Chapter 33
The rain pounded against the metal roof of the warehouse like a budding threat.
Dark clouds had taken up residence this morning and continued unpacking until late in the evening.
The unusual wet winter storm felt like a bad omen.
I didn’t say as much out loud when I shed my rain jacket and flicked on the lights of the warehouse.
“How’s it looking?” I asked Haven, who’d been uncharacteristically nose deep in her phone all morning.
I continued to flip on lights and straightened up a couple of tablecloths as I waited for her answer.
The rest of our org members were en route, ready to put a couple of final touches on the space before we opened the doors tonight.
The other orgs failed to send people to help with set-up and went ghost in our group chat.
Fury burned through my veins these last couple of days as we did our marketing push and barely got so much as a repost on anyone’s end.
But I couldn’t let it drag me down. I focused on doing whatever it took to make them regret not believing in us, or this, or me.
My road to non-vengeful, non-petty thoughts was long and full of hazards.
“Haven?” I stopped in front of the makeshift stage when I realized she wasn’t following me. Her glossy lips and red-stained cheeks did wonders in emphasizing her dismay. My stomach dipped, mind racing to solve a problem I wasn’t yet briefed on.
“I haven’t checked the ticket sales in a couple of days.” She looked up, eyes wide as tonight’s full moon. “It was getting so dire.”
My shoulders sagged. “Okay… that’s fine. What is it now?”
We couldn’t survive with low numbers this late in the game. My face burned at the thought. I held my head high and considered everything I put into this event. I hadn’t gone down without a fight, and that was something to be proud of.
“Yara, we’re sold out.” Haven came to my side, holding her phone so I could witness it for myself. But even with the screen brightness turned all the way up and the font large and clear, I couldn’t make out a thing.
“Three hundred and fifty.” Haven bit down on her bottom lip, holding back a squeal.
“This is a cruel joke,” I whispered.
“It’s the truth.” She swatted my arm with the back of her hand. “Log in to your phone and see.”
I did just that and saw the same beautiful number. “Holy… what happened?”
Haven shrugged. “Covee’s brilliant marketing push? Indie’s work on word of mouth? Your boyfriend?”
“My boyfriend?” I frowned, confused about how David, a complete left turn, had anything to do with this.
“See this spike in stats right here?” She pointed to a line stretching past the thousand-view mark. “David posted about it on his socials.”
“You follow David on his socials?” I laughed, amused as I studied her.
“Yeah, after you refused to, but still wanted to look for dirt.” She playfully poked her elbow into my side. “Remember?”
“Oh, right.” That was eons ago, sophomore year, before I built up the courage and fuck-it mentality to just text the guy. “He didn’t tell me.”
“You know what this means?”
I blinked, lost in a daze of gratefulness for David and my girls. “What?”
“At sixty a head, my love, we’re looking at over twenty thousand.
” Haven’s eyes were aglow with the knowledge I wouldn’t be going into debt over a student organization.
My heart jumped at the realization as well.
Twenty grand, in addition to our fundraising, put us smoothly in the realm of paying off all our debts, treating the girls, and leaving an impressive cushion in the savings account for next semester.
I pulled Haven in for a hug. We squeezed each other as we spun around.
It wasn’t life-changing work. We wouldn’t be remembered as the women who raised a quarter of a million for health research or donated enough money to fund a soup kitchen for an entire year.
But getting the org out of debt was something.
It was enough to lighten the load of the women who came after us. Enough to set them up for success.
“I…” I tried, then laughed, before nearly crying. “I think that was truly stressing me out.”
Haven pulled back to make sure I wasn’t too far gone in the depressed department before joining me in laughter. “You think, love?”
We continued laughing.
“God, I need to break and just…” I said through my laughter.
“Just?”
“Finally, take an art class.” The rest of the weight on my chest disappeared. “I’m awful at it.”
“Don’t say that.”
I tilted my head to the side, giving her a ‘come on’ tilt with my brow.
“It’s a challenge for you,” Haven tried and tucked a few of my fresh goddess braids off my shoulders. “A big challenge. But you’ll get there.”
I continued to smile, feeling far more warmth than sting from her assessment. “It’ll lead nowhere, but it’s fun. And that’s okay, right? Having fun. Not doing things just because it’ll lead to something bigger than that?”
