10. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
TEN
GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
Halle
It’s been a rollercoaster of a week—between my actual shifts at work, waking up early and going to bed late to help Cade in the studio, merch pickups, and getting stood up by a guy I might not even like all that much—I’m ready for a night with my girls.
“You know, Rubes,” Mel starts as soon as Ruby walks through the door, “if you lived here, you wouldn’t have to always haul all your stuff in and out. And it’d be like a sleepover every night. And you wouldn’t have to drive all the way here every time. It seems like the economical choice, really. We’ve got that extra bedroom. And I am with the baseball team a lot. Home games, away games, practices, dinners, other outings.” She counts on her fingers. “It would be nice to not leave Halle alone all the time.” Mel finishes her spiel, her chest rising and falling at a faster rate after so long without a breath.
Ruby just rolls her eyes and chuckles. “People always say you shouldn’t live with your best friend,” she pauses, “but I guess that doesn’t really go for your whole friend group—considering the fact that you all live in the same house.”
“Our bills are all separate. Abbott and Cade are not our roommates,” I remind her.
“Yeah, yeah. Living basically one wall apart is close enough to being roommates with them.” She says and emphasizes with another eye roll.
“Okaaay,” I drag out the word to make it known that we’re changing the topic of conversation. “Enough about the hypothetical roommate talk. But Rubes, you know you’re always welcome to change your mind and move in.”
“Appreciate it, Hals. I’ll be right back.” She goes to the spare room to set her stuff down.
“Melody Gray, you need to cool it on trying to sell her the room,” I scold her as we sit on the couch.
“I know, I’m sorry, but I can’t help it! I just don’t like the thought of leaving you all alone.” Her voice hitches.
“Are you kidding?” I raise an eyebrow at her. “We’re in the middle unit of a triplex, both sides are filled with so many guys. I am anything but alone when you’re not here.”
She smiles at me, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. It seems like there’s more she wants to say, like she’s having an internal argument.
Ruby comes into view and zips past us to the kitchen. I hear the buttons of the oven ring out as she preheats it for the pizza and garlic bread we have for tonight. It’s not long before she’s finding her seat in the recliner next to us.
I clear my throat, winning their attention. “I know we’re here to have fun and hangout, but I do have something to tell you guys.” I pull my legs up and sit criss-cross.
“Ooooh, a business meeting! We haven’t had one of these in a while, we’re well overdue,” Mel chimes in. She’s our resident planner and mental note-taker.
“Oh, I can’t wait.” Ruby excitedly claps. “I missed the last business meeting since I had to work closing and do inventory at Jubilee last time! Getting the highlights just isn’t the same as being a part of it.” She pouts.
“So, umm.” It shouldn’t be this hard. These are my best friends, I tell them everything. My mouth is dry, I look over to the doorway of the kitchen. Maybe some water will help.
“Halle.” Mel brings my focus to her. “You know you can tell us anything. We’re here to love and support you in everything, we’re not going to judge you.”
I smile shyly and give her a small nod in appreciation.
“Well, we might judge you a little.”
“RUBY!” Mel whips around to face Ruby faster than I’ve ever seen. A few loose strands of hair float through the air in her wake.
“Sorry, no, we won’t judge you at all.” Ruby’s eyes are wide, like a child who’s just been caught with their hand in the cookie jar.
I chuckle and look at both of them. “I don’t know why this is so hard for me to say. I feel like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and like I don’t actually have to say it, but for the sake of clarity,” I suck in a breath, “I really, really like Cade.” The air in my lungs stills as I wait for their reactions.
Ruby’s jaw drops. “What?!”
Mel bounces up and down and squeals. “Yay! I’m so glad you’re finally admitting it!”
“ Finally admitting it ? Mel, you knew and didn’t tell me?” Ruby looks taken aback by this.
Mel reaches over to place a comforting hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “So sorry, babe, but this is not my news to share.” She turns back to face me as she grins wildly again. “But, now that you know that I know that you know you like him, everything’s okay! Time to start up the operation again.”
“Mel, what operation? What am I missing.” Poor Ruby, she’s still not entirely caught up on our whole group’s lore.
“Basically, Halle’s had a lifelong crush on Cade, but sometimes it’s only that—a crush. Other times it’s full-on feelings that sweep up her whole being. Right now we’re in full-on big feelings mode. Whenever we have feelings, we start up Operation Hoodie .” She sends me a wink.
Mel is a pro by now. We’ve been conning and heisting and operation-ing ever since we were little, it’s been a running bit in our friendship all these years, I’m glad to see it’s still going strong.
“So. Two things: one, we need you to make a move on Cade. Two, Sean has got to go, but that shouldn’t be a hard decision after what happened yesterday.”
“Aww! But I like Seen,” Ruby complains. “Wait, what did I miss yesterday?”
“Did you just call him Seen ? That’s so good. I’m taking that. He’s now Seen.” Mel’s changing her attention from me to Ruby to me to Ruby so much that I’m beginning to worry she might give herself whiplash. “Hal, you’ve gotta get rid of Seen.”
I see the wheels turning in her head as she’s likely conjuring up a plan.
“Stop, don’t call him that.” I try defending him, but each of my words are fighting back giggles.
“Sorry, the deed’s been done. He’s Seen. I don’t make the rules, I just follow them.” She shrugs her shoulders and looks at Ruby for confirmation. “And about last night! Basically, Hal and I were at the baseball game and then Cade showed up, something about him going to a game and the baseball guys going to the Tryhard show this weekend. Halle and Seen were supposed to hang out after the game, but as soon as the game finished he made a beeline for his car and left! Very suspicious, if you ask me.” She tucks her chin to her chest and looks up at us with wide eyes and puckered lips.
