Page 9 of The Puck Secret

So instead of telling him the truth I end up blurting out, “Yeah I’m fine, dick pic!”

Oh my fucking god why did I just say that to my brother?

“Jesus, Maddie,” he groans, and I see the waitress hide her smile as she retreats with the soaking wet cloth.

“Hallie,” I quickly add in an attempt to defend myself. “Hallie forwarded it to me, some guy she’s seeing,” I quickly continue on with my lie, making a mental note to clue Hals in on it later.

Josh rolls his eyes as he mutters under his breath, “Of course she did.”

Now it’s my turn to roll my eyes. It doesn’t matter that Hallie has been my best friend since we were nine, Josh has never liked her. We’ve had sleepovers, family vacations, dinner parties, years of time spent together and the two of them still don’t see eye to eye. Hallie tries, or at least she used to, now she just likes to annoy him at any given opportunity.

After my embarrassing outburst, I keep my phone firmly hidden in my bag so I can finish my lunch, and I absolutely don’t think about the six pack burning its way into my brain, and instead focus on my brother. The rest of our lunch is uneventful after my little post shirtless reaction, and Josh forgets all about it when the waitress slides him her number.

* * *

An hourlater I am dropping him off outside of his house, and even though I have told him a million times that I am fine and nothing is wrong, he lingers as he opens his door to get out. “There’s a party at mine tonight,” he starts, and I look at him as if to say yeah and? “Why don’t you come, have some fun?”

He must think my life is a DEFCON 1 if he is inviting me to one of his parties. He gave me strict orders Freshman year to stay away from his friends, and I’ve had no trouble following that rule. Hockey players are not my type, but still I find myself mulling over the idea when I normally wouldn’t, because it would be nice to get out and have some fun, especially after last night.

I bite my lip as I ask, “Can I bring Hallie?” I know it’s a big ask, especially to him, but to my surprise he nods.

“Sure, fine, whatever,” he grumbles almost reluctantly, and I have to roll my eyes again. “Just keep her out of my face, Maddie.”

“She’s my best friend, Josh, not a monster, what is your problem with her?” It’s ridiculous how much he fights me when it comes to her, she is practically a member of our family at this point.

“Keep her out of my face and I won’t have a problem,” he snaps, before taking a deep breath. “I’ll just see you tonight, okay?”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond, just slams the door as I toss a wave and maybe a middle finger to his back before I start to drive away. My weekend might have started out shit but things are looking up, and who knows what tonight will bring. Maybe it will even be fun. There’s only one way to find out I guess, but first I have to work on persuading Hallie to go with me.

Afew hours later I am sitting in the living room on the sofa, freshly showered and shaved after giving my hair a conditioning mask, and even painting my nails. I laid out a few outfit choices on my bed for Hallie to help me pick from when she gets home, and I plan on blowing out my hair into loose waves and leaving it down. I’ve already popped open a bottle of champagne to give my sorrows a buzz, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I have looked at the shirtless picture on my phone no less than fifteen times since I received it earlier. Which is how my best friend finds me, lurking over it once again like I am the one who is a stalker.

She leans her arms on the sofa behind me, surprising me as she looks over my shoulder at my phone. “Damn, Wendy! Who is that fine specimen of a man?”

I smile, not just at her voice, but also at the nickname she gave me when we were kids. After playing pranks on her endlessly and her always calling him childish, she nicknamed Josh, Peter Pan, hence I became Wendy. It’s silly and ridiculous, but that’s what happens when you have been friends since you were nine. Hallie is beautiful, smart, and funny, and her take on the world gives me something to smile about every day. We fit together like two puzzle pieces always meant to find one another. She’s my soul sister and I would die for her, just like I know she would for me.

Living together is a dream, and it’s the only good thing to ever come from my dad’s affair. Our house was a guilt present from him, and as reluctant as I was to accept it and forgive him, which I still haven’t, being able to live off-campus with my best friend was definitely worth him thinking I did. Plus, Hallie’s parents moved out of town after we graduated high school, so it was the only way we could truly stay together.

Hallie has autism, and moving to a new town and going from high school to college would have been a huge adjustment for her, one she told me she wasn’t ready to make. So being able to not only go to the same college together, but also share a house, is the best present either one of us could have ever wished for. It not only meant an easier transition for her, because she had me to lean on, but also allowed us to avoid freshman dorms and having to deal with so many other people. That would have been hard for her and her sensory needs, but also would have sent my anxiety into a spiral, so it was a win-win for the both of us. This house is our safe haven and a place we can truly call home.

It’s not often I ever get to surprise her, my life is so usually predictable that I take great pleasure in leaning back on the sofa to look up at her and say, “I have a charming new stalker.”

Her eyebrows raise, and she circles around to come and sit next to me. Thankfully, she is used to my personal brand of sarcasm after years of friendship, so she doesn’t take me too seriously. Grabbing the phone from my hand, she inspects the shirtless selfie almost clinically before scrolling up to read through the rest of the messages. “Oh a stalker, I see,” she smirks while still reading, her eyes widening with each one. “Wrong number, is that like a ploy of yours?” she asks in all seriousness, and I smile at her.

“No, dork,” I say, snatching the phone from her. “It really was a wrong number, I was trying to text you.”

She looks at me as if to say yeah sure, so I quickly give her the rundown of everything that has happened since last night much to her dismay. She jumps in to ask questions when she needs to, always a stickler for making sure she has all of the information, but I appreciate that it's just what she needs to process it all, and lord knows I could do with all the help I can get right now.

By the time I’m done she just stares at me dumbfounded and speechless until she finally blurts, “Your dad thinks you’re gonna marry Brad? Sad Brad with the tiny brain?”

I choke for the second time today, only this time it’s at her bold summary of the situation. I mean she isn’t wrong, and I love her for it. When I don’t say anything in response she bursts out laughing, like holding her stomach with tears coming out of her eyes laughing. I have to hit her with a pillow to get her to stop and take a breath.

“This is serious, Hals. What the hell am I going to do?” I flop my head onto the back of the sofa and Hallie places hers on mine, and I take comfort in her presence. She doesn’t really do physical touch, but I’m one of the very few exceptions, to which she will never understand how grateful I am for it.

“Well, not marry Brad, that’s for sure,” she scoffs in disgust, and I already feel better for just telling her and having her in this with me. Best friends really are the best medicine.

We both sit in silence for a few minutes, pondering my life drama until I can barely stand it. I jump to my feet, wiggling my now dry nails and turn around to face her. “You and I are going to a party tonight.”

Her eyes look up at me with shock in them, just like I knew they would. ”A party?” she asks in confusion. “What party?” One of the many things that makes us such good friends is that we both usually avoid the party scene. Too many people, too much noise, too much drama, it’s not for us. We are more the karaoke bar, taco tuesdays, movie margarita night kind of best friends.

---