Page 13 of Their Broken Tears
“Right! They’ll find us, they always do.” She sighs, “not that I mind. They’re better company that the fake bitches at our school.”
I shrug, not completely agreeing with her. Jaz is by far my best friend, but not my only friend. The same cannot be said for her. Jace, Alex, and I are the only friends in her orbit. A lump grows in my throat for my bestie. She doesn’t deserve the hand she was dealt with a shit mom, but she drew the best card for a brother. He’ll always keep her safe.
Clearing my throat, I change the subject. “Are we doing Michelangelo’s or Neapolitan’s?” Both have amazing ice cream, but I bet Jaz will pick Michelangelo’s because they have mini Gummi bears. Normal size ones just won’t do for her.
She turns her head and even with those dark glasses on, I can see her annoyance. “It’s a mini Gummi bear kind of day for sure, Mare.”
Giggling, I turn toward our chosen lunch.
Once we’re inside and Jasmine has her huckleberry and mini Gummi bear concoction, and I’ve got my chocolate and fudge swirl, we rehash who was hotter than hot last night. Jace crosses my mind several times, but I can’t tell Jasmine. How would she react, finding out her best friend has the hots for her twin, one of the few other people, to have her back? I don’t want to take that away from her. She refuses to speak about it, but I know there’s something going on behind closed doors at their house.
Instead, I try to perk her up with boy news. “Oh! I almost forgot. Andrew was asking me about you last night. Anything going on you’d like to share?” I ask, shoving another bite in my mouth and raising my eyebrows up and down suggestively.
Her cheeks heat and darken, signaling she remembers every bump and grind. “Great,” she says sarcastically. “I’m sure I made a great impression.”
“Come on, Jaz. You weren’t that bad.”
We stare at each other for a moment stone-faced before cracking up, causing the lady behind the counter to give us a dirty look. She was that bad. There’s no denying it. By the time we left last night, she was three sheets to the wind.
We finally get ourselves under control as I wipe away tears of laughter. “Seriously. He asked whether you were seeing anyone. He’s hot and would take magnificent pictures at the dance.”
“Mare, you know I hate those things.” Jasmine whines as she scoops another Gummi into her mouth. “He is nice to look at, though.” The side of her mouth tips up, identical to Jace’s smirk.
“It’s not like you have to marry him. It’s just a freaking dance, for shit’s sake. I only want to see you have a little fun. After next year, I’ll be away at college. I want to make the most of our time.” My heart swells again, rejecting the idea of missing out on our everyday routines, our weekend ice cream trips, and just about everything else that comes with being her best friend and neighbor.
“What brought this on?” Jasmine reaches over and holds onto my hand, forgetting about her ice cream for the moment.
A lot of things.
The episode a couple of days ago with her mom, my sudden realization and attraction to Jace, me going away to college after next year… but I don’t tell her any of that. “The University invited me to tour next weekend. A few of the girls on last year’s volleyball team go there and said the school and team are both great.”
“That’s amazing!” Jasmine exclaims, flinging some of her ice cream across the room when she shoots her arms out. “That’s great news. Why does that make you sad?”
Lord, I’m going to miss her. “I know. Times counting down faster than I’d like. I’m going to miss you.” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“I’ll miss you, too.” She smiles, her eyes shining. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll talk to Andrew, see where this all goes. Maybe he can be my date after all.”
I perk up immediately. “Really?”
She giggles. “Yes, scout’s honor.”
“That’s not the scout’s honor sign, Jaz.” I roll my eyes.
“Whatever. Close enough,” she shrugs it off, tossing down her spoon. “If I eat another bite, I’m going to hurl. Let’s get going. Jace should be back by now.”
Jace’s name grabs my full attention. “Where did he go?” Jasmine tilts her head, studying me, trying to gauge the tenor of my high pitch voice. So much for nonchalance.
“Coach called a last-minute practice yesterday. Some guys on the team can’t get their shit together.” She picks up her stuff and tosses it in the trash.
“That sucks,” I agree as we head out to my car. Once we’re inside, I turn to her. “Need anything else while we’re out?”
“Nope. All good here.”
As we close the distance to our neighborhood, Jasmine fidgets, and once we’re in the driveway, it’s as if she’s going to jump from the car with nervousness.
“Hey,” I grab her before she can follow-through.
She startles. “Hmm?”