16. Eden
EDEN
By the time the mid-January came around, I thought my baking skills had improved. They were still pretty mediocre, but better.
Alana was getting more attention on campus, and she started to learn not to flinch every time a stranger walked up to her. She hated it nonetheless.
Each time a guy walked up to her, tried to speak to her, she would text me right after, telling me that this was all my fault. Guys were hitting on her with awful pickup lines, which she had a lot of opinions about.
I warned her, but she didn’t believe me.
The good part was that she was slowly starting to understand her body wasn’t the problem.
Well, obviously Alana was still doubting that, trying to find reasons as to why these guys were suddenly interested—bet reasons, mostly. She wasn’t too far off, I had to admit. They just wanted her because they believed I had her.
If I saw something in her, they wanted it, too. It was so ridiculous and disgusting, but at least Alana was taking a few steps forward, right?
And about Austin… well, he had his eyes on her. I could tell. Every time I walked past him, he would stare at me more than usual. He was waiting for me to mess up so he could have her, but that wasn’t going to happen any time soon. He could have her after Brooke’s baby shower.
To my surprise, he hadn’t yet tried talking to her. He would, though, I knew it.
“What did you do yesterday?” Alana asked the moment she opened the door for me.
We were scheduled to bake together after classes, but something came up, and I had to cancel. She never asked why, and I didn’t think she should either, but I suppose I was wrong.
I smiled at her. “Good morning to you, too, Ally-Bear.”
“It’s almost 2:00 p.m.” Alana stepped aside to let me in, and I wasted no time entering her humble mini-apartment.
I wasn’t used to small spaces like hers, but it was cozy enough. Slipping out of my shoes, I headed straight to her living room to take a seat on her sofa. I had now reached an age where if I saw the opportunity to sit, I would sit.
“I woke up half an hour ago, so it’s still morning for me,” I told her, watching as she took a seat almost right next to me. Almost.
“Alright, good morning then, Eden.”
“Thank you.” I nodded once, biting back a smile.
“To answer your question, I went to the doctor’s with my sister.
Her husband’s on the other side of the country for a game, and Brooke didn’t want to go to her ultrasound all by herself.
Since I’m the only one—besides her and Reece—who knows about her pregnancy, she asked me to come. ”
“You went to her doctor’s appointment?” Her eyebrows drew together.
“Yes?” Was that a weird thing to do? She was my sister. I was pretty sure our parents had gotten us checkups together at the doctor’s office a million times growing up.
And it wasn’t like Brooke had to undress completely. If that had been the case, I would’ve fled the room faster than I’d gotten there.
“If I asked my brothers to come anywhere with me, they’d laugh in my face and call me names,” she mumbled, letting out a heavy sigh.
My face scrunched up with both confusion and irritation. “That’s awful.”
Alana looked up, her eyes meeting mine. I could tell she was trying to put on a smile, but it didn’t work. “Yeah. I love that for you, though. I can only imagine what being close with one’s family is like.”
I didn’t think about what she’d said too much in that moment, though perhaps I really should have.
I chuckled ironically, rolling my eyes. “It’s interesting, to say the least.”
“Mhm…”
I reached for her hand, or tried to until I realized I shouldn’t. We weren’t that close for me to randomly touch her hand.
So instead, I did what I did best: distract. “My mom once called the cops on a birthday party I was uninvited to.”
“What?” Alana let out a soft, unsure laugh. “No way.”
“No, seriously. I fell out with a couple of guys from my school because I always canceled plans to play hockey. They got mad and threatened me, then uninvited me from their birthdays. One was on the exact day it all happened. I was like sixteen, so I was pretty upset about not going out for a birthday party. When I got home and told my mom about it, she felt really bad for me. The party was huge, and the kid’s parents weren’t home that night, which we only knew because they used to live down the street from us.
So, my mom called the cops to make a noise complaint.
She also ratted them out for underage drinking. ”
Alana seemed intrigued, leaning toward me as if I were about to share the biggest secret in the world with her.
“And what happened then?” she asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.
I shrugged, a small smile playing on my lips.
“The cops showed up, crashed the party, and everyone got busted. The birthday kid’s parents came home to a trashed house full of rowdy, drunk teenagers, and police who were trying to question them.
” I let out a quick breath. “The parents then sent the kid to a boarding school.”
Alana burst out laughing, a sound that filled the room with something warm, light. It was a rare moment at that time. She laughed around me sometimes, but it was often not as genuine as this one seemed to be.
I realized at that moment that I liked seeing her smile and laugh so freely.
“That’s insane,” she said, wiping away a tear from her eye.
“Yeah, I thought my mom was badass for that.”
I watched Alana, her laughter fading into a soft smile. The way her eyes sparkled with amusement made my heart flutter for a moment, a sensation I quickly pushed aside. We were friends, I thought. College students who accepted the other’s presence, nothing more.
Alana leaned back against the sofa. “Your mom sounds pretty cool,” she finally said, breaking the brief silence that had settled between us.
“Yeah, she doesn’t like anyone messing with her kids.” I got up and turned toward Alana. “Now, let’s get started. I still have a lot to learn.”