“I have no clue if it is.”
“Does it look like dirty dishwater?”
I shake the large glass bottle around, making the grayish-brown liquid slosh. “Yep.”
“That’s it. Grab a couple of highball glasses. It’s best to throw it back like a shot.”
My stomach rolls at the thought. I let Farrah pour the drink into our glasses and then grab the one she hands me.
“Drink fast and don’t breathe. Trust me.” Farrah lifts her glass in the air before throwing it back. I follow suit, gagging a bit once it’s down. We both stand there for a minute, waiting to see if it will stay down or if we’re gonna get to experience it twice.
Once we’re positive we’ll be fine, I pour two mugs of coffee, and we sit at the table together. I ask her about what it was like to grow up here, and we commiserate about the best and worst parts of small-town life. Farrah and Gwen went tohigh school together, but they didn’t become friends until she moved back to town last year.
My phone rings in the middle of us laughing over embarrassing high school moments. I answer Holt’s video call without thinking about the state of my hungover face and immediately regret it. My hair looks like a rat’s nest, and I have giant dark circles under my eyes.
“Hey, Rainbow. Rough night?” Holt’s grinning at me, his blue eyes sparkling. I try to tame my wayward locks but quickly give up. He’s seen the damage and didn’t hang up.
“Mm. Gwen pulled out the premade margarita mix, and things went downhill from there. I drank Tula’s hangover cure, and am just now starting to feel like myself.”
“G!” Leah shouts, making me wince. She steals the phone out of Holt’s hands before he can stop her. I have to close my eyes to avoid getting motion sickness as the video goes blurry. “You wanna have a sleepober with us?”
Lauren’s face comes on the screen next to her sister’s. “We built the coolest fort with our friends last night, and Daddy said we could keep it up and watch movies with you tonight.”
“Only if she’s available. She hasn’t said yes yet.” Holt’s voice comes from the distance.
I glance at Farrah as she covers her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “I would love to have a sleepover. What time do you want me to come over?”
“You can come right now! Daddy maked abocado toast.” Leah grins.
“I thought we were going to the library today?” Holt asks.
“Oh, yeah. You can come over right now, and then we can go to the libary together.”
“How about Gia meets us here after we get back from the library?”
“Can we leave right now?”
“No, you’re still in your pajamas, and you haven’t eaten your breakfast.”
I lose the battle with my laughter. The way the three of them interact with each other kills me. The girls are entirely too smart to let Holt get away with anything, but luckily for him, he doesn’t seem to fall for their tricks very often.
“Uggghh. Fine. See you later, G.”
“Wait, I need—” The phone beeps as the call ends. I look at Farrah, and we both crack up laughing. “Those girls might be my favorite humans.”
“Same,” Farrah says through her giggles. “I’m not supposed to have favorites, but Leah is something else altogether.”
I text Holt for the details of when and where I should meet them since we never settled the plan, then Farrah and I finish our coffees before she heads home to get ready for her shift at the diner. I head upstairs to shower and attempt to look somewhat human before going over to Holt’s house. I’m going to need my wits about me if I want to keep up with Lauren and Leah.
“Knock, knock!” I holler as I walk through the Basil family’s front door.
“G!” Leah and Lauren race across the room from the kitchen. “Is that stuff for us?”
“It sure is. I’ve got tons of snacks and a few super important items every girls’ night needs to have.”
“Like what?” Leah tries to look into the bags. I set them on the dining room table and start pulling stuff out.
“Popcorn is a must, and M&Ms to cut the saltiness, nail polish in a multitude of colors, a speaker in case we want tolisten to music before we watch a movie, and the last and most important item for a good girls’ night is face masks.”
