Page 28 of Remember Us This Way

“I don’t want him to forget,” she murmurs into my chest. “It was always so fun when Noah and Linc came over.”

She lets out a heavy sigh that breaks my heart before pulling back and looking up into my eyes. “Do you . . . Do you think he stays away because of me? Maybe he doesn’t like me.”

“What?” I ask, horrified. “Not even a little bit. Noah loved you so much. I think he’s just hurting so much from losing Linc that he can’t see how much he’s hurting everyone else. It’s consuming him, and he needs to work through all of that before he can even try to be his old self. I just worry that it’ll be too late.”

“Too late?” she grunts. “It’s already been three years. How much time does he need?”

“Tell me about it!”

“You know this only means you have to go to that party even more now.”

“Huh? If anything, it means I need to stay away.”

“Nuh-uh,” she says, stepping out of my arms and digging back into my closet, searching through my clothes. “You need to go have a great time and ignore him like he doesn’t even matter to you, and then he’s going to be all drooly with big hearts in his eyes and come racing back into your arms.”

A booming laugh tears from my chest. “That easy, huh?” I ask, unable to deny that having a good night out without having to think about Noah Ryan sounds like the best time ever.

“Uh-huh. That easy,” Hazel confirms, finding my black thigh-high boots and high-waisted leather miniskirt. She shoves them at me. “Here, put these on while I find a cute top.”

What in the fresh hell has happened to my sister? One week of middle school has turned her into a fashion guru.

Excitement drums through my veins, and I find myself following directions as I hastily get dressed, pulling on the miniskirt and boots before looking in the mirror, almost horrified by how sexy I look. I’ve never matched these two items before because . . . Well, I’m not a sexy girl. I can do pretty outfits or cute, but I’ve never been able to pull off sexy before.

“Woah,” I murmur, taking it in as Hazel tosses me an oversized sweater that hangs off my shoulder. I quickly pull it on and stare at myself in awe.

“There’s no way you can’t go to that party now,” Hazel says, her eyes brimming with beaming excitement.

“Fine,” I grumble, unable to deny how right she is. It would be a shame to waste an outfit like this. “But I’m only staying for a little while. The second Noah even thinks about ruining my night, I’m out.”

“YES!”

Hazel races from my room, and I hear her out in the hallway, all but hanging over the banister and calling downstairs. “MOM. IT WORKED! SHE’S GOING TO THE PARTY. YOU OWE ME TEN BUCKS!”

“Thank God,” Mom calls back. “Movie night for us without Grandma Gertrude up there.”

“HEY!” I yell back, shoving my head out my door. “I heard that!”

Mom laughs, not even a hint of regret in her tone. “You were supposed to.”

Rolling my eyes, I grab my phone and shove it into my bra before strutting downstairs and finding Mom in the kitchen. I cross my arms over my chest and give her a hard stare. “You planned this,” I say.

She turns around and takes one look at me. “Wow, honey. You look—”

“Grown up,” my dad cuts in from across the kitchen, his eyes wide and filled with horror. “I don’t like it.”

Mom shakes her head, her lips pulling into a wide grin. “Don’t listen to him, sweetheart. You look incredible. He’s just jealous that he can’t pull off boots like that.”

“You’re damn right,” Dad says. “Have you seen these calves? I’m practically built like a linebacker.”

Ignoring their ridiculousness, I try to get back on track. “You know damn well that this Grandma Gertrude had no plans on going to that party.”

“I know,” Mom says. “But you’ll be seventeen in five months, and you’ve barely lived. These are the years you’re supposed to enjoy yourself. Go out with your friends and make memories because one day, you’ll wake up and realize you’re old and wish that you could have taken advantage of the small things.”

“What are you saying, Mom? You think you’re old and boring?”

“Who? Me?” Mom grunts. “No, not at all. I’m talking about your dad.”

“Hey!” Dad mutters, but Mom completely ignores him.

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