1. Dallas
Present day
Iwalk into my friends, Bailey and Aiden’s, apartment and I am immediately surrounded by noise.
It seems like I’m the last one to arrive.
We are having our first family game night of the semester tonight.
Classes don’t start until Monday, but what better way to kick off a new school year than hanging out with your best friends?
This semester is going to be so stressful. It’s going to be a juggling act of classes, homework, friends, and avoiding my crazy ex-girlfriend that transferred to Alpine University this year.
“Dall-us!” Luca calls from his booster as I’m taking my shoes off. Luca is the two and a half year old son of my friend Sebastian. I met Sebastian when I first came to Alpine. He is Aiden’s best friend, which makes him family, just like everyone the Baker’s decide is one of them.
“Hey there, Little Man, how are you?” I ask as I approach Luca, ruffling his hair before planting a kiss on the top of his head.
“Goot.” He says before stuffing a piece of cheese in his mouth.
“Hey Dallas, how are you?” Sebastian says putting a few pieces of chopped strawberry on Luca’s plate.
“I’m good, man, how are you?” I give his shoulder a squeeze as he walks by.
“Good,” Sebastian says, and I’m pretty sure he’s met his word quota for the night. Sebastian is an amazing friend, always around to help when someone needs him, but he’s the very definition of grumpy.
I flop down on the couch next to my sister, Chloe, who is scrolling her phone, and look around the room. Aiden and Bailey are in the kitchen, working together to make us dinner. The married couple work together in a seamless dance that only comes from being friends for basically their entire lives.
Maddox and Charly, Aiden’s younger brother and sister, are setting the table. Two people are missing from the room, Magnolia, my little sister’s best friend and Maddox’s twin, and Aiden and Bailey’s three month old daughter, Rowan.
I turn to my sister, “Where is Magnolia?”
“I’m right here,” a sweet voice says behind me. Magnolia comes walking out of the hallway holding Rowan in her arms with a smile on her face, a perfect pair of dimples popping on each cheek, her honey brown eyes sparkling in the light, her curly blond hair hanging around her shoulders.
She walks into the kitchen and grabs a bottle from the warmer on the counter, before sitting down in the recliner adjacent to the couch I’m currently sitting on.
“Is tonight the night I actually beat Luca at Candy Land?” Maddox laughs as he places the last fork down at the table.
“No, Maddy,” Luca laughs. The kid is a Candy Land Shark.
He definitely cheats, and one of his favorite things in the world is kicking Maddox’s ass at the game.
It doesn’t help that Maddox is a giant child.
The man may be six foot four and almost twenty years old, but I’m pretty sure Luca is more mature than him.
“Come on, kid, you have to let me win once,” Maddox tickles Luca’s belly causing a burst of sweet giggles to escape the boy.
“You’re just a sore loser, little brother,” Bailey says, pointing a wooden spoon at him.
“Bee, you know that’s not true.” Maddox gasps and clutches his chest like he’s about to have a heart attack.
“I let RoRo win when she can pway wiff me,” Luca giggles.
“Oh, so you’ll let my niece win, but not me?” Maddox scoffs, “Harsh, little man. Way harsh.”
“I like RoRo betta than you,” Luca says, and the entire room breaks out into laughter, while Maddox looks highly offended.
“That kid is hilarious,” Charly says, “I wonder where he gets it. It definitely isn’t Grumpy over there.”
“Sebastian is funny when he wants to be,” Magnolia defends our friend.
“I’ve never seen it,” Charly shakes her head, a smile still firmly on her face.
“Not everything is about you, Trouble,” Sebastian says, tone harsh, and the smile falls right off Charly’s face.
“Bash,” Maddox barks Sebastian’s nickname.
“What?” He asks with a shrug of his shoulders, “I’m just stating the truth.”
“I know it’s not all about me, it was called a joke, Grumpy,” Charly rolls her eyes. If I had to guess, she is trying to act like the words don’t affect her, but even I can see the shine in her eyes that wasn’t there a second ago.
Sebastian may be a great friend, but he can also be an asshole.
Charlotte Baker seems to bring out that side of him better than anyone in the world.
Charly is a little sister through and through, a bit of a brat, but has a way of lighting up every room she walks into.
I’m not sure what it is about her that bothers Bash so much, but he’s going to have to get over it and quit being such an asshole to her.
The youngest Baker sibling isn’t going anywhere, and Bash is stuck with us.
“That was uncalled for, dude,” Aiden scowls at his best friend.
Bash pulls his glasses off his face with one hand before running his other down it, taking a deep breath. He sounds sincere when he says, “I know, I’m sorry, Charlotte.”
“Dinner is ready,” Bailey calls, breaking the tension. She sets a massive dish of what looks to be lasagna on a trivet in the center of the table.
We all gather around the large dark wood dining table that barely fits in their apartment.
Laughter and light conversation begin almost immediately, prior hurts already forgotten.
That’s the thing about the Bakers, they collect people for their family, like animal rescues collect strays.
Once one of the Bakers has decided you are part of their family, there is very little you could do to be cut out.
Aiden decided Bash was a member of their family, so he’s stuck with us.
A few hurtful words won’t stop them from accepting his grumpy ass into the fold.
***
The following Wednesday afternoon, I'm headed to my Communications class that I’m not looking forward to.
For one, it’s a four hour lecture once a week, and I’ve heard there is a shit ton of group work outside of class as well.
For two, Brittany, my ex, is in this class.
We are both pre-med majors, so I knew there was a high possibility that we would end up sharing classes.
