Chapter 25
Girl's Night Out
Celeste, Beth, and I are a collapsed tangle of giggles on the sofa as Meredith reenacts her first kiss with Darrel. The kiss involved face smashing and resulted in a goose egg on her forehead. Darrel suffered worse; he chipped his front tooth.
“I'm going to pee my pants,” Beth laughs, clutching her stomach.
Celeste wheezes, “That poor boy. Next time I see him, I'm going to give him a hug for bravery.”
Meredith is literally crying, she is laughing so hard. “At least the dentist was able to fix his tooth. Darrel has such a nice smile.”
“And you ruined it with your overenthusiastic kissing,” I tell her, wiping the wetness from my cheeks. “No wonder Trevor doesn't want you to date.”
“Shut it,” she says, whacking me with a sofa cushion.
And then a pillow fight ensues.
“Girls! It sounds like World War Three in here,” Daniel says, coming into the living room with a huge bowl of popcorn and a plate of cookies.
“Ooh, chocolate chip?” Meredith asks.
“Of course.” He hands her the plate, and she accepts it eagerly. “Alright, I'm going to skedaddle and leave you girls alone. I put the left-over pizzas in the fridge in case you get hungry later.”
Daniel comes over to me and places a kiss on the top of my head. “'Night, kiddo.”
“Good night, Daniel.”
“Your uncle is the bomb. Man, that guy can bake. These cookies are awesome!” Meredith shoves one in her mouth and stacks three more in her hand.
We get settled on the floor on the pile of pillows and cushions we throw down there and decide to watch the Kissing Booth movies on Netflix.
Lying on her stomach, Beth props her forearms up on one of the pillows. “Elizabeth, do you mind if I ask you a question about your accident?”
I place the bowl of popcorn in front of me and use the remote to turn the television on. “Knock yourself out.”
Meredith rolls over on her back and flings a piece of popcorn up in the air, then catches it in her mouth. Impressive.
“What was it like, waking up and not knowing anything?”
“I knew a lot, actually. Just not the people or places from my past. Apparently, it’s a rare type of amnesia, but I won’t bore you with all the medical terminology.”
Celeste says, “I guess that explains why you and Jayson aren't together anymore.”
“What do you mean? We're friends,” I tell her.
“Yeah, but trust me when I say, you and Jayson were hot and heavy. Like, couldn't keep your hands off one another.”
I try to conjure any image that pertains to what she described, and all I can come up with are the few memories of Jayson that have popped up out of the blue.
Otherwise, my brain is a total blank when it comes to him.
But when Celeste says the part about not keeping our hands off each other, all I can think is how Ryder and I can't keep our hands to ourselves when we're alone.
I really hate having to keep our relationship a secret.
I consider the three girls next to me. “Can I ask you guys a hypothetical question?”
Three heads bob up and down in a yes
I'm about to ask something that is very personal for me. I hope I don't regret allowing myself to open up to these girls. “What if I like someone who isn't Jayson and we hook up, and then my memories come back?
There. I said it. I voiced my greatest fear, and the world didn't end.
“You like someone?” Beth asks, very interested. “Who? No. Let me guess.”
“Trevor!” Celeste offers. “Anyone with two eyes can see he has a huge crush on you.”
“I know! It's pathetic.” Meredith says about her brother.
Not this again. How many times do I have to tell her and everyone else that Trevor is just a big flirt, and the two of us are just friends? But I feel like I need to stand up for Trevor here.
“Your brother is a great guy. He has been like the nicest person to me. He's funny and kind and has a good heart.”
“Oh my God. It is Trevor, isn’t it?” Beth asks.
Meredith throws a piece of popcorn at her. “I can tell you with certainty that, regardless of my opinion, they are just friends.”
I reach over and poke her. “Lead with that next time!”
“Oh. Well, who then?” Beth queries.
“My vote is for Fallon. Older guy. Sexy. Hot as all get out. Seems to come around our school a lot even though he's already graduated and lives a town over.”
I point at Celeste. “It sounds like you like him.”
“Every girl likes Fallon. I'm sorry that I missed seeing him in action before the football game. Sometimes I hate being on the cheerleading squad. I would rather be up in the stands with you guys.”
Beth sits up. “You hate being on the squad? You've never said anything about it.”
“Confession?” Celeste says. “I only joined so I could be with Davis.”
“Aww. That's actually kind of romantic,” Beth tells her friend, then she gives Celeste a hug.
“Alright girls. Back to Elizabeth's predicament,” Meredith directs them. “And since I know the answer and have been sworn to secrecy not to tell, I'm letting you both take over the conversation.”
“Wait. You know who the guy is?”
“Yep.”
“Who is he?”
“I am Fort Knox,” Meredith replies, throwing another piece of popcorn up in the air.
I kick Meredith with my foot. “I was asking as a hypothetical, remember?
“You both suck. I hate not knowing things,” Beth pouts.
Celeste rolls over to her side. She props her head on her hand and locks eyes with me.
“Elizabeth, I will tell you that you can't live in the past. If you aren't feeling it anymore for Jayson, then it's only natural to want to be with the guy who you do have all the feels for.” She holds up her index finger.
“Have you even given Jayson a fair shot?”
Intrigued, I ask, “Given him a shot?”
“Yes. Have you tested the waters? Have you gone out on a date with him to see if there is still a spark there?”
“Well, no.”
“Then how do you know whether or not he’s still ‘the one’ for you, if you haven't given him any sort of chance? Have you not looked at the guy? He's gorgeous. If I wasn't with Davis, I would be tripping over myself to get Jayson's attention.”
