Page 98 of Just Friends

He leans in, adjusting my blindfold so it’s more secure. “But as long as I’m in a knit polo…”

“Hey, Alex?” I say, letting him hear the smile in my voice.

“Yes, Hazel?”

“Where are we going?”

The door slams shut, and my laugh bounces through the otherwise empty car. When Alex climbs in a minute later, I say, “So we’re going to the drive-in.”

He lets out a sigh and begins backing out of the parking spot.

“A picnic!” I shout. “How romantic.”

Light shines through the cracks in the blindfold as we turn out of the garage and onto the street, and I can feel the bright sunshine warming my skin. “It’s fifty-five degrees outside.”

“Life’s a beach if you make it one.”

“That’s not a saying,” Alex says, and I can practicallyhearthe furrow in his brow.

I lift my shoulder in a shrug, blindly feeling for the radio buttons. “If you get to make up sayings, then so do I.”

Alex swats my hands away from the radio. “What do you want to listen to?”

“Something good,” I say, and a few moments later, even though it’s barely spring, soft music from Alex’sSummer Anthemsplaylist filters through the speakers. It reminds me of warm days in Fontana Ridge, of driving with the windows down, my hair catching in the breeze. It reminds me of muddy tires and washing off with a hose on the side of the house. It reminds me of sleeping beside Alex in a too-small trundle bed. It reminds me of all the little moments with Alex that I never realized would become core memories.

“Did I tell you Lucy wants me to paint a mural in the coffee shop?” I ask after the first song ends. Last weekend, we drove to a huge indoor flea market an hour away and spent the whole day wandering booths, picking up pieces of homemade pottery and vintage jewelry. When we got to the back, there was a woman running an apothecary booth, and she had a giant mural painted on her portable wall. It was stunning, and Lucy immediately asked me to do one for her.

“Really?” Alex asks, his turn signal blinking softly in the background. “That’s amazing, Haze.”

“I’ve never done anything like that before, but I think it will be fun,” I say. “I’m thinking I’ll really lean into her cottagecore vibes. Make it look like a witch’s cottage in the woods.”

“Wait,” he says, voice perking up. “Did I ever tell you about the time last spring that I met with her when I was trying to figure out how to make you fall in love with me?”

Laughter crackles through me, splitting my face in a smile as I say, “No, you just told me she was giving you advice.”

“Hazel, she’s a witch.”

His tone is so serious that I can’t hold back my barking chuckle. “Oh, I definitely have to hear this now.”

For the rest of the car ride, he tells me about the time he met with Lucy in a cat café. I know exactly the one he’s talking about, since I’ve gone with her many times. I even recognize the precocious black cat from the story.

We have to start and stop many times as I ask for details in some places and laugh so hard I have to clutch my side in others. By the time he’s finishing up, his voice is animated, and even though I’m blindfolded, I know he’s waving his hands madly as he tries to get his point across.

“She’s a witch, and you can’t convince me otherwise,” he says, ending the story.

I have to press my lips together to hold back my grin. “I’ll make sure to tell her that.”

“Itell her that all the time,” he says. “I’m not positive she hasn’t cursed me. You know I haven’t been able to get a good haircut in a year.”

“It did make your family Christmas card photos look insane,” I acquiesce.

“Mommade our Christmas photos look insane,” he grumbles. “I still don’t understand why we have to do a Christmas card now that we’re grown adults.” His voice goes high as he mimics his mother. “‘Adam represented a famous client,who shall remain nameless. Alexander sold a six-million-dollar home, and Elizabeth is now managing a second property. We’re holding out hope for a wedding and grandchildren next year.’”

“Christmas was something else.” I brought Alex home to Fontana Ridge for Thanksgiving, but we spent Christmas together at his parents’ house. The theme was formal Nutcracker ballet, and while I showed up in a gauzy white dress, Ellie wore a huge tulle skirt that Alex had to spend the entire evening distracting his mother from commenting on.

We drank eggnog milkshakes in the burger drive-in parking lot after, and when we’d finally stopped laughing, our throats were sore and our voices were hoarse. Despite the craziness, it was my favorite holiday. Although I already knew I was in love with him and never wanted things between us to end,thatwas the night I knew I wanted to spend every holiday with him. I wanted to spend all those precious, sacred days laughing at our families’ antics, eating ice cream so sweet it makes our teeth hurt, and falling asleep on the couch twenty minutes into a movie, wrapped in each other’s arms.

The turn signal clicks for a moment before Alex steers the car left. A moment later, we slow, and he pushes the gearshift into park.

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