“Of course.” Haven’s expression sobered. “You deserve to enjoy life, Yara. Stop with all the full steam ahead and take an art class. Be bad at something and see that the clock keeps ticking.”
The warehouse’s walls glowed blue, and the air was warm enough to shield us from the persistent cold outside.
Our grunge fairytale had been embraced coming off the tail end of Halloween–just as I hoped.
The crowd comprised a mix of masquerade masks and black tulle.
My elbows and shoulders continued to be tapped and tugged, with a pairing of congratulations.
“You pulled through.” Anthony stopped me on my second round of the room.
Each time I’d looked for David, and each time I'd failed. There’d been a large group of football players that’d filtered in soon after the doors opened, but he hadn’t been among them.
And he hadn’t been answering his phone. Worry pinched at my stomach, but I tried to keep breathing and keep positive.
“Yeah.” I scanned the room. The music was loud enough to get the blood pumping, but not so much so that we’d get a noise complaint… yet.
“It’s impressive,” Anthony continued. “You should be proud.”
“I am.” I nodded, still distracted. I found Hart, Weston, and Nathaniel near the refreshment table and nearly dipped in that direction. But before I could make any ground, Anthony said,
“We should meet and plan something for next semester. A BSU and BWD event. It’ll be great.”
I turned back to him. Once upon a time, that would have been music to my ears. Not an outright approval, but definitely as close as I would get from him.
“I’ve been emailing you about a joint event for years.
” I kept a neutral tone even though my insides were buzzing from the vindication.
I’d worked for three years to earn a second glance from every org president on this campus.
I knew it was all about numbers; it’s always been that.
But deep down, I thought if I showed them who I was and how smart the people in my org could be, then maybe, just maybe, that would be enough.
“And now you’ve proven you can put something together,” he said with a half-shrug. “So? Are you free for a chat next week?”
I touched the tip of my tongue to my top lip, nodding as I considered. “I’ll get back to you on that. For now, enjoy the party.”
I would email him. Most likely tomorrow. But tonight, I wanted to soak in the small win and petty upper hand I’d gained. Turning the other cheek was great and all, something I was raised to do, but giving someone a taste of their own medicine was too satisfying to ignore. I’d grow up… one day.
“Hey,” I greeted the guys. My smile was bright as I rode off the high of leaving Anthony without a definitive plan. “You guys enjoying yourselves?”
“Top tier.” Hart gestured to the room. “You’ve outdone yourself.”
I laughed. “You’ve never been to one of my events.”
“It’s an educated assumption,” he promised. “You always outdo yourself. Of that, I’m sure.”
“Impressive,” Weston agreed. “I wouldn’t expect any less.”
“It is very nice,” Nathaniel said. I could barely hear his low, deep voice over the music. His small smile made me feel more accomplished. Tonight would be a record for wins, I was sure of it.
“Have any of you seen David?” A simple question that left them speechless. I went from zero to ten in suspicion. “Well?”
They exchanged subtle looks, reading one another’s minds for clues on how to avoid revealing to me what appeared to be buried.
“I’m sure he’s around here somewhere…” Hart scanned the room like he was looking hard.
“Definitely.” Weston nodded and had a look himself. “In the meantime, tell us how you figured out this whole renting and zoning thing for orgs.”
“This had to cost an arm and a leg,” Hart agreed. “Maybe even your firstborn.”
“You want to talk shop?” I asked flatly.
“We love a good location,” Weston attempted to smooth over their kinks. “Hosting parties is kind of our favorite pastime.”
“Sure,” I said, not believing a word. “For your secret society, right?”
“Secret society?” Weston asked, brows knitted in confusion, while Hart simultaneously said, “Right.”
I snorted when Hart tried to discreetly nudge Weston with his elbow and get him on board. I scoffed and turned to the one person I knew wouldn’t lie to my face right now.
“Where is he?” I asked Nathaniel. “Do you know?”
Nathaniel scratched the back of his head, but at least ignored the guys’ looks of warning. “There was an emergency.”
“An emergency?” I asked, blood pressure rising.
“Not anything major,” he promised quickly. “Something to do with people sneaking in alcohol and underage attendees and cops.”
“An emergency that involves cops at my event?” I pressed my hand to my chest. “That I didn’t know about?”
“Covee, Indie, and David wanted to handle it,” Weston said, talking slow and calm like it’d relax me amid the budding crisis. “They wanted you to have fun.”
