Page 55 of The Afterthought

With that, I turn and leave the room, remembering what it was like to be seventeen and in love. Specifically, I remember what it was like to be in love with Greyson. I remember some of the good memories instead of the painful ones. It's a nice reprieve.

I hear a commotion outside, pulling me from my thoughts. Someone is kicking the front door and yelling something. It doesn't sound aggressive, just loud, so I walk over to pull it open.

"It's about time. I told you I was close." Wrenly says as she pushes her way past me to get to the table. Not only did she get me a coffee, but she also got one for herself and a smoothie for Chloe since she's not a super fan of coffee.

"Hello to you, too." I laugh, making my way to grab the drink from the table.

"You're lucky I've known you half of my life, and I don't want to be murdered by your boyfriend."

"He is kind of murdery, isn't he?" Chloe says as she walks into the room and straight to the smoothie on the table. "Thank you for this, by the way."

"He is not murdery." I roll my eyes at both of them. "If we're going to sit here and talk about our love lives, maybe we should talk about you and Kai," I say to Wrenly. "Or how Matt is currently in Chloe's bedroom naked."

"No, he's not!" Wrenly exclaims before practically running towards Chloe's room.

"Leave him be!" She yells after her, but before she can make it to her room, the door opens, and Matt steps out.

He cautiously eyes Wrenly in the hallway before locking eyes with Chloe. "I'm going to head out if that's okay?"

"Yes, please get out of here before they start asking you for details." She looks nervously at Wrenly and then at me, and I shrug.

He walks over to her and pulls her in by the waist before leaning down and giving her a big kiss. It's actually super sweet and earns him some bonus points, in my mind. He is willing to make sure she knows he cares for her, regardless of us teasing him. After a moment, he frees her and makes a hasty exit.

"That was some kiss," Wrenly jokes as the two of them walk back towards the kitchen.

"Enough from both of you." She looks between me and Wrenly, who is now drinking her coffee beside me.

"We're just getting started, little sis," I tease while she rolls her eyes. This entire moment feels... normal.

"Okay, so, nails first?" I ask Wrenly. She's the one who threw this entire day together.

"Yes, and you're driving," she casually tells me.

The nail salon isn't my favorite place to go, but Chloe loves it, so we added it to our list of things for the day when deciding to make a whole girl's day. It doesn't end up being terrible. I didn't get fake nails. I just had them paint this really pretty orange color to match my hair. I think Grey will appreciate it when he sees it.

Chloe got hers painted in her school colors, black and red. It almost broke my heart when she talked about how she and her mom used to do this. They weren't able to get them done for the few months before I came to town because she got super sick. It was the beginning of the end for her.

I'm glad that we were able to do something together that reminded her of her mom. I like the fact that I can be there for her. Those memories are hard to process at first. I remember what it felt like when I was trying to grieve the loss of my dad.

Wrenly got her nails painted black and had a green clover painted on them. Something about how Kai likes lucky charms. It's odd but a sweet gesture for her to think of him.

We came to the hair salon after finishing our nails. It was perfect because I needed a refresher. My roots are out of control. Chloe is getting some blonde highlights and a trim to prep for graduation. Wrenly is getting a quick cut to keep her sharp edges. It's grown to her shoulders, and she likes it to be at that perfect middle ground between her ears and shoulders.

We settle in while waiting for our hair to process, and I decide it's time for Wrenly to spill the beans on her and Kai. I turn to face her. "You and Kai?"

She blushes. "I was wondering when you were going to bring this up."

"I want to know everything," I say, and she glances over at Chloe.

"I want to know everything, too. I'm almost eighteen; stop treating me like a kid."

"Fine," Wrenly gives in.

"Chloe, don't take it personally. Wrenly was just trying to find a way not to talk about it," I tell her.

"You just wait, Ava. Your time is coming, too." She laughs, and I have no clue what I'm going to tell them when they finally start asking questions about Grey and me.

"How did this whole thing start?" I inquire.

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