Chapter 47
Reunited
Emily
“Gena?”
She was squatting down in the backyard, peeking under the pool cover. Many houses around here had pools, even if they weren’t that fancy. In Germany, that was a luxury only for the richest people. All we had at home was a Planschbecken, a plastic wading pool for little kids.
Gena stood up. “We should get the pool ready in two weeks or so. Normally I open it in June, but I want you to be able to swim in it before you leave.”
“That would be amazing!” I nodded excitedly. I’d been looking forward to it ever since the day I moved in. “Thank you, Gena.”
“Don’t thank me, honey. I miss my morning swims too.” She smiled, and I couldn’t help but notice the dark circles below her eyes. She was still worried about what had happened to Paul a few weeks ago.
“I wanted to ask you something,” I ventured.
“What is it, honey?”
“I know it’s kinda last-minute, but could the girls and I get ready here for prom tomorrow night?”
Gena’s face lit up. “Of course, sweetheart! We’ll make it a night to remember.”
That same evening, she approached me with a twinkle in her eye, holding a bag full of decorations. “I thought we could spruce up the house a bit for the occasion,” she said, and her enthusiasm was infectious.
The next day, she returned with new mirrors and makeup. “I want everything to be perfect for my girl’s big night.”
Gena was really going above and beyond. A lump formed in my throat. She pulled me into her warm embrace. “My only daughter is going to prom. It’s a moment I’ll never get to experience again,” she said, and love radiated in my heart. I hugged her as tight as I could. My departure was in less than three weeks... I might have accepted that I had to leave America, but that didn’t make it any easier.
Henry walked into the room with his phone pressed to his ear. “Yes, we’ll be there.” He hung up and grabbed the car keys. “Paul!” he called.
“What’s going on, Henry?” Gena asked, going up to him.
“The police called,” he said tersely. “They think they know who attacked Paul, and they want him to go to the station to identify the suspect.” Gena gasped, and he hugged her.
“Jon,” I whispered so quietly, they didn’t hear it. Had he gone to the police after all? If it was his doing, he...
No, I couldn’t forgive him so easily for putting Paul in danger all these months.
“You go with Paul,” Gena said, getting into planning mode. “I’ll stay here.”
“You sure?” Henry asked.
“Yes, Emily’s friends are coming over soon. I want to be there for it. But call me as soon as you know more.”
“Okay, honey.” They gave each other an affectionate kiss, not a rare occasion, but I loved it every time. “Paul!” Henry hollered again.
Paul came bounding up the stairs. “What is it?”
“The police want you to identify a suspect. Let’s go.” Henry went ahead.
Paul gave me a startled look. His face had gone pale. I went up to him and gave him a hug. “I think he came through,” I whispered in his ear.
About an hour later I rushed down the stairs at the sound of the doorbell, my hair freshly washed, still in sweatpants. “Slow down, honey!” Gena called after me from the living room, where we’d set up mirrors, brushes and nail polish. We hadn’t heard anything from Henry yet.
Throwing the door open, I smiled at my friends. Danielle led the way, her blond hair shinier than usual, her eyes bare of their usual eyeliner. Kiki’s black hair flowed freely, and her lips lacked her trademark cherry red, yet she was more radiant than ever. Hannah beamed, making her freckles dance on her skin. They were beautiful, inside and out, and I had to fight back the urge to tear up at the sight of them. These were real friends—the kind I had never had before. And I knew they wouldn’t forget me after I left. “Hey, guys,” I said, overcome with emotion.
They responded with cheerful greetings, and then Danielle said, “There’s someone who wants to talk to you.”
They stepped aside, revealing someone else at the bottom of the steps.
My smile froze as Breana looked up at me with her big brown eyes. “Can we talk... please?”
I considered it. Breana’s absence in my life in the past few months had left a void, and I missed her. She had been my first friend here, the one who’d invited me into her group.
“Go on ahead, guys.” I ushered everyone in. Danielle gave me a reassuring look as she passed. I settled on the edge of the doorstep and Breana joined me. I fiddled with my fingers, waiting for her to speak. The front yard boasted spring flowers that had come out the other week, making the house look more beautiful than ever.