“We all do,” Hart chimed in.
“And you were for a moment.” Weston pointed toward the dance floor.
“Very interesting moves,” Hart assured.
“It was… my song.” My cheeks burned at how people had been watching me throw caution to the wind for the first time, and I had no idea.
“David told us to wait until he texted and then alert you,” Nathaniel said. “Tonight’s a big deal; he wanted to lighten the load.”
My shoulders relax slightly. I took a breath because this wasn’t worth getting upset over. This was what I’d dreamed of —someone who anticipated my needs and looked out for me before burnout came to collect the debts I so willingly and consistently raked up.
“And it looks like they’ve done their job,” Weston noted, glancing over my shoulder.
David, Covee, and Indie made their way through the crowd. Indie, the most energetic, with a glass in one hand and her shed jacket in the other.
“We’re not going to jail,” she sang, danced, and kissed both my cheeks.
“Hooray,” I said. “So happy. I didn’t even realize that was an option.”
“Not anymore.” Covee reached out to squeeze my hand as a greeting before taking a spot next to Weston.
She looked shy and unsure by his side, but he didn’t seem hesitant in the slightest with how quickly he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her into him.
Indie started chatting Nathaniel’s ear off, and Hart jumped in as if he wanted a stake in the game.
“I have questions,” I said to David. Not all for him, but he’d have to be the first lamb to slaughter.
“I may have answers on two conditions.” He was dressed in a dark blue sweater and jeans.
The second his aftershave hit my nose, I was taken back to his apartment, and that weekend and every kiss we’d had in between.
My mouth went dry, and the curl of his smile hinted he knew exactly where my mind had gone.
This wouldn’t do. Not long-term. I’d have to get used to being with him if I wanted even the slightest chance of standing my ground.
“No conditions…” A lump caught in my throat when he cupped my cheek and stepped in close to kiss my forehead. David kept his lips pressed against my forehead for a couple of seconds as he breathed me in like I’d done with him.
“Condition one: You thank me for saving you a headache. An asshole was trying to get your party shut down,” he murmured into my ear.
“Was it really that bad?” I pulled away enough to see his face. The outside world may as well have been streetlights cloaked in fog. The music, once blaring, now turned into a soft background lull, as if relenting to David’s deep voice.
“You have enemies, you know that?” he asked with a teasing smile.
“So many,” I joked. “You were number one, remember?”
He nodded with a chuckle. “Once upon a time.”
“And now, you protect me from them.”
David hummed in agreement. “I’m going to make a career out of it.”
“So, I guess that deserves a thank you.” My smile came easily. “Thank you for fixing a problem I didn’t need right now. And for helping bring in this crowd. For looking out for me. Thank you, David.”
“Was that so hard?”
I pressed my lips to his, surprising him only for a second before he relaxed into me. “Horribly.”
“Well, get used to it,” he whispered against my lips. “We’re going to be very polite to one another moving forward.”
“Cordial,” I agreed.
“Chivalrous.”
“Kind.”
“Open,” his voice softened.
“Loving,” I tried, heat rushing to my cheeks as I waited for the taunt, tease, brush off.
“Loving,” he agreed without hesitation. “Next condition.”
I sighed as if I weren’t full of the kind of joy that could solve every single one of my aches. “What is it?”
“You accept my dare,” he said.
“I always do.”
“I dare you to run away with me. After this semester, just you and me.”
“Okay.”
He laughed. “That’s it? No inquiries about where we’re going? If I planned to bring you back?”
I shrugged. “I don’t need to know where we’re going. And I trust you enough to know you understand how important school is. How important my family and friends are. We’ll be back in the spring.”
David sighed, giving up a rouse that only lasted a split second.
“Fine. You’re right. I’ll bring you back so we can walk across the graduation stage together again.
But after that, well, I plan on taking you anywhere and everywhere for far longer.
New Harbor’s too small for you, Yara. I want you to grow.
Stretch someplace where you aren’t knocking limbs with family members and small-town gossips. ”
“I love my family members and small-town gossips.” I smiled.
David chuckled. “You know what I mean.”
I nodded. “I do. And I agree. I want to grow. To stretch out and see the world with you.”
“That’s a yes?”
“I told you, when the time comes, you’ll be the one to forfeit,” I promised before giving him another kiss.