“Ow.” I yelp after she slaps me on the ass, making my light brown curls bounce from the sudden shock. If there is one thing I love about Rya, it’s that she always makes me feel good about myself. She’s one of those girls that gives the best compliments. Every girl needs a friend that boosts their confidence up. Especially on the days you need it the most.
“I do look hot,” I say to myself as I stare at my reflection in the mirror, my brown eyes staring back at me. I was nervous the black dress wouldn’t look good. But damn, it hugs my curves just right. I situate the boob tape to get the V-cut to not fall open and reveal everything for the entire world.
“Ezra’s getting some tonight, too. Look at you,” I say, grabbing her hand and twirling her around, her long blonde hair flowing with her. She stops with both hands on her hips and a seductive glare. She’s wearing a black mini dress too. But hers has three twisted cut outs starting from the bottom of herstomach all the way to her breasts, showing her under-boob and the top of her boobs.
To celebrate all of us turning thirty we wanted to do a bigger celebration this year. We’ve been friends for twenty-two years. Ever since that day at the river, we’ve all been inseparable.
Unexpectedly, our friendship developed romantically.
“Rya, I have something to tell you?” I say, twisting my hands around the steering wheel, nervous at her reaction. Pink flowers bloom on the trees, swaying outside. The beautiful sight helps the twist in my stomach as I drive us to school. I’ve always loved this time of year when the flowers start to bloom, and the seasonal depression begins to fade.
“What is it?” she asks as she looks at her reflection in the visor mirror and coats her lashes with mascara.
Ever since we turned sixteen and started to drive, we take turns picking each other up for school. We had to stop picking up the boys because they stay up way too late playing video games and can never wake up on time. They were causing us to be late, and we were sick of getting in trouble because of them.
“I’m starting to get feelings for Ezra,” I say with my teeth clenched tight.
We’re almost done with our senior year of high school, and this year I struggled so much. I’m not the type of person who likes school. I’m a hands-on learner, so it makes it hard to sit and listen to a lecture all day. I don’t even remember what most of the lectures are about because I always end up daydreaming about nonsense. And now I’m expected to go to college and know what I want to do for the rest of my life. I’m only eighteen. I’m way too young to know what I want to do.
“What!” she says, eyes wide. “Shit.”
“What?” I ask, side-eyeing her.
“I got mascara on my eyelid.” She licks her finger and rubs the mascara off. “When did this start?”
Shrugging my shoulders, I say, “We’ve been spending so much time together, just the two of us, since he’s been helping me with my homework. And I don’t know...They just started developing.”
Ezra has always been the one that helps the most. Always giving his time to others. He’s the most thoughtful person I know. When he found out I was struggling, he came over every day and helped me with my homework. We’ve been doing our homework together for the past six months. I’ve never had alone time with him before—well, not like this. And since we’ve been together so much, feelings have developed. I never expected to develop anything like that toward him. One day I saw him as my best friend, and the next I was seeing him as more than that.
I’m worried he’ll laugh at the idea of us since we’ve been friends since we were kids. What if he sees me as a sister? He’s going to think I’m gross for seeing him as more. That’s what scares me. What if we try the whole dating thing and it ends up not working? Can we become best friends again as if nothing romantic has happened? I’m scared of losing him as my best friend.
She puts her mascara away and gets out her pink, sparkly lip gloss from her bag. The one she dies without. “Have you told him?”
I shake my head. “No. I’m too scared.”
“Scared of what?” She smacks her lips together.
“I guess rejection. We’ve been best friends since we’re kids. What if he thinks it’s weird? Is it weird?” I ask, looking over at her after I park my car. Students rush out of the parking lot, their backpacks bouncing with each step as they walk toward school.
She narrows her eyes at me. “Why would it be weird? So many love stories start out with them being friends.” She shrugs her shoulders. “It’s bound to happen,” she says with her head low.
“Wait…Do you have feelings for one of them?”
She bites down on her lip and shakes her head. She raises her head and smiles at me. But the smile seems fake, like she’s hiding something behind it. “No.”
I squint my eyes at her reaction. “Are you sure?”
“Yup. How about I talk to Ezra for you and get a feel of what he thinks?”
“You would do that for me?”
“Of course,” she says, grabbing her bag, and we head toward the school.
After weeks have gone by and Rya still hadn’t asked Ezra about us, I started losing hope of us ever becoming anything more. Rya said she never could find the right time to talk to him about it.
It’s now the day of our graduation. One guy from our senior class, Jordan, is throwing a party at his parents’ lake house in Bear Lake, Idaho. Three hours away from our hometown in Utah. After our class all walked, we drove straight to Idaho. We’re all spending the weekend here. We all told our parents that his parents were going to be here to chaperone. But they’re the type of parents that lets their kids do anything as long as they go to school and get good grades. So, no one is here watching us.
The weekend was crazy. I’ve only slept a couple of hours each night. We drank until we passed out and woke up and did it all over again. This is our last night here.
