Page 85 of A Class of Her Own

He nodded. “I’m good with that. I’ve lived through worse.”

“Okay.”

He squeezed me and then let go, moving away to meet my gaze. “This is me, double checking that this is what you want.”

I nodded, pressing my lips together as a look of triumph flitted across his face. I scowled at him. “Are you gloating? I thought we were done with the attempts at annoying and bothering each other.”

He laughed and started gathering up his sundae supplies, that smirk still on his face. “Listen, Tigress, I’ve made it clear that I will never be done trying to bother you.”

“Don’t call me that.” I made a gagging sound that only made him smile bigger.

“This is going to be fun.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

It’s been pretty firmly established that I’m not a holiday person. I’m not out here trying to harp on my childhood, but it was enough to keep me from being much of a believer in the magic of celebrations. However, New Year’s Eve was one I could totally get behind. As a major goal setter and big believer in fresh starts, this time of year was my jam. Hailey and Ford were throwing a joint party at his house. I knew it started at something like seven p.m., but other than that, I hadn’t really bothered to look over the invitation. I already knew I wouldn’t be asked to provide food, so I figured I didn’t need to stress much over the details. In years past we’d all sat in our pajamas at someone’s house, sipping bubbly drinks, eating lots of junk food, and lazily having a great time. This year would probably be the same.

So, at six p.m. I pulled up the invite on my phone to confirm Ford’s address and the time and then froze in my tracks. I scrolled through the invite, zoomed in, closed the image, rebooted my phone, and looked again. There was a theme. It was Winter Wonderland, whatever the devil that meant, and we had been asked to come dressed in semiformal wear. Um, excuse me? The local couch surfer had not been consulted on this. I sat on my bed and pulled up the internet on my phone to look up what exactly one would wear to a winter wonderland semi-formal event. As I scrolled through the images, I took a moment to mourn stretchy pants and pizza rolls. I had a feeling tonight would be very different than other years.

I’d been bamboozled by this visible proof of the changes our group was going through. We were down to four this year with Lizzie gone. And Hailey was throwing this party with Ford, not with the rest of us. And formal wear was involved.

I sat up straight, took a few deep breaths, and got back to investigating clothing ideas while I reminded myself that I could flow with change. Change was inevitable, and it was only logical to go with it. I couldn’t always change the currents, but I could learn to swim along with them rather than sink. I was a survivor.

I shot off a text to Aryn and Ruby.

Me: What are you two wearing to the party tonight?

They texted back as I was digging through my closet to see if I had any heels that would work. Everything I was finding online said sparkles would be a good idea, and I had zero sparkly dresses, but maybe I had some shoes I’d forgotten about.

Aryn: A long, green dress. Flowy

Ruby: Navy blue cocktail dress

Me: Do either of you have something I can borrow?

Aryn: It starts in an hour.

Me: I know that. I didn’t read the invite until now. I had my snowflake pajamas already laid out

Ruby: I am literally several sizes bigger than you and a few inches taller. There aren’t enough safety pins in the world

Me: Fine. Tell me if your dresses have sparkles

Ruby: Yes. So many

Aryn:No. I’m not a sparkle girl. Call Willow

It was good advice and exactly what was going to have to happen. So, after tossing aside all my useless shoes, I sat on the floor cross-legged and called my sister with an SOS. She picked up after my third attempt to get in touch with her.

“What is so important?” She sounded a little too huffy for my taste.

“Dress emergency. I’m supposed to wear semiformal for a Winter Wonderland themed party at Ford’s mansion tonight, and my snowflake pajamas aren’t going to cut it.”

“So, you call me the night of and expect me to drop it all to help you with inventory from my personal business?”

Wow. I’d really irritated her. “I’m sorry, Willow. I’m up a creek.”

She made a noise. “That’s pretty unusual for you.”

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