“Have you seen Rachel?” I asked as he moved toward the shower.
Clay shook his head. “No, I’m guessing she’s back in her room. She all right?” he asked.
“I’m not sure,” I answered truthfully. Clay came back over and wrapped me in a warm hug, kissing the top of my head.
“I’ll be down in a sec,” he said, leaving me for the shower.
I joined the others downstairs. Clare was still wrapped up in her towel, sitting at the island while Daniel made her some sort of drink.
“Whatcha doin’?” I asked as Daniel poured cranberry juice into a glass and garnished it with a lemon slice.
“Clay said we could get into the liquor. So I’m making Clare here a cranberry splash. Cranberry juice, vodka, and a splash of club soda. You want one?”
My stomach clenched up. I did not think it was a good idea for Clay to be around people drinking, given his history.
I shook my head. “Just take it easy, guys. We’re here to have a good time, not get loaded and throw up all night,” I warned. Daniel rolled his eyes at me.
“When did you become the party Nazi?” he joked, handing the drink to Clare. She took a drink and made a face.
“God, Danny. How much vodka did you put in here?” She sniffed the glass.
Daniel shrugged. “Enough. Now, just drink up.” He turned to make himself his own drink. I had a bad feeling about this. I wanted to find Rachel. I was worried about her. I headed down the hallway toward the bedroom she would be sharing with Daniel.
I tentatively knocked on the door. I heard a muffled “come in.” I opened the door to find Rachel sitting on the bed, painting her toenails. I’ll admit, I had expected Rachel to be curled into a ball, moping. So seeing her doing something as mundane as giving herself a pedicure was a nice surprise.
“Hey,” I said, plopping down beside her.
“Hey,” she said back, not looking up.
“Cool color,” I commented, watching her coat her nails with a fire-engine red.
Rachel wiggled her toes. “Yeah, they’ll look awesome with my strappy red dress.”
Rachel put the cap back on the nail polish and placed it on the bedside table before stretching out her legs, waiting for her toes to dry. I lay down on the bed and pulled a pillow under my head. “Why are you hiding in here?” I asked her, point-blank.
Rachel leaned over to blow on her nails. “I’m not hiding.” I looked at her archly. Who was she kidding? “Okay, so maybe I’m hiding. I just can’t deal withhisbullshit. Everything he says and does right now just pisses me off. He doesn’t even mean to hurt me, which makes it all that much worse. I know I’m being a moody bitch. Just let me have my PMS moment in peace, please. I promise to put on the shiny-happy later. But now I feel like brooding.” Rachel got up and hobbled over to the bathroom, making sure she didn’t mess up her toenails.
“Fine. But I’m holding you to the whole shiny, happy thing. Because the gloomy, emo show you’re putting on seriously sucks.” I stuck my tongue out at her as she closed the door. But I was happy to see her small smile before she shut me out.
I went back into the living room. “So, is Her Majesty going to grace us with her presence?” Daniel asked, as I sat down beside Clay on the sofa.
“Shut up, Daniel! If you weren’t such a self-centered prick, you’d figure out you’re ninety-nine percent of her problem,” I barked. That shut Danny up. Ray snickered from across the room and Clare’s eyes widened at my outburst.
“Cool your heels, baby,” Clay said, rubbing my arm. I sank into his touch, wanting to ignore the inevitable drama between my two best friends. When had things gotten so complicated? I hated this weirdness that existed between Rachel and Daniel. Even worse, I was focusing on their shit and not on what was happening between my boyfriend and me.
Rachel came out of the bedroom a short time later. “Check out the snow,” she said, pointing at the window. The snow had picked up considerably since we had come inside and half an inch of white now lay on the ground.
“Oh, I hope we get stuck here!” Clare clapped her hands in excitement.
“Yeah,” I said halfheartedly. That little scenario wouldn’t be so great for me, considering my parents had no idea where I really was. I watched the flakes fall from the sky. Clay’s arm rested warmly over my shoulders and I rested my head on his shoulder. For that one moment in time, everything was how I wanted it tobe.
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Clay was nudging me awake. “Hey, sleepyhead. Time to get up. We need to start getting dinner together,” he whispered in my ear, kissing it gently, sending shivers down my spine.
I stretched and tried to burrow back down into the couch cushions. “No, I want to sleep,” I complained, closing my eyes again.
“Get up, Mags!” Daniel shouted, before jumping on top of me. He tickled my sides until I was gasping for breath.
“I’m up, I’m up!” I screeched, smacking his hands away. I shoved Daniel off me and stood up.
