Page 24 of Save You
Lin smiles back at me.“That was the plan.”
As the realization truly sinks in, I give Ember a firm hug.“Thank you,” I mumble into her shoulder.“I think this is just what I need.”And Ember had guessed that, which shows me yet again that she knows me better than anyone else in the world.
“I thought it might help cheer you up a bit,” my sister whispers, stroking my back.
I nod.For the first time since the whole thing happened with James, I feel truly happy.“Thanks,” I say again, to Lin and Lydia, hugging each of them too.“I can’t wait.”
After that, I help them put up the rest of the streamers and to scatter the rose-gold confetti.Ember hooks up the ancient pair of speakers we bought at some flea market to her laptop and tells me the plan for the evening while hunting for a suitable playlist.She’s obviously had a lot of ideas and planned everything down to the tiniest detail, which makes me want to fling my arms around her neck again.But I refrain, and just listen from my spot on the sofa.
“I thought we could start by writing down our favorite moments from the last year and then sharing them with each other.Then we can watch a film—we’ll pick one in a minute—and polish off this mountain of popcorn.”She points to a bowl on the coffee table.Dad normally uses it for taking enormous salads to family parties.Now it’s filled to the brim with popcorn, and the sweet, buttery scent of it is wafting across the whole room, making my mouth water.
“Then we can have dinner,” Ember continues.“Dad’s made us quiche for the main course, and there’s pudding too, and then we’ll get to what I suspect will be Ruby’s favorite part of the night.”
Lin holds up a translucent bag, in which I can make out little books and pens.
I don’t even pretend to think about it.“Writing our New Year’s resolutions!”
Ember nods and laughs.“And at midnight, the dancing starts—unless we’re all in a food coma.”
“One or the other, definitely,” says Lydia, taking a handful of popcorn.She flicks the first piece into her mouth, and a slight smile plays around her lips.“Sounds like a nice plan, doesn’t it, Ruby?”
“Nice?It’s the best plan I’ve heard in ages.Thanks, everyone.”
After that, we settle down on the floor around the coffee table.Lin smuggled out of school a couple of the huge sheets of paper we normally use for brainstorming at committee meetings and we spread them out in front of us, a Keaton Henson playlist playing in the background.
“OK.”Ember starts things off.“One of my biggest highlights of the year was my work on my blog and getting so many new readers.”She jots that all down on her paper.
“So, a high point for me was my mum’s gallery finally breaking even.We’re doing really well at the moment and I hope it’ll be the same next year,” Lin says, her attention focused not on us but on the pen in her hand.I’m surprised that she’s shared something that personal.
She and Lydia don’t know each other all that well, and I could understand them finding the situation awkward.But neither of them seems to, and that’s really nice.
“I went to your gallery once,” Lydia says suddenly.“With my mum.”
Lin looks up in surprise.“Really?”
Lydia nods.“It’s lovely, so stylish.I’ll cross my fingers for youfor things to go better still next year.I know how tough it can be, especially when you’re starting from scratch.”
The two of them smile at each other, then Lydia clears her throat.“I had a mini-break in the Alps with Mum in January.We went to a spa hotel and really spoiled ourselves—just the two of us.It was the first time in ages we’d done anything like that.I think that’s my nicest memory from the year.”
“It sounds gorgeous,” I say quietly, resting my hand on her knee for a moment.I don’t know what else to say, but want to show her how much I appreciate her honesty.
“How about you, Ruby?”Lin asks.
For a second, my mind’s a complete blank and I have no idea what I could write on my paper.But then I scan through the year, a month at a time, and realize that overall, it was good.Despite how sad I’ve been since the thing with James, so much has happened, just since September, that I can be grateful for.
I’m events team leader, my grades are good, and I got an interview at Oxford.I’ve got to know Lin better, got closer to Ember, and I’ve even made a new friend.And, for the first time in my life, I’ve fallen in love.
However badly it ended for James and me…when I think back over our conversations, our phone calls, and our shared memories, I regret nothing.On the contrary, even that experience is one of the highlights of my year.Even if it’s all over.
I gulp hard and stare at the white paper on the table in front of me.
“I don’t even know where to start.I think the Oxford visit was the best.I’ve spent so long dreaming of strolling around there with my family.And actually being there…I’ll remember it forever,” I say hoarsely, forcing myself to smile.
“It looked like something out of a fairy tale,” says Ember.
I nod, draw a little bubble, and writeOxford tripinside it.
That seems to have broken the ice.We share even our tiniest and weirdest memories of this year.Like the time Lin won a bouquet of flowers in a supermarket for being their thousandth customer, or the time an old lady slipped Lydia a pound coin and told her to buy herself a treat.
