34. Daisy
DAISY
I was nervous about asking Violet to help throw a party when we were just coming off the failed Wallflower Ball that she put her heart and soul into, but she was completely on board.
It isn’t like we’ve never had people over before, but I want to invite everyone—a real blow out party like the ones I watched from the tree house. I’m through wishing and waiting for my life to happen.
Over the next week, we transform our house together.
Maybe other people can just invite people over and call it good, but not us.
The four of us spend all our time working on it, from what alcohol to buy, to the playlist, and if we should clear out the living room for dancing.
It feels good to have a hand in the creation of it instead of letting Violet do it all on her own.
It feels more like something that belongs to all of us.
Tonight we’re hanging lights from the living room ceiling like a canopy. We got the idea from Jordan and the lights he strung in the tree house.
I haven’t had the heart to go up inside of it yet, but last night it looked beautiful from the window all lit up.
“Are we going to wear our dresses again?” Dahlia asks as she stands on a ladder waiting for me to hand her another strand of lights.
“No dress code,” Violet says. “Come as you are.”
“I’m wearing my dress,” Jane says. “I got three numbers that night.”
“What about the green one?” I ask.
She thinks for a minute. “Maybe I’ll do a wardrobe change halfway through.”
Vi smiles. “I’m wearing my dress, too, but I don’t want people to feel like they need to dress up.”
“Thank god,” Dahlia says, and we all laugh.
“What did Jordan send today?” Jane asks as we finish and sit in the living room to admire our work.
“Nothing,” Violet answers for me.
“Nothing?” Dahlia asks, a stunned expression on her face.
I’m a little surprised, too, but trying not to show it. Ever since I ran into him at University Hall, the gifts have come daily. Monday was a drawing with daisies, Tuesday was the tree lights, and last night a playlist he made just for me.
I’ve started to look forward to them. Not the gifts so much as knowing I’ll have some interaction with him, even if it isn’t directly.
As much as I’d like to hold on to the anger and betrayal I felt when I realized he deceived me, I can’t deny how good it feels to hear from him every day. I’ve missed him.
I can’t decide if that means I should forgive him and let him back into my life or if this sudden resurgence of apology gestures are just to assuage his guilt for breaking my heart. I’m sure he could see it all over my face Monday—the heartbreak that lingers since I walked out of his dorm.
Honking outside tears me from my thoughts. It’s continuous and impossible to ignore.
Violet groans. “What the hell are they up to now?”
She moves to look out the curtains toward The White House.
The honking continues, as well as music blaring.
“Uh, Daisy.” She jogs to the front door and pulls it open.
The music and honking get louder. Dahlia and Jane rush to join her. I’m slower to my feet.
“Oh. My. Gosh.” Jane punches each word and smiles as she looks back at me. “If you don’t forgive him, you’re crazy.”
I finally get to the doorway, where I can see the parade of vehicles slowly rolling down our street.
Their windows are down, and they drop daisies onto the sidewalk in front of the house.
The music is coming from the back of the line, which I can’t quite see, but the Shawn Mendes song gets louder with every passing vehicle.
“Is that the entire hockey team?” Jane asks.
I can only nod. Jordan’s vehicle isn’t among them, but I can see the last truck now—Liam’s. I walk outside to the curb as he gets in front of the house. But it isn’t Jordan in the passenger seat. It’s some guy I don’t recognize holding a handful of daisies.
Liam stops and turns down the music. The passenger hands me the flowers.
“You must be Daisy,” he says.
“Where is he?” I ask.
“He isn’t here,” Liam says, and pulls a folded piece of paper from the dash. “He asked me to give you this.”
I take it, and he rolls forward slowly.
“For what it’s worth,” he says, “I think you two are great together. Maybe not what either of you expected, but that’s how it goes sometimes.” He gives the guy in the passenger seat the briefest of glances and then nods to me. “Just thought you should know.”
“Thanks, Liam.” I step back, holding the paper in front of me.
The girls join me in the yard.
“What did he say?” Jane asks.
“He gave me this.” I hold up the note and then unfold it slowly. Jordan’s small handwriting greets me.
Daisy,
I’m so sorry. I know I don’t deserve a second chance, but I’m hoping you’ll give me one anyway. I wasn’t lying when I said I love you.
x,
Jordan
“That’s it?” Jane asks when I show them.
“I don’t understand. Why didn’t he come with them?” Dahlia looks to me for an answer.
Violet crosses her arms over her chest and stares at the ground.
My friends might not understand, but I do.
He’s giving me room to decide what I want.
No gifts come Friday evening, but I don’t have a chance to worry about it. Well, not much time anyway.
The party is tonight. There’s a chance of rain again all weekend, so we focused our efforts inside. We moved all the furniture upstairs, all by ourselves, thank you very much, and the living room is our dance floor and mingle area.
