I held up my hands. “Fair enough.”
She walked over and fluffed her fingers through my hair. “I never really got to tell you that I love the new haircut. Don’t get me wrong, I loved your hair before, but this just feels like it fits you so much better. The short shows off your gorgeous angles, and the brown color makes your eyes shine.” She squealed. “Ugh. My best friend is so beautiful.”
Tears filled my eyes before I could stop them and I reached out and wrapped my hands around Avery’s waist and buried my face in her stomach. “I don’t know why I thought I could survive without you. You’re gonna leave for school in three months and I wasted six of my last nine months with you being angry.” I really did hate myself for it. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Yes, I leave in a few months, but it’s not like I’m never going to visit you, and it’s not like you’re never going to visit me. I can’t wait to show all those people in New Haven how wonderful and cool you are. Hopefully they’re okay with swearing,” Avery said.
I leaned away, but still kept my arms wrapped around her and looked up at her. “Hopefully, because I did enough prim and proper shit for The Royal Court.”
“There she is,” Avery said with a bright smile. “Okay, come on. Pick something out for me.”
I knew exactly what to pick. Disengaging from Avery, I walked into my closet and sifted through the clothes until I found the few things I had in mind. A pair of form-fitting leather pants and a gray bustier top were two of my favorite things that I owned, and I knew they would look amazing on her. Even though it was pretty warm outside, I convinced her to lace up a pair of my knee-high combat boots, and the way the colors looked against her brown skin was amazing. It was definitely the right way to go. I got dressed in the outfit she picked out for me, and we of course took a copious amount of selfies to mark the occasion.
“Okay. Time for the true test,” she said. She took my hand and led me out of the room and we walked down the hallway to where her and Alistair’s room was located. She knocked a couple of times on the closed door before opening it. “Babe?”
Alistair was laying on the bed flipping through a graphic novel. “Hey.”
“Hey. How do we look?” Avery asked.
Alistair peeked up from his novel, and then suddenly sat straight up. His eyes nearly bugged out of his skull and he smiled. His eyes flicked up and down Avery’s form and I felt a tinge of pride over how excited he looked. He gave me a once-over, though much more respectfully, and smiled. “Damn.” He started to laugh. “Baby, you look smokin’ hot.”
Avery beamed, elbowing me. “Nice pick, Cherri.”
“You look good too, Cherri. You two are gonna knock ‘em dead out there tonight. I damn near don’t want to let you go,” he said.
I snickered and Avery waved her hand. “You know you’re the only one for me, Ali.”
“Still, maybe I should just tag along. I’ll sit a couple tables away with fake glasses and a mustache. It’ll be fine,” he replied.
“Nice try.” Avery hooked one of her arms through mine. “Don’t wait up. It’s our first girl’s night reunited, so we’re partying til we drop.”
“Well I will be waiting up, but only because I’m not letting that sexy-ass outfit go to waste,” Alistair said, then he leaned back on the bed.
I nodded. “Glad to see the love is still very alive here.”
Avery chuckled. “Let’s leave before you get caught in the crossfire.”
We turned around and left the room, closing the door behind us, and made our way downstairs. I couldn’t shake the empty pit in my stomach that I felt from watching Avery and Alistair interact.
I wanted that.
My brain immediately started to paint a picture of showing Deon my outfit and him descending into playful overprotectiveness. Looking at me with wide eyes and telling me he was going to wait up. I missed him so much it made my stomach hurt, and all of a sudden, I didn’t feel much like going out. I should be looking for Deon.
“Cherri?” Avery asked. We’d made our way clear into the living room while I was lost in thought and Avery pulled me down onto the couch. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Just that interaction between you and Ali made me miss Deon more than I was expecting,” I explained. “I feel like I’m not doing enough to find him. He could be in trouble and I’m about to go out for a fucking drink with my girls.”
“There’s only so much we can do.” Avery pet my head gently. “And honestly, I think we’re doing more than most teenagers would be able to do in this situation. Yeah, we have a ton of money to throw around, not to mention our own personal technical genius, but at the end of the day, we’re just a bunch of kids, even if Nathan has the brain and maturity of like a thirty-year-old.”
“I guess…”
“For two days, we’ve made strides, or we’ve tried to at least. All we’re doing is what it takes to survive as kids in this world. We already lost our entire second senior semester, we can’t throw away our summer too. Deon’s a strong, capable guy, and we’re doing the best we can. We shouldn’t just be miserable while we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
I nodded. She wasn’t wrong, and I knew that, but it didn’t mean I missed Deon any less. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I know you miss him, but I believe, and I know you do too, that Deon is out there, alive. We’ll find him or he’ll find us. We just have to be patient and in the meantime, you said so yourself, we have to make the most of the time we have left.” Avery pulled me into a hug. “I’ll try to be less coupley with Ali.”
“No, no, I don’t want that. Thank you for being willing, though,” I said.
After a while, Colette and Nikita came down to the living room, then we all piled into Avery’s car and left for Colette’s mom’s sushi restaurant. The dynamic was different, but in a good way. Avery, Colette, and Nikita were all so comfortable with each other, especially Nikita and Colette. The shroud hanging over Nikita before I left The Royal Court that seemed to be lifted, and though she was still dressed in dark colors and jeans with chains hanging from them, her jeans were a little more form-fitting, and her t-shirt/vest combo showed a little more skin. There was an added femininity there that was different, but nice to see on her.
We were seated at a private table near the back of the restaurant. We’d been there many times before, but it felt extra comforting for me—like coming home after being gone for a long time. A bottle of wine had already been corked and was waiting open in a chiller for us. Thanks to Colette’s family owning the place, we were allowed to skate on some controlled underage drinking. An edamame appetizer had been placed in the middle of the table as well. Waiters came over quickly enough to take our orders, and then we were left to ourselves.
Surprisingly enough, it was Nikita who bubbled up the conversation. She looked across at me and gave me a coy grin. “You were shocked I agreed to come, huh?”
“You got me,” I replied. “I remember you avoiding us at all costs.”