“I'd take Ryder. That boy is yummy. And his eyes…” Beth fakes shivers. “Please don't tell Keith.”
Celeste snickers at her friend. “Back to what I was saying. I think Elizabeth should take Jayson for a test drive. See if something is still there.”
“Jayson is not a car,” I tell her.
Celeste just smiles at me. “Kiss him,” she says. “Walk up to him and plant a big one on his sexy lips and see if there are any sparks.”
Beth and Meredith burst out laughing; I, however, do not. Jayson and Julien have already kissed me, and they were good kisses. Very good kisses. They’re just not the kisses I’m craving at the moment from a particular tall, dark-haired, copper-eyed boy.
“I can't do that,” I tell Celeste.
Meredith watches our back and forth but keeps quiet.
“Why not?” Celeste pushes.
“Because I'm in love with Ry—' I slap my hand over my mouth. Meredith's eyes go huge.
“Ry...Ryder? Holy sh—!” Beth and Celeste both exclaim.
“Nooo, that's not what I said.”
“That's not what she said,” Meredith backs me up.
“Oh, yes it is! Ryder Cutton? Ohhhh. You've been a bad girl, Elizabeth. I thought I saw you and Ryder sneaking off toward bleachers the other day.”
My face turns lava red.
“You can't tell anyone,” Meredith tells them.
“Why not?”
I’m so mortified that my big, fat mouth just let slip the one thing I promised Ryder I would keep secret that I’m unable to speak.
“Because it’s the way they want it for now,” Meredith tells them. “The more people who know, the greater the likelihood that it’ll get back to Jayson, if you catch my drift.”
“Oh,” Celeste says. “Got it.”
“We promise, we won’t say anything. But, Elizabeth, seriously, what if Jayson does find out?” Beth asks with a hint of sadness.
“If that happens, I hope that we can still be friends. I'm just not ready to tell him yet.”
“Yes, but he's going to find out sooner or later. And the way he feels about you, he's not going to be happy about you and Ryder together, regardless of their friendship.”
“I know,” I groan. “They’ve told me the stories of us growing up and about when Jayson and I started dating.
I'm still figuring things out. But that was Old Elizabeth.
The me I am now likes Ryder. He makes me happy.
I'm just not ready to share our relationship with the entire school yet.
People are going to have their opinions about it.
They're going to remember the old me. I'm not her. I want everyone to see the person I am now. And that girl is Ryder's girlfriend, not Jayson’s.”
“Secret girlfriend,” Meredith teases.
“I say you go girl!” Beth cheers.
Celeste shushes us. “Hey, do you guys hear that?”
We all sit up and listen. Sure enough, faint music can be heard coming from outside the house. Bright lights pierce through the living room window behind the closed curtains.
Beth walks over and lifts a side of the curtain to look out. “Oh my word! Guys, check this out!”
We all get up and run over. I pull the curtains open so we can see what's going on.
I recognize Ryder's Hellcat and Jayson's truck in the driveway, and there are two other cars I don't recognize.
Eight tall figures stand in the front yard, their bodies outlined in a halo of light from the headlights of the vehicles.
Darrel is holding a phone above his head in one hand and a Bluetooth speaker in the other.
Like a gaggle of geese, we flock to the front door and scramble outside onto the porch. The music coming out of the speaker is “In Your Eyes” from the movie Say Anything. I touch Meredith's shoulder because I know what this means.
“Meredith Malcolm!” Darrel shouts above the music. “When they say love hurts, they weren't kidding.”
Meredith's hands move to her mouth as she starts to giggle at Darrel’s next words.
“I'll endure thousands of trips to the dentist if it means you'll say yes to being my girlfriend!”
“Say yes! Say yes!” Beth shakes her.
“Yes!” Meredith shouts back and jumps the four steps down to the front walkway in a rush to get to him. She tackles Darrel just as he's putting his phone and speaker down on the grass. “Yes, I'll be your girlfriend, you big doof.”
Ryder, Jayson, Julien, Elijah, Keith, and Davis all whistle as Meredith kisses the daylights out of Darrel. Trevor hunches his shoulders and scowls, but he doesn’t say anything. Good man. Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks?
“Since you guys are here, you might as well come in and join the party. We have leftover pizza,” I tell them. The announcement about pizza has the boys moving at record speed inside the house.
As the fridge is raided and couples pair off to find their spots in the living room, I walk down the hall to let Daniel know that Girl's Night has a few extra people in attendance.
Just as I pass by the hallway powder room, I'm gently picked up from behind and carried inside the small bathroom. The door closes and Ryder backs me up until I'm flat against the door.
“Hi,” he greets me with a smile.
I wrap my arms around his neck. “Hi back. Now kiss me.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
And kiss me he does, until my toes curl and I tingle all over.
“We need to get back out there,” he says, but he doesn’t stop kissing me.
I slide my hands under his shirt to feel his smooth, hot skin. “I know.” I allow my fingers one glide up and around to his back, then pull them out, smoothing his shirt back down. “Sorry. I can't seem to keep my hands off you.”
“Baby, you can touch me any time you want.” He kisses me softly one last time. “You go out first. I'll follow.”
“Okay.” I open the door and peek out. The coast is clear. Looking over my shoulder at the gorgeous boy who owns my heart, I tell him, “I choose you, Ryder.”
His eyebrows wrinkle in confusion as I turn away and walk down the hallway to the study where I know Daniel will be. I don't care what Beth and Celeste say. I know how I feel. I know what I want. I don't need to test the waters with Jayson. I want to be with Ryder, and nothing will change that.