Page 114 of Tell Me It’s Right

Bless Marti. Leave it to her to always break the ice.

Carson waves, but the others, unfortunately, don’t look nearly as forgiving.

“Everything okay?” asks Trish.

Dad brought out the nice outdoor furniture—arranging the larger wicker couch and love seat together to form an L around the projector screen. All four girls are huddled together on the bigger couch beneath a blanket, so I take the love seat.

“I’m the worst,” I say.

Alison’s eyebrows lift as if in agreement.

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am for taking off like that. I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay,” says Marti with a shrug, but it looks forced, even for her. “Bummed we didn’t get to do the cake though. Your mom saved it in case you wanted to do it today instead.”

I don’t know why this detail over everything else has tears springing to my eyes.

The icy exteriors over Trish’s and Alison’s expressions crack.

“Oh, come here.” Trish scoots closer to Alison in the middle and holds open the end of the blanket.

“I’m really sorry,” I say as I slide in beside her. “I don’t know how yet, but I’m going to make it up to you.”

Trish lets out a long breath. “I suppose we’ve all done stupid things for boys.”

“Not me,” says Alison.

“We didn’t see you the entire first three months you dated Josh,” Marti reminds her.

She grimaces.

I’d nearly forgotten that was his name. We all just called him Senior Douche.

Trish holds up a hand. “I can forgive the running off into the sunset with hot skater boy. It’s your birthday. You get one freepass. WhatIwant to know is what’s really been going on with you this summer. Why did you lie to us?”

“I was embarrassed,” I whisper.

“What?” says Marti. “Why?”

My eyes bulge. “Why?Because you three all have your lives so figured out. You made transitioning out of college look like a piece of cake, and I fell flat on my face. I just…I was hoping I’d get things a little more together by the time I saw you guys again.”

Trish screws her face up. “I, for one, donothave my life figured out.”

Marti all but cackles. “I’m an unemployed actor whose career peaked when she was seven! I have three roommates in a two-bedroom house!”

Alison shrugs. “My job isn’t remotely related to my degree,andmy parents still pay all my bills.”

“So you ended up moving back home,” says Marti. “So what? Doesn’t seem so bad here. I like it.”

“And your new job obviously comes with…perks.” Alison wiggles her eyebrows.

I whip around to Carson, who gives me a sheepish shrug. “I filled them in a bit.”

“Sorry for spilling the beans in front of everyone last night,” Alison adds. “You know I’m not the best at picking up subtle hints.”

“Stop being so nice to me.” I cover my face with my hands. “Yell or something.”

“I’drather get all the dirty details about what happened after you left last night,” says Marti.

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