Page 46 of Just the Tipsy
“Except you have adult bones that don’t pop back as fast as kid bones do.” I drum my fingers on the steering wheel. “Unless you want to live on the edge.”
“I’ll live on the edge. I’ve never broken a bone before.” She shrugs.
“Wouldn’t recommend it, but hey, it’s your bucket list,” I say. “I can set a bone if I have to, at least until a human doctor can show up.”
“See? We’re all prepared.” She gives me one of those little smiles of hers, the ones that make me smile wider.
We drive onto the interstate and stop at a gas station. She goes inside while I top off my gas tank and returns with a big bag.
“I got mini Skittles, which are apparently a thing, chips, Sour Patch Kids…” She rifles through the bag. “I got peanut butter cups too, since you like those. And Cheerwine? The guy working there said it was a regional thing, so I wanted to try it.”
“It’s good. It’s like red Dr. Pepper.” I take the peanut butter cups. “And thanks. How’d you know I liked these?”
She gives me a shy glance. “You mentioned you named your favorite kittens after your favorite things at the shelter that day, so I assumed you liked them. With Reese and all.”
“Oh.” A smile touches my lips and I unwrap the cups. It’s been a while since anyone’s remembered that kind of thing about me or even put in the effort. “Thank you.”
I start the car again and pull back onto the route, popping a peanut butter cup into my mouth.
“So you guys do trivia every week?” she asks, popping open the tube of mini Skittles.
“Yep. Well, except for if there are emergencies at work or something,” I say, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye. “Did you have a good time? Did they grill the shit out of you when I stepped away?”
“They asked me questions,” she says with a shrug. “They really care about you. It’s very sweet and rare to have true friends like that. Probably. I don’t even know.”
“What do you mean?”
She pours some of the mini Skittles into her mouth and chews for a bit. “I do have — and have had — good friends. Like Kaitlyn, who I’ll be opening the spa with. We’ve been friends since we were freshman in high school, probably because we were both the awkward ones in our class.”
“That’s basically how Jeremiah and I met,” I say. “We were the chubby, nerdy kids and bonded. Then I met Jada later, of course.”
“Yeah. The bond of the awkward kids runs deep.” She laughs. “But once I started modeling and doing some influencer deals, I met a whole bunch of people who came and went at the drop of a hat. If I got cast in a campaign and my ‘friend’ didn’t, we weren’t friends anymore. If someone even heard a rumor that was negative about me, they were gone. If I passed them in followers on Instagram, I got blocked. It was all kind of fleeting, especially since we were competing against each other in a lot of instances.”
“That sounds really shitty,” I say.
“It is.” She lets out a sigh. “But that’s a big reason as to why I want to leave. It’s cutthroat and while that works for some people, I’m just not like that. And I definitely don’t want it as badly as some other girls. They deserve it way more.”
I’m glad she’s getting out of it. She’s pretty down to earth and nice — she doesn’t deserve to be yanked around like that by people.
She takes a sip of the Cheerwine and wrinkles her nose. “What the hell is this?”
“You don’t like it?”
“Definitely not.” She puts the bottle into my side of the cupholder. “Have at it.”
“More for me.” I undo the cap with one hand and take a sip. It’s been a while since I’ve had it.
We eat snacks and talk about all the weird signs we see the rest of the drive to the resort. Mom sent out info on where all of us are staying, so I drive us straight to the parking lot closest to our cabin. My family takes over the entire resort for the weekend, so I wave to a few of my cousins who are in a nearby cabin.
“This place is too cute,” Bianca says once we walk up to the cabin, Duke trailing behind us. “Is it just for us?”
“Yep. I guess as a couple, we get one.” I punch in the key code and push open the door.
Duke rushes in first, sniffing around, and we follow. It’s more or less a studio apartment — one big room with a bed and a bathroom on one side, a little couch, a TV, and a kitchenette. It’s rustic and cozy. And very private.
I bring the rest of our stuff inside and find Bianca sitting on the bed, taking a picture of Sadie and Duke curled up on an armchair together.
“Do you want to go swim?” I ask. “Wes just texted and said that he and Rose are already down by the water.”