In the kitchen, we set up a serve-yourself station with cases of champagne that Jane bought for the event.
I’m looking forward to it, but admittedly, I can’t completely shake the memory of dancing with Jordan in my yellow dress. But I’m determined to have a good time tonight with my friends.
The four of us gather in the kitchen for a drink before everyone arrives.
“I have a little surprise,” Dahlia says. She grabs a bag from the counter and pulls what looks like four small notebooks from it.
She hands one to each of us. The booklet is small with only a few pages and has a small golf pencil attached.
“What is it for?” Jane asks.
I flip open my booklet, and the giggle erupts as I read the first page. Dances, it says in a pretty, bold font, and then there are six numbered lines. “It’s a dance card.”
“Just like Elizabeth Bennett,” Dahlia says proudly. “I don’t really expect you to use them. I just thought they were fun.”
“I’m totally using mine,” Jane says. “It’ll be a good place to get numbers.”
Violet lifts her plastic champagne flute with a laugh (Jane also bought boxes of those—the heavy plastic kind that almost looks real). “To Elizabeth Bennett.”
By midnight, our house is filled with classmates and friends, and friends of friends. Some dressed up, others are casual, but everyone is having a good time.
Jane has her dance card tucked into the cleavage of her dress, and as promised she’s taking down numbers in it.
Dahlia is wearing one of her own creations. A baggy sweatshirt in a light gray with a black pleated skirt. She hangs off to the side of the dance floor, but she’s smiling.
Violet steals the room in a black lacy dress that hits above her knee and bright purple heels. She and Jane are currently in the kitchen drinking champagne and talking to two guys that are friends with Eric.
And me, well, I’m watching it all with a bittersweet happiness stirring inside of me.
I sit on a stair halfway up to give me a nice bird’s-eye view, sipping champagne and sketching in my dance card.
I glance up from time to time to make sure I’m getting the details just right.
I don’t want to forget this moment or the looks on my friend's faces.
Violet appears at the side of the staircase with a tipsy smile. “Daisy, there you are! Come dance with us.”
She gives me a playful, pouty face, and then Jane joins in.
I tuck my dance card away and let them pull me to the center of the dance floor. Dahlia comes, too, and we form a circle, linking arms and belting out the lyrics to three or four songs in a row.
“I need a drink.” I hold a hand to my dry throat. In the kitchen, I refill my flute and sip, letting the sweet bubbles dance on my tongue.
“This was perfect,” Violet says, leaning her back against the counter and sighing. “Thank you for doing this.”
“We all did it. Together.”
“Yes, I know, but after the way things went down the last time, you had little reason to want to go through it all again.”
“It wasn’t the best night of my life,” I admit. “But it made me realize how much we all needed it. You said it earlier this week, come as you are. And people did.”
“Yeah,” she says the word softly.
I bump my hip against hers. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Tonight has been a blast. I’m going to remember this forever, but I hate seeing you like this.”
“I’m fine,” I insist. “Or I will be.”
“You didn’t tell me that he said he loved you.”
“He said a lot of things. Who knows how much of it was true?”
She nods. “Come with me.”
She goes to the back door. The rain held off, but the temperature has dropped, and the wind has picked up.
I haven’t gone out there since the night I screamed until I lost my voice, but I go with her now. She steps outside, and I follow, clutching my bare arms to my stomach as the breeze nips at my skin.
The tree house is lit up like it has been every night since Jordan strung the lights, but tonight lanterns pave a path from where we stand to the ladder. My heart squeezes in my chest. I can’t see inside of the tree house, but I know he’s there the same way I know my name.
“I don’t know if he was telling the truth or not when he said that he loved you, but if he doesn’t, then he’s really committed to the lie.” A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth.
“But what about jocks being evil and all that?”
She laughs outright. “You know I don’t really believe that. It’s just easier to hate a collective group than letting one person have so much power over your emotions.”
I get that.
Violet squeezes my arm. “No matter what, you always have me.”
“And us,” Dahlia says. I look back to see her and Jane in the doorway.
“You guys all knew about this?”
Vi shrugs. “I called him.”
My eyes widen.
“If you really don’t want to see him, I’ll go tell him to leave, but if you’re only staying away because of the things I said…” She looks down. “It wasn’t fair of me to judge him because of something someone else did.”
“He screwed up all on his own,” I say.
“I know, and I’ve got one eye on him.” Violet grins. “But you were happy. And that’s all I want.”
“All that we want for you,” Dahlia says.
“I know a guy who knows a guy who has a cousin that works as a hitman,” Jane says it loud enough that I’m sure Jordan can hear. “Just in case.”
“I love you guys.”
The three of them crowd around and hug me.
I let out a breath. “Now what?”
“Go hear him out,” Dahlia encourages.
Jane squeezes my arm. “Good luck.”