Chapter 14 #2
Avery followed Blair to the back of the shop and started pulling some dresses from the racks to try on.
Everything between them seemed strangely normal, given the circumstances of the last time they interacted at the engagement party.
Any hope for reconciling their friendship was long gone, but maybe they could be civil with each other until the wedding.
Then they never needed to speak to each other again. Avery could handle this, no problem.
“I love this one,” Blair said, holding a green ruffle-trim faux-wrap dress in front of Avery’s body. “This one would look beautiful on you. A-line dresses are great for curvy girls.”
Avery opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. Blair did not mean “curvy” in the nice way.
“That’s, uh … pretty.” Avery pulled out something pink and off-the-shoulder. “What about this?”
Blair pinched her eyebrows together and ran her fingers down the front of the dress. “I don’t love the sash.”
She pulled out a few more options, a yellow pleated tulle maxi dress and a light blue silk midi dress, and they headed to the dressing rooms at the back of the store before separating off to change.
When they finished, they emerged in front of the huge wall-to-wall mirror to stare at their reflections.
The silence between them expanded and filled the room, until Blair broke the dam.
“Can we talk for a minute?”
Avery remained stone-faced. She’d promised Morgan there would be no more drama, and she was sticking to her word, so she kept her eyes fixed on her dress. She’d tried on the pleated dress, and it was fine, nothing she couldn’t find cheaper online.
“I don’t want to talk, to be honest,” Avery said.
“I don’t care.” Blair tossed her hair over her shoulders aggressively.
She was already seething. “I would do anything for that girl out there. She’s my best friend.
And you running out of her engagement party the way you did was so messed up.
Morgan cried for half the night wondering where you went. ”
Avery kept her composure. “I get it. She and I talked about it. I apologized. Everything’s fine.”
“It’s not fine to me . And it won’t be to Morgan if you don’t get your shit together.
” Blair’s shallow Southern kindness was officially gone; Avery could practically see the shiny plastic melting off of her in hot fury.
“This is an extremely special time in Morgan’s life.
I don’t want you and your attention-seeking antics ruining it. ”
Avery was so naive, thinking she and Blair could get truly along. Avery wondered if the members of Blair’s women’s empowerment group at Deloitte knew she was actually a huge bitch.
“It’s crazy how little you’ve changed, Blair. Still so judgmental.”
“And you’re still a skank ho, so we’re even.”
Avery was stunned into silence. At school, Blair had mostly called her names behind her back or in comments on Avery’s Instagram posts left by burner accounts.
Avery knew Blair was sensitive about infidelity after her mom cheated on her dad, but Avery hoped the passage of time would soften at least some of Blair’s prickly frustration toward Avery.
The fact that Blair could still muster up enough rage to spit such a name to Avery’s face, however, seemingly proved the opposite.
The state of their relationship was worse than Avery thought.
“I don’t know where Morgan got off making you her maid of honor,” Blair added, as though this fact inflamed her resentment. “How’re you gonna juggle all these responsibilities when you’ve got your mouth around the groomsmen’s dicks?”
Avery stood up as tall as she could, which was a solid three inches above Blair.
From the outside, she looked strong and untouchable, but under her dress she was soaked in a cold, nervous sweat.
She felt transported back to senior year, alone in her dorm room and stalking her friends on social media as they hung out without her, with Blair leading the charge on making plans that excluded Avery.
But she wasn’t going to let Blair intimidate her now.
She took a breath. Only seven more months until the wedding, and then she’d never have to see Blair’s smug, prissy face again. Keep it together. You got this.
“It sounds like you’re jealous that you’re not maid of honor,” she said.
Blair huffed. “Please. I would never be jealous of someone like you. Women who betray kind, undeserving men should go to hell.”
Okay. That’s it. Avery jabbed a pointed finger in Blair’s self-righteous face. She refused to be a punching bag for Blair’s anger over family issues that had nothing to do with her. And she was done taking shit from someone who didn’t know what the fuck they were talking about.
“You know what?” Avery said through gritted teeth.
“I know we’re in the same bridal party, and we have to put on a happy face for the sake of this wedding, but I’m not speaking to you anymore unless I have to.
So you can fuck right off.” Avery stole one last glance at herself in the three-way mirror.
“And this dress is hideous. I’ll find nicer ones online for half the price. ”
Avery stormed into her dressing room and peeled off her dress, which was sticky from her agitated sweat.
She left the dress pooled on the floor before heading back into the showroom, where she slammed her body into the couch and tightly crossed her legs.
Her insides buzzed with adrenaline; she felt legitimately high from telling Blair off.
