Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 158872 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 794(@200wpm)___ 635(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
At least a conversation with Dex will take my mind off of missing Molly tonight.
Molly
The night started out pretty great. I helped Hayden fix snacks and lay them out on her long kitchen counter. Her cousin Jenn showed up an hour later with her giant kit full of hair tools, styling products, and barrettes.
Where Hayden is loud and bright, her cousin Jenn is sweet but plain—our friend group equivalent of vanilla pudding. She’s even wearing a cream sweater and tan leggings tonight—plain as can be. We’re friendly enough. Sometimes I feel like she’s jealous of my friendship with her cousin and it makes our hangouts awkward.
But tonight Jenn and I are bonding over our search for the perfect prom hair style. “You should leave your hair down but maybe do some small, strategically placed braids,” Jenn suggests, pulling a few strands away from my face and weaving them into a halo and pinning it in the back.
Kyla waves a packet of tiny clips shaped like little red roses. “I assume your dress will be red or purple?”
“Purple.” I throw my hands up in an of course gesture.
“Don’t get her started,” Darcy warns. “She’ll tell us all about how purple has been associated with royalty since ancient times, during the Bronze Age, blah, blah, blah.”
My cheeks heat. I did probably say something like that—back in seventh grade. Of course, Darcy remembers.
“And she’s going to marry Griffin Royal one day,” Hayden sings. “So purple’s her color forever.”
I side-eye her pink dress. “Okay, Barbie.”
Hayden falls into a fit of giggles. “It’s my signature color.”
“Indeed.” Darcy flicks a small, pink satin bow at Hayden.
A thud resonates from the front of the house and a few seconds later, the doorbell rings.
“Guests are here!” Hayden jumps off the couch and runs to answer.
“What guests?” Jenn casts an anxious glance toward the front door. “I thought it was just us hanging out tonight?”
A slow smile curves Darcy’s lips. “We invited a few extras to hang out.”
Great.
It’s not a “few” people. A bunch of seniors and a couple of juniors stomp into the house. Loud, boisterous, and carrying cases of beer.
Jenn scowls. “Chris and James graduated like two years ago. Why do they even want to hang out with us?”
Kyla snickers into her hand. “You’re going to a die a virgin, Jenn.”
“Fine by me”—Jenn lifts her chin toward the two jocks babbling about some sportsball game—“if those guys are my only options.”
I snort-laugh and pull myself off the floor. More and more people come in through the front door.
In no time, our fun night of braiding and curling our hair turns into a loud, crowded, noisy party.
“Your mom’s gonna kill you,” I warn Hayden when I pass her in the hallway.
She shrugs.
Annoyed and uncomfortable, I grab a can of seltzer from the fridge and wander through the house in search of a safe place to hide from the mayhem. Photos of Hayden throughout the years line the white hallway walls sprinkled with other family photos. There are a few blank spaces with the outline of a frame visible dotted throughout the wall of memories. Did Hayden erase her dad’s existence from the wall or did her mom?
Bang. I collide with a body.
“Oh, sorry.” Mortification heats my skin. Why am I worried about Hayden’s family drama instead of watching where I’m going?
“It’s okay. I was looking for you, Molly.”
I lift my gaze and Wesley’s utterly unremarkable face leers down at me.
“For me?” No, no, no, what did Hayden tell him? I’d thought she was kidding about trying to set us up to make Griff jealous.
He leans one arm against the wall and angles his body to block my escape, unless I want to trip over his big, white sneakers.
“Yeah, Hayden said you’d be here.” He tips the bottle of beer in his hand toward his lips and takes a quick sip. “My buddies and I brought the beer.”
Am I supposed to be impressed?
He points the bottle toward the kitchen behind me. “Wade’s been yapping about Hayden all day. Ditched me to find her as soon as we got here.”
Those two would make a cute couple, even if Hayden says Wade’s too bookish. “She’ll be happy to see him.”
“Enough about them. What are you up to?” His gaze slides over me, stopping to linger on my chest for so long, I wish I’d worn a hoodie tonight instead of this dumb low-cut shirt.
I shrug and pull my hair over my shoulders, draping as much as possible over my chest. “School. Work.”
“You still working at Miller’s Farms?”
How’d he know that?
“Uh, yeah. Only a couple nights a week, though. My brother doesn’t like me taking too many shifts.”
His lip curls at the mention of Remy. “Yeah, how is Remington?” he asks in a snide tone that activates my little sister defensive shields.
I lift my chin. “He’s good.” An overprotective pain in my butt who uses my hair products without permission, but I’m not letting anyone talk shit about him no matter what.