His face looks pained as if the last thing he wants to do is tell me. Just like when he told me he was engaged. “I have to pick out a tux.”
“And he needs a woman’s touch.” I move to sit back down in my chair, but I sit in Grandma Dori’s lap. “Oh dear, you’re much too heavy to sit on my lap nowadays.” She laughs.
I cannot go tux shopping with him. “Surely you have better style than I do,” I say to Grandma.
“Well, that’s a given, but I’m sure Colton’s not up for my hand up his crotch to make sure his inseam is right.”
“I think the tailor will be doing that.” Colton tilts his head and gives me a look that says, “You better come, I am not going with your grandma.”
But I know if I see him in a tux, I might blurt out my true feelings, which will only make things worse.
Grandma’s already opening the right desk drawer and searching its contents.
I move to the table and package up the cookies. “You need to go check on Harley. She called again earlier and said she was really suffering from morning sickness.” I cringe.
Her lipsticked mouth turns into an O and she springs up as if she’s twenty years younger and snags the box out of my hands. “See you two later.”
“Well?” Colton asks after she’s left.
“What?” I ask, pretending to straighten my pamphlets on the table.
“Tell me what to buy like you did for senior prom?” He raises his eyebrows.
He’s been there for me my entire life. From the minute my world crashed around me until now. He helped me pick up pieces when I had no desire to do it. How can I say no to him?
I can’t.
“Let me grab my purse.”
Five
Juno
Thirteen years old
My parents are away on one of my mom’s business trips. It’s a return trip to Juneau to talk about the changes since she’d written about the city back when I was conceived. As gross as it is, each of my siblings are named after the city we were conceived in. Thankfully, my parents decided to spell my name differently.
Brooklyn has been in charge of us—with plenty of drop-ins from Grandma Dori—but she’s dating Trent Gebhart and asked Grandma if she can go out on a date with him to the movies tonight. Since Grandma has card night with her friends, she’s taking Phoenix, Sedona, and Kingston to her place for a sleepover, which means Rome, Denver, and I are on our own.
“Now remember, no parties,” Grandma scolds us with her finger pointed where we all stand on the driveway, saying our goodbyes. “You know I’ll have the sheriff checking every hour.”
She’s talking more to Rome and Denver than me.
“Oh, G’Ma D, you know we won’t do that. We’re just gonna chill at home.” Denver puts his arm around her shoulders.
“I’m gonna make us some pizza.” Rome wraps his arm around my shoulders and winks at me.
That’s not a good sign.
“You’re not too old for me to put you over my knee,” Grandma warns.
Phoenix screams at the top of her lungs, interrupting Grandma’s lecture.
Grandma whips open the back door of her Cadillac. “What on Earth?”
“Kingston is touching me,” Phoenix says.
“So what?”
“So he’s sweaty from playing basketball.”
Grandma Dori sighs. “Get in the front seat, Kingston.”
“What? Why can’t I sit in the front?” Phoenix yells. “Why does he get to?”
“He’s older,” Grandma says and slams the door shut. “This is a test, boys. I’m trusting you.”
The twins smile and wave goodbye like little church usher boys until she’s out of the driveway.
Then Rome turns to me. “You cool if we leave you alone for, like, two hours?”
“What? Why?”
“There’s a fight going down between Liam and Jack Billings.” Denver’s already on his bike.
“Just call Colton or Emily and ask them to come over,” Rome says, hopping on his bike.
They ride off down the driveway. Fifteen minutes later, Colton’s riding his bike up to my house. His parents only live two doors down, which is still a mile away, but to us, it’s close enough.
“Hey,” I say.
“You’re really alone?” he asks, walking up the front steps of my house. He’s wearing jean shorts and his faded Colorado State T-shirt.
“Yep. Emily’s coming over too.”
“Cool.” He walks into my house and I shut the door. “What are we gonna do?”
I shrug. “I guess what we always do. Want to play pool or something?”
“After we raid the fridge,” he says, beelining it to my kitchen.
He’s always hungry now. He emerges from the kitchen with two cans of pop and a bag of Cheetos and heads toward the basement door.
I start to follow, but the bell rings. “I’ll meet you down there.”
I open my front door and Emily is standing on my porch with Xavier.
“Xavier was over at my place.” Emily walks in.
“What’s up, Bailey?” Xavier asks, nodding.
I roll my eyes because I hate Xavier. The fact he calls me by my last name as if it’s an insult annoys me.
“Colton’s already downstairs,” I tell them.
“Xavier, go on down,” Emily says. “I have to talk to Juno for a second.”
Xavier walks down the hallway to my basement stairs, and Emily tugs me by my sweatshirt sleeve into the kitchen.
“What?” I say, pulling my arm back.
“Xavier kissed me,” she says. “We were on my back porch, chilling and listening to music, and then he just kissed me.”
My mouth drops open. “Tongue?”
“A little.”
“A little?” My body shivers because I would never want Xavier’s tongue in my mouth.
“The tip.” I stare at her and she laughs. “It sounds worse than it is.” She twirls her blonde hair around her finger.
“What did you do?”
She laughs. “I kissed him back.”
“But how?”
A lot of kids at school are kissing. Or at least they’re saying they’re kissing. There’re all kinds of games people are playing, like Spin the Bottle and Seven Minutes in Heaven. This is a monumental moment for Emily—her first kiss is all she’s been talking about—but the fact that it’s with Xavier—whose name is always mentioned in the kissing stories—makes me think it might not be as special to him as it is to Emily. Then again, I’m not sure she cared who she kissed as long as she can say she did.
She jumps off the counter and grabs an empty olive oil bottle from the counter that’s there to be recycled. “And now it’s your turn. We’re playing Spin the Bottle.”
“I’m not kissing Xavier.” I snatch the bottle and put it back where she found it.
“Of course you’re not. You’re kissing Colton.”
My eyes widen. “Ew. I think that kiss starved your brain of oxygen.”