Some emotion Ican’t describe flits across Leland’s face, but it’s gone before Ican analyze it. “Of course. I consider myself lucky to have bothMcGrath siblings in my life.”
I refrain fromtelling him we’re the lucky ones. Instead, I root around in mypurse until I find the small package of tissues I always carry withme. I swipe at my damp face and angle my body away to blow my noseas discreetly as possible. When I straighten, Leland starts walkingagain without saying anything, and I fall into step besidehim.
“Youreally haven’t skated since the accident?”
I exhale sharply.Leland starts to tell me I don’t have to answer, but I cut him off.“It’s okay. For a long time, I was in too much physical pain toeven consider it. My physiotherapist eventually said I couldattempt it as part of my rehab, but by then, it was the emotionalpain holding me back. I knew I’d never be able to skate the way Iused to—partly because the injury left one of my legs slightlyshorter than the other—so even the thought of returning to the icerepresented all my broken hopes and dreams.”
Leland nods. “I’msorry, Stella. It must have been awful.”
“Itreally, really was.” There’s no use denying it, although I try toinfuse a dash of humor into my voice to lighten the mood. It worksenough to make Leland’s lips curve in a half smile, although itdoesn’t quite reach his eyes. An idea suddenly occurs to me, and Iverbalize it before I can think twice and back out. “Do you haveplans for tomorrow night?”
“No…”
“Whatif we came to the Village for the event? I can’t promise I’d go sofar as to actually attempt roller skating, but it’s been ages sinceI’ve seen Wesley do his DJ thing, and you know how much I love ’90smusic. Plus it’d be one final public practice for our fakerelationship before the reunion.”
“Youdon’t need to convince me, Stella,” Leland says, his smile moregenuine now. “I’d love to go with you.”
“Great.Then it’s a date.”
“A dateto roller skate.” His smile verges on a smirk that reminds me ofhis ridiculous ramblings the other night at the banquet. They weremeant as a distraction then, and I have a feeling that’s what he’sdoing now: continuing to help me lighten the mood after the heavytone our conversation took. He always seems to know exactly what Ineed.
He proves thatfurther when he slips his hand into mine as we carry on through theVillage. There’s no real reason for him to hold my hand; no one tosee us, no one to put on a show for. And yet the contact bothcomforts and exhilarates me.
I’m going to missmoments like this after the reunion, so I soak in the warmth ofLeland’s hand in mine, and remind myself for the umpteenth timethat this is temporary and I’d be wise not to get used toit.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Areyou absolutelysureother people will be dressing up?” I ask, twisting one way andthen the other in front of the full-length mirror in mybedroom.
Felicity comes upbehind me and plants her hands on my shoulders, grinning as shetakes in our reflections. She called me last night to say Lelandhad told her we’d decided to go to the roller skating event afterall. She suggested the two of us get ready together, asked me adozen questions about my favorite styles and characters from the’90s, and then told me she’d handle our outfits.
“Positive,” she says firmly. “Ivy herself told me it was atheme night and to come wearing my best ’90s outfit, whether it wasgeneral fashion of the time or an iconic character.”
Felicity went the iconic character route and is dressed as TaiFrasier fromClueless. She looks adorable in a high-waisted plaid miniskirt, lightblue t-shirt, cropped velvet sweater, and dark tights. Her hair issecured in a high ponytail with a halo of frizzy curls around herhead.
I blow out a slowbreath as I take in my outfit once more. I had suggested dressinglike Sporty Spice since I’ve done it before. Like many pre-teensand teens of the late ’90s and early 2000s, my friends and I wentthrough a Spice Girls phase (a phase which, if I’m honest, nevercompletely ended; we still love the band and dream of the day theyreunite one more time so we can see them again in concert). Weagreed to dress as them one year for Halloween and I chose SportySpice since I was…well, the sporty one. Evie was Posh, Hollie wasGinger, and Louisa was Baby. I had the costume, simple as it was,all ready, but ended up going out of town for a skatingcompetition. When I returned, the girls insisted we all dress upfor a Spice Girls photoshoot, and they even bought one of thoselife-size cardboard cutouts of Scary Spice from the record store sothe group would be complete.
When Felicityarrived this evening, she said she couldn’t find anything thatwould work for Sporty Spice, so she’d gone with a popular throwbacklook: denim overalls. Her concession to my original idea was aSpice Girls t-shirt, glittery eye makeup, and a neon pink scrunchiefor me to put my hair in a high ponytail à la Mel C. I have toadmit I love the look, and when I asked how she managed to getclothes in my size, she said they were thrift store finds.Apparently I’ve been sleeping on the whole thrifting trend and needto get myself to the nearest charity shop.
“Now,there’s just one final decision to make,” Felicity says, crossingthe room and rooting around in the giant tote bag she brought. Shestraightens, holding a blue-and-red plaid shirt in one hand and apatterned neon fanny pack in the other.
“I wasthinking one of us could wear the fanny pack and put our stuff init so we don’t have to bring purses,” she says, holding up the neonmonstrosity and wiggling it around. “It would go better with youroutfit than mine, but I don’t mind wearing it if you’d rather rockthe trend of the plaid shirt tied around your waist. You could doboth, but it would probably be cumbersome.”
I reach for thefanny pack and adjust the belt to fit around my waist. “You thoughtof everything, didn’t you?”
“I lovestuff like this.” She returns to the mirror and adjusts the loosecurls around her face. “I was a kid who never grew out of playingdress up. Luckily, I’ve met a bunch of people over the years wholike to do cosplay, so it gives me an excuse to put together funoutfits and costumes a few times a year.”
“Wecould do that as part of the theme nights at the store,” I say.“Cosplay for specific fandoms or themes like tonight’s but withdifferent decades. Maybe even general costumes where people dressup however they want. We could have contests and get people to votefor their favorites. Prizes could be themed merch from the store orgift cards.”
A slowsmile creeps across Felicity’s face until she’s full-on CheshireCat grinning. “Ilovethat idea. Also, I couldn’t help noticing you said ‘we’ alot…” Before I can respond, her phone dings repeatedly from whereshe’s left it on my dresser. “Saved by the bell,” she says as shedashes across the room. “It’s Leland. He says he’s on his way tothe venue and will meet us there. Ready to go party like it’s1999?”
I suck in a deepbreath and let it out slowly. My knees are shaking; I’m not surewhether it’s from the thought of donning roller skates or seeingLeland. Maybe both. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
*****
I canhear the rhythmicthump thump thumpof bass as we approach the Village’s events venue.My heart beats along in time to the music, throbbing in my pulsepoints and banging against my ribs like a kickdrum. My palms aresweating and my face is tingling. My bad leg has been hurting eversince we got into Felicity’s car, although I have to wonder ifthat’s psychosomatic.
Felicity loops herarm around my waist as we approach the venue doors. She squeezes meand shoots me a quick smile that doesn’t quite cover the concern inher eyes. She’s so much like her brother: kind, caring, empathetic.Just as I would if it were Leland here offering comfort, I drawstrength from Felicity’s presence.