“I’m so sorry for being so irrationally angry with you,” she said. Her gaze was fixed on the horizon, as if searching for words on an invisible teleprompter. “I know the way I treated you wasn’t right... I was just—so angry.”
“Why though?” I asked.
She sighed. “When Paul dumped me to be with you instead—”
“While he was still with Jamie,” I interjected. Based on her stance against cheaters, she should have been upset with him and herself as well.
Breana let out a little laugh. “Yep, I’m a hypocrite.”
I couldn’t help but laugh too. She grabbed my hand. “I felt like you got the perfect guy without even trying... While I’d been dreaming of being with Paul ever since middle school. When he chose you over me, I kept telling myself it was because you were the one for him. For some reason, it made it easier.”
She took a deep breath, as if the thought of those days made her upset again.
“So when you ditched him for Jon, I couldn’t understand how you could throw away someone so perfect. And then Leni cheated on me...”
I let her words linger in the air. I wasn’t down with the way she’d treated me, but I could empathize with her turmoil.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is, being angry with you was easier than accepting that I wasn’t Leni’s one person he would change for,” Breana said, squeezing my hand. I had almost forgotten she was holding it. “Can you forgive me?”
“Of course, Bre.”
She gave a bright smile and pulled me into a tight hug. “Gosh, I’ve missed you so much,” she said, breaking the embrace. “There’s so much I’ve been meaning to tell you!”
She caught me up on everything I had missed in the last couple of months. Countless fights with her mother. Getting together with Jackson, breaking up with him again. I couldn’t help but grumble at the mention of his name.
“About that,” she said. “I went to see Madison.”
I gasped. “Madison?”
Breana nodded. “She told me what you did for her, and she’s keeping the baby. Jackson says he wants nothing to do with it. What an asshole!”
“Poor Madison.” I sighed, genuinely feeling sorry for her.
Breana giggled. “The story isn’t finished yet.”
“It’s not?” I raised my brow, both entertained and slightly worried about what was coming next.
“Maddy and I realized we had a lot in common. Difficult mothers, jerky ex-boyfriends, no idea what our futures are gonna look like. So we somehow became friends.”
“You and—Maddy?” I remembered Madison looking down on Breana back when I first started hanging out with the Fam.
“Yep, I even went with her to tell her mom about the baby. Let’s say it didn’t go well, and Maddy moved in with me.”
“Madison’s living with you now?!”
“That’s not all.”
I jumped to my feet. “Seriously? What happened then?”
Breana remained seated. “One day I saw this apartment close to the woods with a For rent sign. It’s not big or anything fancy, but it’s good enough for two people and a baby. I got a job at this vegetarian restaurant thanks to my culinary skills, and Madison has some money saved up and found a decent-paying job in an office. So yeah, we’re moving in together.”
“You and Madison?” I said, feeling stupid for parroting everything she said.
“Yep.” Breana grinned. “But there’s more. One night we stayed up talking until the sun came up, and... I don’t know how it happened, but we ended up kissing.”
I slapped my hand over my mouth. “You two are...?”
“Seeing where this is going, and I’m her date for prom tonight, yes.”
“Oh my gosh! That is amazing!” I bent down and put my arms around her. “I mean, I’m shocked you and Madison get along, but I’m so happy for you two.”
“Thanks, Emily,” Breana giggled into my neck. We separated. “I realized when I kissed her, I had never felt so much before. It made my heart fly over the treetops. It felt so right.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
Just then, the door opened and Danielle stuck her head out, her makeup nearly done and her hair curled to perfection, the front strands held back with clips.
“You two ever gonna come in and join us? I’ve got big plans for your hair.”
Breana and I looked at each other. “We’re coming.” We swooped up on Danielle, arms open wide.
“Ahh, no! My hair, stop! Stop!” Danielle complained as we pulled her into another hug. “I hate you guys,” she mumbled, but accepted our snuggles.