Page 21 of Unfriend Me
Rip didn’t answer me until I came out of my room, sitting on the couch with his cell phone in hand. He didn’t even look up at me, so enthralled by whatever he was looking at. I’d have to talk to the guys at the bonfire and see if we could stage an intervention. Rip was getting quieter and more sullen by the hour.
“Nah, I’m going to swing by a little later.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “Okay, sounds good.”
He and Hazel didn’t exactly get along, so I could understand why he wasn’t enthusiastic about the bonfire. I shook my head and left. Another thing I never understood about Rip. He and Hazel had been really tight at the beginning of high school, much like me and Amelia. And then one day they hated each other and refused to speak about it. We all figured they had a falling-out, but would patch things up eventually. Now, a decade later, they still hadn’t worked it out.
By the time I got to the bonfire, it was in full swing. All five of the Waldo sisters were there, which surprised me. Normally Amelia tried to have her own space without her siblings stealing her spotlight. Other than her sisters, the normal crew was there: Lucy and Bain, Lenora and Jayden, Charlie and Finnie, the birthday girl herself, Lukas and several of his friends who always tagged along. Lenora swore inviting the boys kept her brother out of trouble.
I grabbed a beer and headed straight for Hazel, pulling her up off her blanket and into a bear hug that had her giggling.
“Happy birthday, tiny human,” I said before giving her a big, wet kiss on her cheek.
She squealed and I let her go. “I’m not tiny, you’re just huge!”
I shrugged and winked. “Maybe by next birthday you’ll have grown out of the kids’ sizes.”
She punched me in the shoulder. “One can only hope,” she whispered.
Hazel wasn’t that small, but compared to me, she seemed tiny. And I never let her forget it. She was like the little sister I never had, stumbling her way through life and making me cringe. She had a heart of gold, but not necessarily the best decision-making skills.
I left Hazel and moved to take a seat right next to Amelia on her blanket. She bumped my shoulder, already in her sweatshirt, her bare legs drawn up under her, covered in goose bumps. I couldn’t hide the little smile. As much as Amelia remained unpredictable when it came to big things in life, she was completely predictable with the little things.
“How you doin’, beautiful?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her neck and pulling her into me so I could kiss the top of her head.
She came willingly, snuggling up against me with a laugh. “Freezing!”
I snorted, leaving my arm over her shoulders and taking a swig of beer before answering. “Never fear, Titus’s body heat is here.”
“Ooh, I’ll take some of that!” Vee, Amelia’s youngest sister, plopped down on my other side and burrowed her way under my arm.
“Get your own man meat, Vee!” Amelia slapped her sister’s hand, the one that had already snaked across my chest in a bold move for someone barely legal.
I knew better than to get between Amelia and any of her sisters. I’d done that once, and I’d learned my lesson. Our freshman year of high school, Amelia wanted me to teach her how to ride a skateboard so she could—in her words—be a cool skater girl. Esme heard the commotion, came outside, and asked me to show her too. Amelia, not one to ever share the spotlight, which was an uphill battle with four sisters, told her to take a flying leap. I couldn’t handle the tears in Esme’s eyes, so I promised her I would teach her. Amelia frowned, but didn’t say anything about me going against her wishes. As soon as my back was to her on my skateboard, she shoved me so hard I went flying into her dad’s police cruiser, denting the door. With visions of being handcuffed and taken to jail, I had to go into her house and tell him what I’d done, scared the whole time he’d forbid me from being friends with Amelia. I didn’t tell him it was Amelia’s fault, which was the only reason Amelia forgave me. Pretty sure that was the day the chief began to keep an eye on me like I was trouble. After that incident, I stayed far away from sister arguments.
Vee scoffed, moving away from me with a look that could kill aimed at Amelia. “Fine. Lukas is looking extra yummy tonight. I’ll go find friendlier pastures.” With a huff, she was gone, making a beeline for poor, unsuspecting Lukas. Vee was gorgeous, as were all the Waldo sisters, but she was also crafty. She hid behind a dumb-blonde façade when she was anything but.
“At first, I thought it was pretty cool to have our own wild peacock, but have you seen how much those things poop?” Finnie’s comment caught my attention.
Amelia stiffened next to me, her head popping off my shoulder. “Hey, wait! I think I saw that peacock at Lenora’s wedding!”
“Really, where?” Lenora leaned forward, intrigued that they’d had a peacock guest.
“He was outside, just coming out of the line of trees. He scared the shit out of me when he spread his feathers.”
Everyone laughed, imagining Amelia scared of a peacock.
“You know they’re a symbol of integrity and the beauty we can achieve when we show our true colors. It’s an honor when they fan their tail feathers at you.” Charlie, a new friend of ours, was a woodworker who leaned heavily into the hippie lifestyle.
“I don’t know, that seems like a lot of woo-woo nonsense. No offense, Charlie,” Amelia answered.
“Why do people always do that? They say something offensive and tack on the ‘no offense’ like that makes it all good.” Lucy ripped into Amelia, which had me sitting up straighter. I knew Lucy was just teasing, but it still made me mad.
“People say it when they want to speak the truth, but also care about other people’s feelings,” I added, my jaw tight.
“I actually add the opposite to my sentences. I say ‘offense meant’ and everybody just laughs. You might try going with that one instead.” Bain smirked and I imagined he probably did piss off a lot of people with his penchant for speaking baldly. He could be a grumpy son of a bitch, but everybody loved him.
Rip joined the circle without a word, sitting down on the other side of Amelia. The rest of the crew kept debating the merits of speaking the truth even when it wasn’t received well and also the ethics of pushing out a wild peacock from your land. I shook my head and chuckled.
