Page 11 of Birchwood Burn
“No, not for some guy. For yourself. You can stay here with me until you get on your feet. You can get a part-time job to help if you want, and then if you happen to date the sexy ass firefighter, then so be it.” Beth snickers and wiggles her eyebrows at me.
Maddy rolls her eyes at Beth, and turns to me and says, “Girl, you thought you couldn’t breathe on this mountain, well, it’s been nothing like what you’ve been dealing with over the past few years.”
They all make good points, but another big upheaval? Just like that? I’m not certain I’m up to it. However, the idea of being close to one of my best friends is a selling point. I miss them so much, and being here with them reminds me of all the good times. The brief blip of getting separated and lost, not being considered, of course.
Done with the conversation for now, I change the subject. “What should we eat for dinner? I’m craving a French dip. What about you three?”
All three of their shoulders slump, and they back off. The minute I divert a conversation to food, they realize I’m done and not going to discuss anything more. Which I won’t, but there’s a lot to digest. And boy oh boy, do I.
Since I have to take things easy, we’ve been doing movie and TV show marathons, and today is no different, but I haven’t been able to absorb one part of the movies. Jace keeps running through my mind, and visions of what it would be like to move here flash through my head.
The cost of living here is significantly lower than back home. My stomach churns at the word home since it means nothing. It’s only been where I’ve existed; I haven’t been living.
I don’t even like going out much there. The sheer volume of people and noise is overwhelming. Let’s not forget how expensive things are, and working for only a little above minimum wage, I can’t afford to do a lot. Which isn’t too much of a sob story. I’m a homebody, but then it means I hang out in my room for most of it because with four roommates, it means there is always somebody there. None of us are friends, people living together to get by in the fast-paced world of New York.
The girls don’t mention another word about moving here or going to find Jace, but as we go to bed and I toss around. I decide I need to speak with Jace one more time.
My friends are right. There’s nothing to go back to. Nothing to anticipate, except the hopeful, positive potential I get from his gaze. If my latest experience is to teach me anything, it’s telling me to go after life and follow my gut and live every day to its fullest. I want an adventure, and Jace is going to be the biggest adventure of all. I know it. Or at least, I won’t have any regrets of not trying.
Once my mind settles, I pass out and have the best night's sleep in months.. It’s like my mind and body are telling me I’m going to need my rest because my life is starting tomorrow.
As the first one up the next morning, I busy myself with getting ready. If I don’t go sooner, then I won’t go later. I’ll talk myself out of it. Something I’ve always excelled at.
The coughing has lessened quite a bit, but I still have little fits now and then. The wheezing will happen if I get short of breath, which I make sure I don’t do a lot of.
I’m dressed, with my hair curled, and makeup done, when my friends wake up. They all wear a Cheshire cat smile on their faces.
“Yes.” Hayley laughs with my friends.
“Good for you,” Maddy says.
I give them a little twirl, even though I’m not wearing anything fancy, because I packed nothing nice. For the past few months, I’ve been in ‘depressed-poor-me mode’, so I didn’t stress about wearing anything nice. But I’m wearing my best jeans, and I borrowed one of Beth’s tops, knowing she wouldn’t care. None of us ever cared about sharing our things. It made it a lot easier for four broke college girls to feel like we had more than what we actually did.
“I intend to stop at the bakery and pick something up. As a thank you. What do you think?”
“Smart. It’s a shame you can’t bake,” Maddy says.
“Or cook,” Beth adds.
“Oh, hush. Why do I need to cook or bake when I can order a mean chicken chow mein?”
Beth lifts her brow. “If you move here, it won’t be as easy.”
Okay, so there is one benefit for the city, access to any cuisine at any time of day. I shake my head, dismissing it. I’m just going to take each moment and see what happens.
“Beth, can I borrow your car?”
“Of course.”
“Thanks.” Without dragging this out anymore, I leave the apartment, go to the bakery, and now I’m holding two dozen icing-stuffed cupcakes for the firefighters of Black Timber Peak. I didn’t know how many would be here and didn’t want to leave anybody out.
The garage doors stand open, and the gleaming firetrucks sit parked inside; I’m relieved to know they’re here. Hopefully, Jace is, but I’ll soon find out.
“Hey, are those for us?” A man, around my age, eyes the cupcakes with a gleam in his eyes. I swear he’d be salivating right now if it were appropriate.
“Um, yes. I wanted to thank you all for what you did. Especially for saving my life.” The guy’s head snaps up, and he cocks his head to the side.
“You’re Larissa?”
