Page 8 of You're So Vine
I shiver again. It’s cold. And I’m … overemotional.
I hear a rustle of cloth and feel a jacket being placed around my shoulders. It’s huge, like wearing a gabardine marquee.
“What are you berating yourself for, Ava?” he says gently.
I haven’t the energy to lie.
“Being attracted to someone who’s not attracted to me.”
“Oh, shit,” says Jackson. “You’re positive it’s one way?”
“Yup. They let me know that loud and clear.”
“Oh, man.”
A big arm wraps round the big jacket and gives my shoulders a squeeze. Cigarette smoke wafts around us. I don’t mind it.
“I haven’t spoken to Nate and Shelby once tonight,” I admit. “Don’t want to ruin their evening with my buzzkill vibes.”
“They haven’t been short of attention,” he says. “And there’s still time. Night’s not over yet.”
Jackson drops his cigarette on the ground and stubs it with his shoe. Then he squeezes my shoulders again. His hands arebig. Like catcher’s mitts.
“Come on,” he says. “Before I have to chip you off the ground and carry you in like an ice sculpture.”
I do not want to go inside. Can’t face the prospect of catching even a glimpse of Cam. But if I stay out here, I will die, and Dylan the goose will peck on my frozen remains.
Plus, I’m not feeling quite so awful now. Amazing what a friendly word can do.
“Do I look like shit?” I ask Jackson.
“Can’t tell. It’s really dark. You looked great before.”
Amazing.
“Everyone’s blitzed, anyway,” he adds. “Can’t feel their own faces. Those cocktails. Woo-ee.”
After the crackling cold of outside, the warmth in the barn feels clammy. It could be the sweaty fug of a couple hundred people dancing, shouting, and drinking, but that’s repulsive, so I won’t think about it.
I let Jackson steer me toward the happy couple. Shelby, in her cute white lacy dress, looks pink-cheeked and dazed. Nate looks like he’s got to the drunk stage where you love everyone and insist on telling them so—many, many times. Or he could just be high on being newly married. I’ll soon find out.
“Ava!” Shelby reaches her arms out wide. “Where have you been?”
Jackson saves me from having to answer. “Keeping me company outside while I indulge my filthy habit.”
“You told Mom you quit!” says Shelby.
“I did. I’ve quit a whole bunch of times.”
Grinning unrepentantly, Jackson envelops his little sister in a hug. I notice my own brother doesn’t offer to hug me. Then again, we’re the worst huggers in our family. The others say it’s like embracing robots that need oil.
But Nate does move closer and says, “You okay?”
Instantly I’m on the defensive. Never show weakness! The other guy blinks first, even when he’s your brother!Especiallywhen he’s your brother!
“Why shouldn’t I be?”
Shelby and Jackson are nattering away. Nate moves closer still and backs me almost into a corner. He’s stone-cold sober, it seems. The glow was all happiness.
