She shot Winnie a wink to make it clear that the comment was in jest.
“Okay, here’s where we are with the bookshelf debacle,” Eleanor said, bringing Winnie over to the troublesome piece.
Even half-assembled, Winnie could tell that the bookshelf would be spectacular. It was covered in designs that would make it perfect for holding kids’ books, or even fantasy or sci-fi titles.
“Oh, this is gorgeous,” she breathed.
That got a weary smile from Eleanor.
“Thanks. It will be, once it’s all put together.”
“Call your boyfriend,” Cadence said in a sing-song voice as she walked past, a handful of popcorn in her hand.
Eleanor rubbed at her temple, visibly conflicted.
“Hey,” Winnie said. On impulse, she wrapped her arm around Eleanor’s shoulders. She was relieved when Eleanor didn’t attempt to pull away. “We can build this. No big deal. Did it come with instructions.”
To Winnie’s surprise, this question made Cadence begin to laugh. A few minutes later, the booklet of instructions in her hand, she understood why.
“This is in German,” she said. “Or… Dutch? I don’t know. But it is not English.”
“It’s not English!” Eleanor agreed, looking as though she was rapidly reaching the end of her emotional tether. “And you might think, oh, okay, no big deal! There are pictures! Except the pictures are wrong, I’m pretty sure.”
“Yeah, the pictures are definitely wrong,” Winnie agreed. She felt a bit goofy turning the booklet upside down, but she had to try, right?
“Hey, I did that!” June exclaimed. She poked Cadence in the thigh where they sat next to one another on the floor. “You told me it was dumb, but Winnie did it too.”
“That might just mean we’re both dopes,” Winnie murmured out of the side of her mouth.
“No, we’re amazing,” June said in the same kind of voice, making both Winnie and Cadence laugh.
“Let’s call ourselves amazing when we get this thing built, huh?” Winnie said.
With that, they all leapt into action. Winnie wanted to believe that the whole shelf-building process would get easier once theystarted. That sometimes happened, where everything fell into place as soon as you solved the one confusing element.
This, alas, did not go that way. Instead, they had to try everything about five times before they managed to get anything right. Winnie’s right hand started to ache from all the times she had to screw and then unscrew various elements. It tookforever.
And yet…
And yet, Winnie found that she was having a great time.
She hadn’t been to very many sleepovers as a child, but Winnie’s few memories paralleled the ambiance of the evening… with more wine at the adult version, of course. But, despite their many setbacks, the energy of the night remained jovial.
Winnie and Eleanor ended up spearheading the actual building portions, while Cadence appointed herself the person to deliver snacks, Diana and June became the backup helpers when Winnie and Eleanor needed an extra set of hands, and Miriam became head of emotional support.
“I’m too old to lift things,” she said, “but I have a lifetime’s worth of cheerful things to say.”
It was extraordinarily late by the time they finished putting the bookshelf together. Winnie and Eleanor exchanged a single glance and then slumped into the free spots on the couch with a shared sigh of relief.
“Guys,” Diana said, a smile in her voice. “This looks… incredible.”
And it really, really did. The artistry was beautiful, and the way Eleanor had arranged the rest of the store made the gorgeous shelf a focal piece without letting it overwhelm the rest of the room.
“You really picked well,” Winnie said approvingly.
Eleanor leaned back to look behind Cadence’s head, giving Winnie a soft smile. Winnie could feel the meaning in that smile.She and Eleanor were good. It had taken them a while to get there, but they were good.
Winnie felt a jolt of satisfaction as she thought about Whit and Britt, not to mention any of the other naysayers who had told her she’d never make friends, that she was too dorky, too uptight, too weird.