Avery tried to maintain a neutral expression so Morgan wouldn’t suspect anything, especially since she already reacted too much to Blair at the engagement party.
But she couldn’t help it. She stuck up for herself more than she ever had before and she needed to relish it.
Blair came in behind Avery a few minutes later and sat on the opposite end of the couch without making eye contact.
Then Blair set her phone down next to her as she rummaged through her purse.
The phone buzzed with a text, the name “Noah McCormick” flashing on the screen.
Avery squinted at the screen to read his full message to Blair.
And then her breath caught.
Blair snatched the phone away before she could read it all. But not before Avery swore she saw the word “babe.”
The walls around her caved in. Were Blair and Noah dating?
Avery massaged her temples in dismay. Her only consolation about this was the fact that nobody knew about Noah’s involvement that night senior year, so of course Blair didn’t know either.
God, Avery hated Noah so much. He was like a scummy politician skating by on his lies, and Blair just fell for it.
“Random question,” Avery asked Morgan as nonchalantly as she could on the subway after they left Kleinfeld. “Is Blair dating, um …” She mashed her lips together, unable to bring herself to say his name out loud. But she needed confirmation that this was real.
Morgan raised an eyebrow. “Noah?”
Avery swallowed. “Yes.”
“You know, I saw him on her Story last night and had the same thought.” Morgan took out her phone to play an Instagram video of Blair and Noah at a sushi restaurant.
Rows of sashimi were splayed out on the table, and a bottle of white wine sat in a cooler.
The next slide was a picture of Blair and Noah standing outside the restaurant.
Blair was facing him with her hand flat on his chest and her leg flicked out behind her, and they were kissing.
“Looks like it,” Morgan said. Horrifyingly, it sounded like she approved. “Good for her! Cute, smart, and rich. Very nice catch.”
Avery rubbed her eyes so hard that she saw stars, trying to make the images go away.
She couldn’t believe she was the only person who knew the unspeakable things Noah was capable of and had to continue keeping her mouth shut until the wedding.
She was suddenly struck by a loneliness that penetrated bone deep.
“What, are you jealous?” Morgan asked.
Avery shot daggers from her eyes. “Absolutely not.”
The subway pulled to a slow stop. Avery bolted out of the car, with Morgan trailing behind.
“If you were interested in him, you could’ve told me!” Morgan called out as they hustled down the street. “I would’ve given you dibs.”
Avery kept making rapid, determined strides forward, almost knocking over an elderly woman carrying grocery bags in her effort to be out of earshot of Morgan’s asinine comments.
She only stopped when she approached the front door of Morgan’s apartment building, at which point Morgan caught up and flicked her eyes to Avery, waiting for a response.
“Morgan, I am nowhere near interested in Noah,” Avery snapped. “Things with Pete have picked up, actually.”
Dammit , she thought. It just slipped out.
But if Noah and Blair could find love, two people who were nightmarish in their own unique ways, why couldn’t Avery? Did Avery honestly think she was more unlovable than those two?
“Really?” Morgan asked.
Avery studied Morgan’s sparkling eyes, the upturned corners of her lips, the rush of color on her cheeks. There was no turning back. Morgan was already writing Pete’s name next to Avery’s in black permanent marker on the Brooklyn Botanic Garden seating chart.
“Yeah!” Avery smiled warily at her lie. Well, half lie.
Things had sort of started picking up with Pete, in that maybe they were going to be each other’s booty calls.
But then she’d kicked him out of her apartment.
All because he liked her for more than her body.
Because he wanted to get to know her as a person—the thing most sane women longed for after a few dates. What a crime, for him to be so normal.
“Wait, how did this happen?” Morgan asked. “I thought he didn’t have your number.”
“Well, he didn’t. Then I ran into him in SoHo and now he’s … got my number, I guess.” Avery flashed an uncertain smile.
“Wow, this city is so tiny.” Morgan squeezed Avery’s arm excitedly. “I’m so happy for you! We should double date! I bet Charlie would love to see him again. This is so promising for the wedding!”
Avery laughed. “Slow your roll on that one. I gotta see how things develop first.”
“I get it, I get it. Like I said, Pete’s invite is up to you.” Morgan grinned with all her teeth. “But I’m remaining hopeful.”
As they made their way through Morgan’s foyer and stepped onto the elevator, Avery realized she could deny it no longer.
She wanted to be with Pete. He’d gotten under her skin, like that dark dot of lead that buried underneath you after you accidentally stabbed yourself with a pencil in elementary school.
It might’ve hurt going in, but now it was there forever as a part of you, like a new birthmark. A new beginning. A fresh start.
She took a deep breath and texted him.