Page 43 of Make Me Swoon

I hate to admit it, but talking to my mom has brought back that lost feeling again. I try to push it aside as Hudson and I eat, but I have a feeling that I’m not fooling anyone.

FOURTEEN

“Can you pass me the sour gummy worms?” Iris asks and I slide the bag of candy over to her.

It’s girl’s night and we’re at Madelyn’s house. We grabbed some candy from Sweets, the candy store in town, and then grabbed takeout from Prim + Proper and now we’re sitting in her living room, eating junk food and watching some old nineties movie.

“Is this mask supposed to be sliding so much?” Sutton asks, picking at the sheet face mask near her eye and putting it back in place.

“I was just thinking the same thing. Every time I talk, it moves,” I say with a laugh.

Madelyn giggles, trying to take a drink from her pop but the straw keeps moving and when she finally gets it right, the mask slips.

“Whose idea was it to do the masks?” Sutton asks, pushing the mouth hole back up.

“Yeah, you guys look like serial killers,” Flynn says as he comes into the living room.

I didn’t even hear him come in and I laugh at his joke. Madelyn throws the spare mask at him and he catches it.

“It’s girl’s night. Put the mask on or get out,” she tells him.

He grins, popping a chocolate into his mouth before he tears open his mask and puts it on.

“My skin is going to look so good after this. My pores are going to be nonexistent,” he says, reclining on the floor next to the couch.

“What are you doing home? I thought that you were going over to Maple Bend tonight with the guys?” Madelyn asks Flynn as he steals some fries from her takeout box.

“It got canceled. Toby has the flu or something, so we just decided to do it next week.”

“Well, you can join us for girl’s night,” Iris says and he grins.

“What are we doing tonight?” Flynn asks.

“I wanted to redye my hair,” Sutton says and I nod.

“Me too.”

“Want me to run to the store for you guys?” Flynn offers but Madelyn shakes her head.

“No, I want to get some new nail polish too.”

“I can drive you guys.”

We nod, standing and getting ready to head out.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to know. How did you two meet?” I ask Madelyn and Flynn as we climb into Flynn’s car.

They’re in the front seat and they look at each other, both of their cheeks turning pink.

“It’s a long story,” they say at the same time and I roll my eyes.

“We’ve got nothing but time,” I point out.

“Yeah!” Sutton chimes in.

“We met in college,” Madelyn says and I wait for her to go on.

“Yeah, but how?” I ask when neither of them says anything else.

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