Page 97 of Tell Me It’s Right

The sound of a doorknob turning, then a soft surface replaces the wood that was under my heels a moment ago. Carson stops me with her hands on my shoulders, then unties the scarf.

“Surprise!”

I blink, my eyes fighting to adjust to the light as a chorus of voices surrounds me.

Everyone is crowded in my parents’ living room—Leo, Keava, Mom, Dad, even Grandma in her wheelchair.

As well as my friends.

I stare blankly at Trish, Marti, and Alison, who popped up from behind the couch in sparkly dresses and ridiculous pointed party hats.

“I—what are you guys doing here?”

“Your mom called,” says Trish as she rushes forward to give me a hug. “We were planning on surprising you for your birthday anyway, so it was perfect!”

She knocks the wind out of me with the force of her hug, and I pat her a few times, noticing Liam for the first time lingering behind the rest.

“Happy birthday!” adds Marti as she and Alison pile in for a group hug.

“Oh, me too! Me too!” Carson jumps into the mix, and then I’m just a trapped sardine.

And what should be a happy, carefree moment is instantly soured when I meet Marti’s eyes. Wide and brown as usual, but there’s a noticeable concern to them.

Because they must know.

Whether they put it together themselves or from talking to my family, all it would take is the smallest tug of a thread for my mountain of lies from this summer to come crumbling down.

“Come on, come on, let’s show you around!” squeals Carson, oblivious, and hooks her arm through mine.

She leads me to the dining room first, where the table is elaborately set up with flowers, string lights, and pink and white balloons full of confetti. Little display towers full of treats are interspersed between the decorations—Rice Krispies treats, donuts, cake pops. I meet Mom’s eyes over my shoulder and smile. It must have taken her days, if not a week, to bake all of this.

“I’ll get the drinks!” offers Dad. “We got sparkling rosé, your favorite! We set up the firepit and projector out back so you guys can watch a movie later, if you want to.”

Leo and Liam jump in to help pass the champagne flutes around, and once everyone has one, they turn to me.

I groan internally. If this is about to turn into an embarrassing speech thing…

But thankfully, Mom takes the reins. “To Gracie! Happy twenty-third! Cheers!”

I clink my glass against Carson’s on one side and Trish’s on my other, but it’s Liam’s eyes across the circle I keep going back to. Judging by the distance he’s keeping between us, he hasn’t talked to Leo.

“Dinner will be served in about an hour,” announces Dad. “The first course, at least.”

“First course?” I demand.

He exchanges a conspiratorial smile with Mom before the two of them disappear into the kitchen.

Leo crosses the room to me and nods for me to turn around. “You need to open my gift before the sun goes down.” He keeps nudging between my shoulders until I follow him to the front door.

“Why is it outside?” I ask. Even once we reach the porch, he keeps pushing me forward. “If this is some kind of prank and you’re just locking me out of the house, I swear to God, Leo?—”

I stop short as he jogs ahead of me, pauses in the center of the driveaway, and leaps around with his hands held wide like he’s presenting something. Other than a packed lawn full of cars, I don’t see anything.

Leo lets out a dramatic exhale at whatever he sees on my face. “Oh, come on.” He waves impatiently for me to join him. “You know how many hours I had to put in to rebuild this thing? Don’t tell me you don’t like the color or something.”

“Wait, thecar?” Despite Leo living and breathing engines and all that mechanical stuff that might as well be an alien language, I don’t know the first thing about cars. Butthis one?

It’s black and that perfect size between a sedan and SUV. I can already tell with a peep through the window that it’s nicer than the car I had in college.

---