Page 24 of Why Not Us?

He smiles at her, then returns his attention to me. “Why do you want to get out of your comfort zone?”

I grimace. “I guess it was because of how my birthday went. You guys were all amazing. But no one in my family even called, and Calista completely ditched me. Then, the next day, she said I never want to do fun things, and she didn’t think I’d be interested in doing what she was doing, which is why she didn’t call me. I’m just… too timid. Too uninteresting.”

“No,” Spencer says, his voice firm and angry.

“N-no?” I say, looking up at him, startled. Spencer is almost never angry.

“No. You are perfect exactly as you are, Adalie. Anyone who disagrees doesn’t deserve to have you in their life.”

My friends nod and Lis raises her glass. “Cheers to that.”

They all raise their glasses or cans of beer, then look at me because I haven’t. I’m staring at my friends with tears in my eyes because I know they’re right—in my head. But it’s hard for me to remember that in my heart.

I stand and give Spencer a hug. “Thank you.”

He hugs me back and says quietly, “Do this stuff, whatever it is, for the experience of trying new things. Not because you think you need to change.”

I wipe my eyes as I sit back down and everyone else comes to hug me, one at a time, even Vic, who usually hates hugs.

We settle back down and start to play. Vic goes first since she’s the most well-travelled person at the table and Lis says, “Now that Adalie’s love life drama is dealt with—”

“There’s no drama,” I protest. “And no love life.”

“We have an announcement,” she continues.

“You’re pregnant!” Derek says.

She glares at him and takes a sip of her wine. “No. I’m not pregnant. We’ve set a date for the wedding.”

Though they’d been together less than a year, Spencer had proposed in December on New Year's Eve and Lis had said yes. Shortly after that, Derek had proposed to Ava, so they’re engaged as well. Everyone seems to be moving so much faster than me, but also, moving that fast would cause me huge anxiety. Still, my friends seem happy.

“Consider this your save the date,” Lis says. “Invitations coming soon. We’re getting married at Blue Vista on September 14th. It’s a Sunday.”

“Wait,” Vic says, frowning. “Isn’t that Daze and Sophie’s anniversary?”

Lis grins. “It is. When I saw the 14th was available, I talked to Daze about it and we’re actually kind of excited to share an anniversary.” She rolls her eyes. “Of course, she had to joke that since I’m theyoungertwin,” she uses air quotes around younger, “it only makes sense for me to have the same anniversary, a year later. But really, it’s going to be fun.”

I can admit to myself there’s a stab of jealousy at how close Lis and Daze are. There has always been a part of me that wishes I could be close like that with my brother and sister. Or even just one of them.

We talk for a bit about what their plans are otherwise, and Lis explains how she has a few ideas but that she really wants to stand out. She and Ava discuss wedding themes that were striking in the photos Ava has taken.

Eventually, Spencer asks if Derek and Ava have made any plans yet.

“We’re not in a huge rush to get married,” Ava says.

“No. I was just in a rush to get a ring on her finger,” Derek replies, playing with the jewellery.

“So much so, you put two there,” Vic says, deadpan.

He smiles, lifting Ava’s hand and kissing the back of it right by the rings, a gesture I’ve seen him do at least a dozen times, so he must do it a lot.

“Even so,” Spencer says as he places a train on the board, “if you want to get married next summer, you’ll need to act quickly. I think I have two Saturdays left, one in August and another in September. There are a few Sundays and a few Fridays. Unless you want to do a Christmas wedding.”

Derek and Ava had gotten back together over last Christmas. The season was a huge part of what helped bring about their reconciliation.

Ava shakes her head. “I’d rather Christmas just be Christmas.”

“I was thinking about July 5th, actually,” Derek says. “Though I don’t even know if that would work.”

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