“Ugh, I don’t want to be in this position. Love triangles are so cliche.” I bring my hands to cover my face in exasperation. How did my life get like this?
“Exactly why you have to break things off with Seen.”
“But what if I’m Team Seen? Is Cade even into her?” Ruby makes a good point, is Cade even into me? I feel like we’ve been having some moments lately, but I could’ve been connecting dots that weren’t actually there.
I look back up at them both with my head in my hands, my elbows digging into my knees.
“Sorry, that sounded so rude, but we know Seen likes Halle.” True, I know Seen—er, Sean , likes me, that much was evident on the date and when he asked me to go out again.
Cade and I do jokingly flirt a lot and have been spending more time together lately, but does he actually like me? I feel like I’m back in high school trying to figure out if this boy has feelings for me or not.
“Don’t worry about Cade, we can talk to Abbott and get him in on Operation Hoodie. He is Cade’s best friend after all, so it should be pretty easy moving this thing along.” Mel seems to have an answer for everything.
“I’m not sure how much I want my brother, of all people, to be involved with this.” My head drops back into my hands. “Especially considering the fact that I wasn’t your guys’ biggest fan when I found out you were together.” I look up at Mel apologetically.
“Hey, we’re past that. And we know that it was because we lied and didn’t tell you that we were together. We know how you feel about lying, so that whole thing is definitely on us. If anything, Abbott still owes you a solid for it.” Mel smiles gently at me.
“Oh, yeah, because getting us rooms at The Pitch wasn’t enough.” I lower my voice in a jokey way as I say this, and Ruby chuckles with me.
“We can put that on my tab. You’re his sister, you’ve been dealing with his antics far longer than I have.” We all laugh and agree.
Blowing out a breath, I sit back up and give in. “Fine, fine. Go ahead, tell Abbott. I feel like I’m going to need all the help I can get. I’d be surprised if he actually did anything, though.”
“So true, he is a boy after all, they’re historically bad at picking up on hints. Even if the hint is a giant slap in the face,” Ruby trails off, like she’s remembering something.
Mel and I look at each other. We catch Ruby making mysterious comments that seem like they come from something in her past but we know to not poke and prod. Ruby’s shell is tough to crack and she likes it that way.
“Okay, so I’ll loop Abbott in and he can take care of the Cade side of things. You should probably break things off with Seen sooner rather than later.” Mel starts the operation’s to-do list, then she looks at me with a sad smile this time. She knows I hate confrontation.
“Ugh, I know.” I shut my eyes at the thought of having to do this. “I wish I could just ghost him and be okay with myself. But imagine how awkward that would be for Abbott being on the baseball team with him. And for you, working with the team and all. And for my own state of mind.” This idea just gets worse, and worse, and worse. “I couldn’t, I wouldn’t.” I’m rambling. That’s what stressful confrontation thoughts do to me. “I’m pretty busy this next week, so I’ll try to see him maybe next weekend and talk with him then.” I’m sweating already just thinking about this.
“I’ll miss Seen, but if Cade’s the one you want, then who am I to argue with love—er, like?” Ruby smiles and giggles.
Under her shell, she’s a hopeless romantic at heart. Except when it comes to her own love life. Her and Cade are birds of a feather in that regard. She’s the queen of getting the ick. Mel and I have a running list of all the things she’s found wrong with the guys she’s dated. It’s a fine line we operate on because it’s not really any of our business, but we also have to look out for our friend.
The oven beeps, it must be done preheating. I can’t believe I forgot about the food.
Even when he’s not around, Cade always manages to find a way to distract me.
Ruby looks over at the kitchen. “I was wondering when we were going to start eating. I arrived famished.”
Mel looks at Ruby. “Pin that thought.” She turns to me. “So, to recap: you’re admitting your adult feelings for Cade—it’s no longer just a crush with little kid feelings?”
I nod my head.
“I’ll talk to Abbott, get him to talk you up to Cade. Then I can try and talk to Cade, and give him an idea to ask you out. The tricky part is going to be getting him to think it’s his idea.” Mel paces around and lists out all of the next steps in our operation.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” I ask.
“What?” She turns to me, eyes wide.
“Me! What am I supposed to do? This is me and Cade we’re talking about.”
“She’s got a point,” Ruby chimes in.
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, schnookums. You just show up when he says when. I’ll take care of the rest.”
And this is why I was hesitant to tell them about my feelings for Cade. Mel’s the type of person to make something like this her entire personality and not quit until she’s either convinced to stop or sees herself successful.
“Alrighty, well, I think we’ve covered all of our business that needed tending to, so, until next time ladies.” Mel signs off on her mental minutes and walks to the freezer to get our pizza out and into the oven. Ruby and I follow close behind her.
Ruby reaches over to the counter for the garlic bread. “Let’s pop these babies in, I’m starving.”
My head tips back in laughter. “Let’s get her fed, Mel. We don’t want her complaining about being hungry again.”
Ruby sticks her tongue out playfully.
“Sooooo,” Mel draws out. “How about we think up an operation for you, Rubes, any prospects?” she asks jokingly, knowing Ruby will hate the idea.
“Over my dead body,” Ruby snarls.
Mel raises her hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, okay. No operation-ing for Ruby.”
I shake my head and chuckle at them as I make my way back to the living room to find blankets and pillows before securing my spot on the couch.
The rest of the night goes as it always does—some food, some movies, some chatting. It’s a much needed slow down from my usual hectic schedule. Especially after a week full of Cade-centered activities, a night in with my girls is exactly what I’ve been craving.