She texted me a copy of her schedule at the beginning of the semester.
I didn’t respond, but I was almost grateful, so I could be prepared to see her whenever we had a class together.
Of the five classes I’m taking, we share three. It’s going to be a long semester.
I turn the final corner and bump right into someone. “Magnolia?” I say when I get my bearings and realize who I bumped into.
“You know, you’re the only person on the planet that insists on always calling me Magnolia,” She says, smiling up at me.
“Magnolia is such a pretty name though. Why would I want to call you anything else?” I shrug, “It suits you.”
She blushes a pretty shade of pink at the compliment, and it takes everything in me not to puff my chest up with pride at the reaction.
“Are you in this class?” She asks, pointing to the classroom I need to enter.
“Yes, please tell me you are too. You can save me from boredom.” I chuckle. “Okay, let’s be honest, very little could salvage a four hour lecture.”
She shakes her head at me laughing, “I am in fact in this class.”
Magnolia is an Art History Major, but Communications is a class almost all majors have to take, so it’s not a surprise that she has the class.
The surprise comes from the fact that we just so happen to sign up for the exact same class, and we didn’t realize it until right this moment.
We talk all the time, how did this class schedules never come up?
“Sit with me?” When she nods, and suddenly I am very excited for this class.
We head into the class and take two seats in the middle of the room.
The lecture hall has six rows of four tables, with a wide gap down the middle.
The rows are broken up in tables of four seats with a set of stairs breaking up each of the tables.
I see Brittany sitting in the front of the lecture hall where she usually sits.
Maybe I can sneak out after class and avoid any interaction with her.
The professor comes in and immediately starts his lecture.
He goes over the syllabus for the semester.
Outlining the individual and group projects.
To my relief, he informs the class that these are the seats we are to sit in for the remainder of the semester, and the group project will be done with the people currently sitting at our table.
Brittany turns around in her seat and looks around for a moment.
When her eyes land on me, sticks her bottom lip out in a pout, I look away without any type of response.
“Is that Brittany?” Magnolia leans toward me to say into my ear. Her hot breath sends a shiver down my spine. I turn to look in her eyes when she leans away, and nod my head giving her a subtle eye roll. When I look back toward the front of class, I see Brittany glaring right at Magnolia.
Our professor had us do an ice breaker exercise with the two other people at our table, Piper and Austin, and we spent the next few minutes getting to know them.
When class wraps up, Magnolia and I quickly put our stuff in our bags and head out of the lecture hall before Brittany can catch up to us.
It wasn’t planned but an unspoken language that we shared.
When we walked out of the building that holds our lecture hall, I breathed a sigh of relief, “Where are you headed?”
“Home. That was my last class of the day, and I’m starving. Maddox is tutoring this afternoon, and Charly is watching Rowan while Aiden is in class, so I have the place to myself for a little while.” A notification goes off on her phone and she pulls it out and frowns when she looks at it.
“Everything okay?” I ask as I watch her pull a few pink Starbursts out of her bag. She offers me one, then unwraps another and pops it in her mouth..
“Yea, my blood sugar is low, just need something to tide me over until I can get home and eat a real meal.” She informs me.
Magnolia is a Type 1 Diabetic, and has been for as long as I have known her.
She takes really good care of herself, so I’m sure she has it under control, but that doesn’t stop me from worrying about her.
“Do you want to stop at Subside Story and grab something instead of heading home?” I ask.
Subside Story is a small campus subshop that has one of her favorite sandwiches and is a lot closer than home.
I know she won’t refuse. “I was headed home too, and I’m hungry.
There’s nothing to eat at my place.” There is definitely food in my apartment, but if I watch her eat, I’ll know she’s back to normal and not have to worry for the rest of the night.
“We can walk home together after getting our sandwiches.” Am I trying to spend more time with her?
Absolutely, but I’m not ashamed of that.
She is one of my best friends, a friend that I am wildly attracted to, but that is entirely beside the point.
We live in the same apartment complex on the outskirts of campus. Aiden and Bailey have a three bedroom apartment, as do Maddox, Magnolia and Charly. I share a two bedroom with Chloe. So, asking to walk together isn’t that much of a stretch.
“Ugh, you know I can never say no to their chicken parm sub. It’s literally the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my life.
” Bingo. We start to head toward the sub shop, traveling in silence for a few minutes before she speaks up again, “I’m thinking of stealing your sister and Rowan for a bit so Bailey can get some ‘me time’ tomorrow.
She’s already overwhelmed with the semester. ”
“You’re a good sister, Magnolia. Aiden and Bailey are lucky to have you in their life.” I look down at her, “We all are.”
She awards me with a soft smile and those perfect dimples bloom on each cheek. I have spent the last four years cataloging this girl’s smiles, and every single one of them hits me in the damn chest. Yes, I am still Shakespeare when this girl is around, I can’t seem to stop it.
We make it to the sub shop, and I open the door for her. She thanks me as we walk right up to the ordering counter since there isn’t a line. We immediately order our food and find a booth to sit in.
When our food arrives, Magnolia pulls her insulin pump out and fiddles with the buttons, giving herself the proper amount of insulin for her meal.
I’ve seen her do this countless times, but it never ceases to amaze me how she just knows exactly what to do.
We eat and chat about the upcoming semester.
I don’t get a whole lot of alone time with Magnolia, mostly on purpose.
I’ve realized over the years that the more time I spend with Magnolia Baker, the more I like her.
Which is a major problem, I cannot fall for my little sister’s best friend.