tension, but I offer them a reassuring smile instead.
“It’s okay, though.” Dane comes to mind, unbidden, and I chew on my inner cheek to fight my blush. “I’m fine.”
“But…” Chrissy—or is it Jenna?—blinks and folds her arms. “Caleb said you guys went out yesterday.”
“He said what?” Stunned, I gape at her. Wait , Caleb talks to the girls about me ? Oh God, what has he told them? How boring I am because all I do is—surprise—talk about books, movies, and my sister? “Well, we did not. I’m not seeing him. I broke up with him two weeks ago.”
“ You broke up with him?” Lilian gasps.
“ Two weeks ago?” Lauren repeats.
Something inside me shrivels up from their disbelieving stares. Is it that hard for them to believe I dumped him? “Yes? I ended things with him.”
Karla frowns. “Does this have to do with D?—”
“Things with Caleb weren’t going anywhere,” I squeak. If she mentions Dane’s name, my sister will spend the entire dinner lecturing me about him. “He never once tried to kiss me or…” Gosh, this is embarrassing. My neck scalds while I try to find my words. “It just wasn’t going anywhere. We’re better off as friends.”
Silence seems to echo in the foyer as I wait for a reply. No one says anything. It’s getting more awkward by the second. A redirect is clearly in order.
Pasting on a giant grin, I point toward the kitchen. “Should we go eat? I’m starving.”
Unlike my sister, I do not enjoy shopping. The penny pincher in me will splurge every now and then on a book or organic crunchy tuna treats for the stray cat, but I would rather save in case of an emergency. Lilian, on the other hand, loves buying things to make up for how we didn’t grow up with much.
It’s why she’s dragging me around the outlet mall. Personally, I would have just looked at deals online, but she’ll prattle on about in-store exclusives again if I bring it up.
Currently, we’re inside a boutique where I can’t go two steps without getting an elbow to the face or a purse to the chest. I’m trying my best to keep up with my sister as I haul her shopping bags after her.
“I can’t believe you broke up with Caleb,” Lilian says, and I bite back my sigh. I na?vely assumed the moment she found out things between us were done, she’d stop bringing him up. “I thought you liked him.”
“I did, but…” My words dwindle as my attention snares on a cute floral dress nearby. “You should try it on.”
She gives me a look. I get it. My sister likes her clothes to be a bit more on the clubbing side. The only time she’ll wear a dress is for a sorority event.
“It’s more your style,” she points out, and she’s not wrong.
It’s in a lovely shade of baby blue, and the sleeves are my favorite part, but the issue is the square neckline. There’s no point in buying something I’ll never wear.
“And don’t change the subject,” she adds. I purposely divert my focus to the rack behind us. “You don’t have to hide your scar. If you want, we could save money to get it removed?—”
“It’s okay,” I cut in. “Do you think the food court has root beer soda?” I paste on the brightest smile I can muster, and her lips remain flat.
“Of course, but?—”
“How is your presentation going, by the way?” I came to this prepared. I will lob as many questions at her as possible, so I’m not the one in the hot seat. “Aren’t you supposed to meet with Jesse this weekend to work?—”
A long-suffering sigh slips free from her chest, and she marches over to the dress and snatches it. “Try this on. It’s half off.”
My head shakes, and she groans.
“Okay.” Throwing it over her shoulder, she glances sidelong at me. “Don’t come complaining to me when the dress is too tight and your boobs are popping out.”
“What?” I follow her to the other side of the shop. “Lili?—”
“My treat.” She plucks a sheer top and adds it to the never-ending pile on her arm. “I’m sorry about Caleb, by the way.”
“I’m not.” I offer her a shrug when she frowns. “Believe me, I’m okay.”
“You don’t have to put on a brave face.”
“Trust me, I’m not.” For a brief moment, I let my mind wander, and it goes back to its favorite hobby as of late: daydreaming about Dane getting all sweaty in his hot garage, taking his shirt off in slow motion, and then railing me against the hood of his car.
“Maybe Chrissy knows someone you can rebound with.” Lilian’s voice snaps me back to the present. “No one from Caleb’s frat, for obvious reasons?—”
“I still don’t understand why he said we’re still dating,” I interject, frowning. I ended things. With no panache, but still. He can’t be that interested in me. There’s just no way.
Our outings together were so… mild and lackluster that if the standard for attraction is that low, then I can say there’s more chemistry between me and half the sorority girls by that logic.
“Maybe he wants you and he’s saving face?” she suggests. “Are you sure you don’t want to give him a second chance?”
Lili, that ship has sailed. I’m all in with someone else.
Why would I want to go back to a guy who’ll never confess his feelings for me until he’s on his deathbed?
“I’m fine.” Since I don’t want to keep talking about the guy, I point to another top. “That color would make your eyes pop.”
She hits me with an inscrutable stare. A pulse of unease flickers into my chest as her shrewd eyes narrow. My neck starts to prickle when she offers me a terse nod and grabs the shirt in her size.
Her gaze never tears from mine. “It so would.”