Lily chewed the bottom of her lip before speaking. “Okay, but only if—” The sound of a key scraping in the lock drew both of their attention as Wren’s roommate and teammate, Sydney Stone, entered the apartment.
Wren groaned, tossing her head back, the waterfall of her dark curls falling over the back of the couch.
“Hey, loser,” Sydney called, a paper bag of groceries in hand. “Get your ass up and come help me with the groceries.”
“Yeah, one sec,” Wren grumbled, swiftly kissing Lily on the cheek before getting to her feet.
Lily popped up too, moving towards the door to help with the groceries.
Sydney turned, bag in hand. “Oh, hi Lily. I didn’t realize you were still here,” she said coolly, handing the grocery bag to her.
Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes. What a fucking Sydney response. “Yup. Still here,” she said sweetly, trying her best to do what she always did and kill Sydney with kindness—the strategy she had been using since Wren and Sydney had signed their lease together last February.
She wasn’t sure why Sydney didn’t like her. It seemed like no matter what she did to try to win her over, it was no use. Lily had tried everything, including making her semi-famous sugar cookies and an objectively cute handmade card when her birthday rolled around in June. But Sydney Stone had a permanent stick up her ass and was, unfortunately, Wren’s best friend, so Lily would keep trying.
She placed the paper bag on the small apartment kitchen counter, then began pulling items from it.
“You don’t have to do that, Lils,” Wren said, holding two paper bags in her hands.
“I don’t mind. Happy to help.”
The front door to the apartment swung shut and a clattering sound drifted to them as Sydney wrangled the cart into the hall closet before joining them in the kitchen, making the small space feel even smaller.
Sydney reached into the bag closest to her, pulling out a six-pack of colorful cans. “I got a new IPA for us to try, Wrenny,” she said in that annoying voice she tended to use with Wren. AndWrenny?Really?
“Oh, cool. The cans are so pretty,” Wren said, hoisting herself up to sit on the counter. Sydney popped one of the cans out of the recycled plastic holder and tossed it to Wren, who nearly dropped it. Wren smiled sheepishly at Lily before pulling the tab and cracking the can open, taking a sip.
“You want one?” Sydney asked, popping another can free and holding it out to Lily.
Lily looked from the can in Sydney’s hand to Wren then back to Sydney. She had drank with Wren and her friends at the apartment before—it was the first place she had actually gotten kind of drunk. That evening should have been filed away in her mind as one of those fun core memories, except that Sydney anda few of Wren’s other friends had spent most of the next day making fun of her for being such a lightweight.
“Oh come on, you’re not too good for us, are you?” Sydney pushed, condescension all over her words, wiggling the can in front of her. “Grow up, Lily. Have a beer. It won’t kill you.”
And that was the tipping point where Lily lost her remaining control over her facial expression because the force with which she rolled her eyes could have registered on the Richter scale.
“Thanks, but no thanks,” Lily snapped. “I was about to leave.”
Wren looked at her, confused. “You were? I thought we were getting dinner, you know, because tomorrow is a travel day before the semi-finals and we won’t see each other.”
Lily shot an annoyed look at Wren. “No, I can’t get dinner. I forgot I’m supposed to help my mom drop her car off at the mechanic,” she lied.The mechanic?Really? Could she honestly not think of any other believable excuse?
Wren, still looking puzzled, hopped off the counter. “Oh, okay, well, let me take you to the ferry then.”
Sydney laughed, cracking open the can she had offered to Lily, taking a drawn-out sip. “See you around, Gallagher.” She smirked.
Lily grabbed her things off the couch, slipping into her sneakers and raincoat, Wren doing the same. Out on the street, they pulled their hoods up, shielding themselves from the gentle mist that had been falling all day.
The ferry terminal was a five-minute walk and a fifteen-minute bus ride from Wren’s apartment. And for those first five minutes, they walked in silence.
When they arrived at the bus stop, Lily pulled out her phone to check when the next bus would arrive. Ten minutes.
“I kind of get the feeling that you’re mad at me,” Wren said, looking down at her feet. “Whatever I did, I’m sorry.”
Wren had a habit of giving preemptive blanket apologies. It both broke Lily’s heart that Wren felt the need to apologize for everything and infuriated her that she struggled to identify what actually needed an apology.
“What was that in the kitchen with Sydney?” Lily asked, crossing her arms, looking up at Wren.
“What do you mean?”
