Page 61 of Wild Like Us
Jane shares my smile. “You’ve done so much for us these past years, Sulli. The FanCon tour.”
“The auction,” Moffy says.
“Scotland,” Charlie adds.
Jane grins more. “It’s time we’re here for you. We brought enough luggage to last us through most of October.”
That hits me like another tidal wave. Jane’s bachelorette party is less than a month away. Her wedding is around the corner on November 1st, and she’s not batting an eye about being away from Philly for so long.
They’re really here for me.Dropping everything to watch me climb.
My smile is uncontrollable, unable to shrink in size. “I’m really glad you’re all here. It means a fucking ton to me.” I nod a bunch. “Thank you.”
Jane gives me a side hug. “Anything for you.”
When we part, I watch Maximoff head to my Patagonia backpack near the nightstand. “Your dad gave you this, right?”
“Yeah.” While he unzips the bag, I shift the washcloth on my throbbing ankle and ask, “Where’s Luna?” I sound bummed, and I already feelgreedyhaving three cousins here to surprise me.
Some people would hate this kind of surprise arrival, but they knew I’d love it. Ilovethe company of familiar, trusting faces.
I love the company of family. The company of my cousins—they’re like other birds in a nest. And maybe I haven’t flown too high from mine, but what if we’re all just flying together somewhere else? To another nest?
Can that be enough?
Or do I really,reallyneed to chart a course away from everyone?
My frown deepens.
“My sister’s still in Philly,” Moffy tells me, searching through the backpack.What’s he looking for?
Charlie chimes in, “My brothers requested her appearance at their upcoming shows.”
Eliot and Tom.One is a theatre actor, the other a singer in an emo-punk band. The three of them have been best friends since diaper-era, and in the past couple years, I’ve only recently gotten super fucking close to Luna. We were roommates in the Philly townhouse, but I try to remember she’s two years younger.
I’m closer in age to Charlie and Beckett.
Still, I can’t help but feel a pang of hurt that I wish would go the fuck away. I’m not in competition with Tom and Eliot for Luna’s time and attention. But I guess, now that I don’t have Beckett—I just thought I had Luna.
Taking my mind off friendships, I ask Moffy, “What are you looking for?”
He zips the backpack up, empty-handed. “Your dad forgot to mention he packed a gun for you. He wanted me to make sure you stored it right—”
“Akara already did,” I interject. “We saw the gun in the backpack.” I motion to the nightstand.
Moffy opens the drawer, sees the encased gun, then closes it.
My head whirls, running through all their words. And my gaze beelines back to Charlie, realizing Moffy and Jane excluded him from their big proclamation. “So you’re not here to watch me climb, then?”
“Correct,” Charlie says. “I’d actually rather be anywhere than watch you fall off a mountain.”
“Charlie,” Jane snaps. “She’s not falling off a mountain.”
Maximoff rubs the bridge of his nose. “Can we just ban those four words from this point forward?”
Charlie shrugs. “Fine.” The fact that Charlie chose not to take the low hanging fruit and rile Moffy is another reminder that their friendship has been solidly repaired.
I look between Jane, Maximoff, and Charlie. They have history together that I don’t share with them. High school stories.
