Page 68 of Before We're More Than Friends
“Even her middle finger has a big forehead,” Sienna muttered, enjoying her second coffee for the day. “I’m so tired of everyone spreading rumors.”
“I feel like a celebrity without all the benefits.” Arielle opened her bottle of juice. “If people are going to be talking crap about my family scandals, I at least want special treatment. Good connections, skipping lines, adoring fans.”
Sienna drifted into space, her chin in the palm of her hand. “Celebrities aren’t everything.”
Gracelynn rolled her eyes. “Gosh, don’t tell me you’re daydreaming about Ivan.” While Arielle and I thought Sienna’s crush on Ivan Hicks, the lead singer of Somewhere in the Sky, was hilarious and adorable, Gracelynn found it ridiculous.
In her defense, Gracelynn did have bad luck with dating musicians. And actors.
“I’m not,” Sienna said, but her red cheeks proved otherwise. “But he should be successful like a celebrity. His voice . . .”
“Here we go again,” Gracelynn said. “You’ll start singing his songs and before you know it, your coffee is all over the table.”
“Don’t be bitter.” Sienna shooed Gracelynn with her handas she started singing a Somewhere in the Sky song, stars twinkling in her eyes.
I smiled and shook my head. “Don’t crush the girl’s teenage dream.”
“Okay.” Gracelynn held her hands up. “But seriously, I don’t understand the whole need to gossip.” She sighed. “Then again, my mom is practically employed in that department.”
My insides pinched as I thought about Mom’s broken friendship with Mrs. Naysmith. “Has she been saying anything about my parents?” I asked, knowing it was a dumb question.
Of course her mom would talk about my parents. She was Jennifer Naysmith, the trophy wife of the biggest law firm in Nevada. She lived for country clubs and dinners with other wealthy women. They thrived off gossip and judging others as if they needed more superiority over anyone.
“She hasn’t been too judgmental,” Gracelynn said. “She was more worried about you and your mom when she found out your dad was arrested.”
Warmth filled my chest. She still cared about my mom. “That’s sweet.”
“The sweetest she’ll probably ever be,” Gracelynn muttered before taking a gulp from her time-stamped fuchsia water bottle. “But I think she’s wrapped up in more things to be too concerned about your family.” Her face pinched, but she didn’t elaborate.
“Is everything okay with her?” Arielle asked.
Gracelynn shook her head. “She’s always up my butt about dance and volunteering and stuff, like gosh. The best days are the days when I barely interact with her.”
“And that’s why I enjoy being motherless,” Sienna said, back to sipping her coffee. It was a joke, but the twinge of pain in her eyes reminded me of the times she’d said the opposite.
Arielle fiddled with the cap of her bottle. “Are we going to be this complicated when we’re moms?”
“In what universe would the rest of us be moms?” I asked with a snort. “Who wants to carry around a human being for nine months and then deal with them for over eighteen years?” Sounded like another circle of hell to me.
Arielle frowned. “But come on, guys, kids are so much fun.”
Gracelynn laughed. “This is where you’re the odd one out.”
“Hey, when it’s your own baby, you’ll experience a love no one else could give you,” Arielle said, seriousness growing in her gaze. “That’s why I don’t understand why some moms just . . . suck.”
We murmured in agreement and stayed silent for a few moments before Sienna cleared her throat. “On another note, I wonder how the guys we know would be as dads. Like Ivan . . .”
Gracelynn groaned, pushing her water bottle aside. “Here we go again.”
“Afternoon,” Dallas said, smiling as he sat at our lab table.
“Hey.” I smiled back, giddy from what I was about to do. Knowing going back to school would suck, I neededsomethingto look forward to. “How was your long birthday weekend?”
“Better than what I expected.” He took his Chemistry books out of his backpack. “I had a great time with everyone.”
I put a hand to my chest. “Even me?”
His cheeks flushed. Sheesh, was all his blood stored in his face, waiting for any ounce of emotion to display itself? “Especially with you.”
