Page 41 of The Making of Mila and Blake
I roll my eyes at how obvious it all is now. I can’t believe that there was a brief moment in time where I thought Tori disliked Teddy becausesheliked him too. Ha. I was so wrong. And the constant teasing of Savannah? That wasflirting.
“Pretty obvious now,” I agree, but when Savannah tries to pull her hands free from mine, I only grip harder. “I really am sorry about what happened yesterday with Teddy.”
Savannah heavily exhales, her frown deepening. “It’s not your fault,” she says. She breaks her hands free, takes a gulp of her coffee, then grabs her satchel. “This is just. . . This is a lot. Teddy doesn’t like me, but Tori does. I don’t want to run out on you like this, but I’m going to head home. Sorry, Mila.”
“It’s okay,” I say, and I mean it. It will take her some time to wrap her head around Tori, her longest best friend, having a crush on her, and she can’t do that sitting here in Jefferson’s.
Armed with her car keys, Savannah silently stands from the booth and leaves the restaurant. This hangout over coffee hasn’t exactly been the girly catch-up I thought it would be. Tori is in the back, most likely enduring her tenth disciplinary of the week from Brian, and I’m left alone at the table. I chug my coffee, wait for twenty minutes to see if Tori will emerge from the kitchen, but then eventually give up when she never does. I leave cash on the table, grab my backpack and the keys to Sheri’s van, and leave.
16
There’s no way Savannah and I are heading to Blake’s gig and leaving Tori behind. She has been quiet the past twenty-four hours, only offering one-word answers to my texts, and feels too awkward to join us tonight. But Savannah and I aren’t the type of friends who will allow her to everfeel awkward around us. We love her no matter what.
It’s after five on Wednesday evening when we jump out of Savannah’s car and dash toward Tori’s front door, tripping over toy cars in the front yard that belong to her little brother. Her clunker of a car is in the driveway with its hood propped open, and I wonder what else can possibly be wrong with it this time.
“You knock,” Savannah says, nudging me forward.
I rap my knuckles against the glass panel of the front door and then wait next to Savannah. Having slept on it, Savannah isn’t feeling as freaked out as she was initially. If anything, she now feels flattered.
The door sweeps open and Tori’s mom grins brightly.
“Hello, you two!”
“Hey, Kalisha!” Savannah says with an equally cheerful smile. “Can we talk to Tori?”
“Sure. I’ll grab her, but didn’t she tell you she’s sick?” Kalisha asks. “She can’t come to Nashville tonight.”
I keep a straight face.Yeah, right. Tori is notsick; she just doesn’t want to see us so soon after yesterday’s revelation.
“I’m certain she’ll magically feel better when she sees us,” I say, and Kalisha raises an eyebrow at me before she turns and heads upstairs to fetch her daughter.
Savannah and I wait patiently on the doorstep until Tori comes downstairs, taking each step slowly, and waves her mom away as she reaches the front door. Her braids are scraped back into a high ponytail and she anxiously toys with the ends.
“You,” Savannah says, “do not get to hide from us this easily.”
And in perfect unison, we lunge forward and envelop Tori in the most loving of bear hugs. We hold her tight, protective, and only release her when she fidgets beneath our embrace. She steps back and the rare expression of unease is evident on her face. I have never seen Tori look shy.
“Listen to us,” I begin, but she grabs my arm.
“Not here,” she whispers, moving outside and closing the door as she gestures behind her. Clearly, Tori isn’t out to her family yet. For extra guarantee that we won’t be heard, she directs us to the foot of the yard by Savannah’s car, the three of us gathering on the sidewalk.
“Okay, nowlisten to us,” I say again, and I place my hands on her shoulders and maintain eye contact. “We are your best friends and we love you regardless of whoyoulove, and don’t you dareever feel awkward around us.”
Tori dips her head, but Savannah instantly dives in to tilt her chin up. “Hey,” she scolds, “don’t do that. Mila is right. Keep your head held high. We want you to be exactly who you are around us, and none of this changes our friendship, okay? I love you. Maybe not in the way you’d like me to, but. . .” She blushes, and Tori manages the slightest of laughs.
“I don’t want anything to change,” Tori agrees, and she reaches for Savannah’s hand to lower it from her chin. “It was just something I had to say out loud to you, and I didnotmean to do it the way I did yesterday. It just kind of spilled out of me.”
“See?” I exchange a knowing look with Savannah, then turn back to Tori and release my hold on her shoulders. “Savannah was worried you’d expect her to like you back.”
“No! Come here, you big dork!” She locks her arms around Savannah’s neck and shakes her head atop hers with a little laugh, and Savannah is now the one looking sheepish. “I may have a crush on you, but I know it’s only that. Acrush, okay? I would never expect anythingof you, and I know deep down there’ssomeone else out there whoisthe right person for me. I’ll get over you. Someday.” She grins as she playfully pushes Savannah away. “Now can we please stop talking about this? I’m not used to saying these things out loud yet, so, you know. . . Small steps.”
“Well, will you pleaseget your butt in the car and come to Blake’s gig with us?” I say, pressing my hands together with plea and pouting at Tori with childlike enthusiasm.
“Duh,” Tori says. “I never wanted to miss out on admiring sexy Blake Avery anyway.”
The atmosphere in Savannah’s car as she drives precariously slowly to Nashville is as natural and relaxed as it always is between the three of us. It seems like a weight has been lifted from Tori, and Savannah just seems relieved that their friendship can remain exactly as it always has been. And me? I’m ecstatic to see Blake perform again, especially at Honky Tonk Central, of all places. It’s like the world has granted me a do-over.
“What time is Blake on stage?” Tori asks as we turn the corner onto Broadway, but I suddenly tune out both her and Savannah when the flashing lights of downtown Nashville unravel before us.
