Page 99 of The Lucky One
I winced. Hannah had a knack for hitting where it hurt. “Don’t use what Jon and I had as a comparison.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Had? I know he’s with Emily now, but you two always get back together.”
“It’s different this time.” Then a strange sound bubbled up in my throat. Laughter, honest-to-goodness laughter.
A disbelieving smile formed on her lips. “Why are you laughing?”
I was struggling to catch my breath. “I don’t know, I—” I gurgled for air, the laughter drowning my words.
“What?” Hannah said. “What is so funny?”
“I’m really over him,” I managed. “I don’t even want him to come back to me.” My mind seemed to have officially gone insane, lost in the absurdity of it all.
“You... what?” Hannah said, concern now shimmering in her eyes.
“I know, right?” I squealed, wiping my tears. “Gosh, it’s such an incredible feeling, Han!”
Her eyes widened. “You think Brandon feels like that too?”
I smacked her with my plush dog.
“Hey!” she protested, covering her face but chuckling nonetheless.
“You and Brandon are healthy. I mean, you’ve been dating for what, four months, and you just had your first fight? What was it even about?” I giggled into my palm, still marveling that I was finally over Jon.
Hannah shrugged. “If we should get sushi or pizza.”
My giggles came to a halt. “Seriously?”
Hannah frowned and rolled onto her back. “He always gets sushi with me because he knows I love it, so then when he didn’t want sushi I thought he didn’t love me anymore because—” Her face paled. “Oh, shit!” Now it was Hannah who fell into a fit of laughter. “What is wrong with me?”
“Welcome back, girl,” I said, giving her a hug.
“I was in a love bubble, wasn’t I?” she said, and I nodded against her chest. “Gosh, I’ve missed you.” She hugged me even tighter. “I’m sorry for not being around all these months.”
“I missed you too, Han. And it’s okay, you were falling in love for the first time.”
I couldn’t blame all the changes in the Fam on Emily. Hannah and Brandon were the backbone of the group. Bonfires in Hannah’s backyard were what we did most of the time, and Brandon was the one who brought everyone together. With them going off into their own private world, our hangouts had stopped happening.
As if sharing my thoughts, Hannah suddenly jumped up and said, “Let’s get the Fam together!” She grabbed her phone, and I received a notification a second later.
The FAM <3
Hannah: Bonfire at my place tonight! No excuses!
Hannah and I had finished setting up the chairs when Brandon and Aiden strolled through the gates of her backyard, carrying six-packs. “What’s up!” Aiden said, beaming. Hannah almost tripped in her rush to get to Brandon’s arms, making him drop the beer in surprise. “I’m so sorry, baby,” she said, kissing him. “We can get pizza if you want.” Brandon held her so tight, my eyes felt watery. These two had played the waiting game for each other, for the perfect time to become each other’s everything. Even if it was a high school romance, it was still a beautiful first love story.
I sighed, doubting I would have any happy high school love stories to share with my kids one day.
“Hey, K!” Aiden slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a brief chokehold.
“Aiden, stop!”
He stepped away, winking. “Just trying to drag you out of your thoughts.”
I huffed and rolled my eyes, but deep down, I was thankful he did.
“Vamos, let’s get that bonfire started,” Aiden suggested. I nodded and squatted in front of the ashes from a time so long ago that they were barely visible.