“Next week.”
“And will you be signing autographs afterward or do I have to stalk you in the parking lot?” I braced my back against a mass of hanging T-shirts, propped my foot on the opposite wall of the closet and pushed. Selena squeezed half a dozen more hangers into the newly revealed space.
“Don’t.”
“What? Push from the other side and you can fit a few more. We won’t be able to get anything out, but that’s a problem for future us.”
Selena’s arms stayed at her side. “Don’t make jokes. I’m trying to do something here. It’s important to me.”
“So you can make jokes about me but I can’t about you?”
“Just don’t. Not about this.”
“Okaaaayyy.”
“I’m nervous.”
“Me too.” I eyed the closet, half expecting the whole thing to explode the second I extricated myself from inside. I did it in a dash. The clothing swelled back together and the hanging rod bowed a little but held. Fears abated, I grinned at Selena, but she wasn’t even looking at the closet. “Wait, you’re nervous because of me?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s stupid.” I grabbed another armful of clothes from her open suitcase, took one look at the near-bursting closet and headed for the dresser instead. “I know you’ll be great.”
“My feelings aren’t stupid.”
“Thank you, Dr. Phil. You know what I mean. When have we ever not supported each other? You come to almost all my softball games, and I’ve been to every one of yours. This’ll just be the same minus the giant foam fingers and face paint.”
She smiled.
“I’ll start cheering when you walk up to the mic.” Laying the clothes atop my dresser, I cupped my hands around my mouth. “Come on, Selena! You got this, you got this. Just keep your eye on the—” I lowered my hands, unsure of the singing-related equivalent toballin this case “—crowd?”
“Gavin says it’s good to pick one person and focus on singing just to them.”
“Okay.” I brought my hands back to my mouth. “Keep your eye on the randomly selected person. Wooo!”
The tightness around her mouth eased. “Now I’m nervous you’re actually going to do that.” She still did look uneasy, so I dropped the teasing altogether.
“I can slip in the back if you want. You won’t even have to see me until you’re done.”
“No, I want you there.”
“Then I’ll be there.”
“Thanks,” she said as I knelt and started emptying my bottom dresser drawer for her. “But not Mom and Dad. I’m not ready for them yet.”
“Just me and a coffee shop full of strangers.” I glanced at her over my shoulder. “And Gavin?”
“He’ll be there, but you’ll meet him before then. He’s coming to your next game.”
“NowI’mnervous.”
“You’ll like him. Trust me.”
“I can still be nervous. I usually hate your boyfriends, and you basically told me he’s going to be my brother-in-law.”
Selena’s cheeks flushed in a smile. “I kind of did, didn’t I?”
I sat on my heels, immobilized by the sheer joy in her expression. “You’re not nervous about that at all, are you?”
