She pulled her hands back, putting them in her lap, and looked outside the window avoiding my eyes. She chewed on her bottom lip. I could see the wheels turning inside her head.
“Bianca!”
“Okay, okay.” Her chest expanded with the breath she took before she turned her head toward me. “I did a thingy.”
“Bianca,” I groaned.
“But it’s a teeny tiny thingy, and you can’t exactly blame me. I did it for you.”
“What. Did. You. Do?”
“Iinvitedsomecollegeguystothepartyandtoldthemaboutyou.” She babbled so fast, the only thing I caught was the “college guys” part.
“You did what?”
“You heard me.”
“I didn’t, that’s the problem. Did you invite someone tonight to be my date?”
“Maaaaaaaaybe.” She grinned. “But he’s super cute, and he’s only nineteen, just started at college, and he’s friends with my cousin.”
I dropped my head to the table, hitting it with my forehead over and over again.
“Please don’t kill me.”
I might have to. I hated blind dates. I hated knowing that there was somebody waiting for me, when neither one of us knew each other.
“Why’d you do it?” I asked as I lifted my head. “You know I hate that shit.”
“I know, and I knew you would be pissed, but, Soph… You were so sad. You broke my heart at least fifteen times since that day I found you in his car.”
“So you thought introducing me to some random guy would suddenly cure me?”
“No, but I did think that it wouldn’t hurt having a little bit of fun. I’m not asking you to marry him or anything, but just come along. It might be really fun.”
I knew it might be fun. One part of me yearned for these normal things nowadays. But if Noah was going to be there, I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want us to get into yet another fight. Especially not in front of all these people we both knew.
“Pretty please,” she begged. “Soon enough, we’ll be going off to college. God knows when the next time will be that we’ll see each other, let alone party together.”
When she put it that way… “You’re killing me, Bianca.”
“I’m not trying to, but just imagine us, a couple of years down the road, regretting it because we didn’t go to this party.”
“So now you’re dishing out all those cards you’ve been holding.”
“I never said I wasn’t going to play dirty.” She grinned. “Is it working?”
“Yes, dammit. It’s working.”
The light that took over her entire face could’ve blinded me, but something warm spread from my chest, through my limbs, all the way to my fingers and my toes.
“But I’m not drinking, and I’m leaving by nine-thirty.”
“Deal.”
“If you’re getting wasted, I’m leaving you there.”
“Agreed.” She nodded again.
