It was still early, so I braced myself against the cold and headed to Coco’s.
“Ruby!” she squealed when I knocked on her door.
I walked inside to find Emilia and her dressed to the nines. I looked down at my jeans, snow boots and silky tunic and felt completely underdressed. “You guys look amazing,” I told them, feeling awkward and out of place. Oh, well, it just meant I’d get to leave faster. Netflix and a long list of cheesy holiday movies were calling my name.
“You can’t wear that,” Coco announced, immediately confirming my fears.
“What’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
“Not sexy enough,” Emilia threw in. “New Year’s Eve is all about the spice.”
I looked down at my clothes again, feeling defensive. “This is spicy.”
“No,” the agreed together.
“That’s lonely,” Coco added.
“It’s all I have.”
Emilia tsked. “Wrong. You have us. And we have more than we know what to do with.”
An hour later, a pile of clothes littered their living room, but we were all dressed to impress. Coco wore a black, shimmery sheath dress that barely covered her bum with lace sleeves and thigh-high black suede boots. Her dark hair was done in big, bouncy curls and she’d styled them over one shoulder. Emilia’s maroon, velvet dress reached her thighs, but it was tight enough to reveal every single curve and contour of her body. The sweetheart neckline with spaghetti strap sleeves only added more va-va-voom. Her sky-high heels were the opposite of her hiking boots, but somehow she managed her balance just fine.
And for me? They’d found a pale pink, lacey, loose, long-sleeved tunic. We’d belted it, so I had a figure, but the neckline dipped below the belt. Thankfully, my bra still worked to keep the girls in place. Also, praises because I had shaved all the way up my legs this morning. In the winter, it was always iffy if I bothered with my thighs or not. So, score for that little piece of intuition.
My pale, pale skin somehow managed to look more porcelain than translucent and Emilia had done some voodoo with my hair, because it looked styled instead of wild. Coco had finished my look with chunky gold bangles and champagne ankle boots.
I blinked at myself in the mirror, not remembering the last time I looked this put together. Or pretty.
“Voila!” Coco cheered, showing me the finished look in the mirror.
“Wow,” I gasped. “I… I didn’t even know this was possible.”
“You look amazing,” Em confirmed.
I felt amazing too. For the first time ever, I was able to relax tonight. I wasn’t worried about Max at home with my mom or how I would pay her for babysitting him. I wasn’t worried about the hundred little things that always seemed to pile up. I was just… happy.
And it felt strange. But good.
“A toast!” Coco declared before we walked out the door. She handed me a small shot glass filled with golden liquor. “Fireball,” she confirmed. “Your favorite.”
Waggling my eyebrows, I took it from her. “Yum.”
Emilia took hers too and we crowded around the kitchen island. “To a new year,” she said seriously. “And to taking risks and reaping the rewards.”
I breathed out. “I think I took enough risks last year. I’m good for a while.”
Coco shook her head. “But look how good everything turned out? It’s time to take more chances, Rubes. You’ve been hiding for too long. No more. The truth is out there. It’s time for you to get out there too.”
My heart kicked against my breastbone, feeling the truth zing through the air and straight to the core of me. “Okay,” I whispered, already feeling the fizzy feeling of the alcohol before I’d even taken a sip. “Okay, fine. To risks and rewards.”
We cheered as we clinked our glasses together and knocked back the cinnamon whisky. It filled me with a warm burn that sustained us as we crossed the street to Pug’s, braving the freezing winter night so we didn’t have to carry jackets with us.
The heated air wrapped around my skin, the second we stepped inside the busy bar and I shivered against the sensation. I gazed at the dance floor and the crowded bar finding all the usual suspects.
Kristen March was here with her gaggle of friends. Jamie and Jason were in one corner with their friends. Ajax was on the dance floor, a girl already wrapped around him. Levi, Finch and Mercer were by the pool table.
Everybody was here, but for the first time in my life, I walked into this space and felt like I belonged. Clark City had been the place I never wanted to end up. Yet, over the last seven years, it had become the place I called home. I belonged here. I belonged with these people.
