Now I See You | ✓

Twenty-Two

"Okay, you're honestly just my favourite person in the whole entire world."

Manal laughs at our over-dramatic friend, throwing a big sharing bag of chips in her direction, that we know she'll tank all by herself. "I know."

Josie clutches the chips in one hand, blowing kisses with the other. "Love you."

Manal returns the affection, before tossing a dark raspberry chocolate bar in my direction. "There you go, Judah."

I smile weakly, grabbing the bar out of the air, trying to ignore the tossing of my stomach because the chocolate – my favourite chocolate – inevitably reminds me of Mason. Even if it was my favourite first. "Thanks, Manal."

She winks at me easily, before ripping open a bag of popcorn for herself and pressing play on the movie that the three of us have settled down on the couch to watch.

Since Zeb left a few days ago, these two have been spending even more time with me than normal. If I didn't know better, I'd say that they're worried about me.

That, or Zeb's put them up to it, which wouldn't exactly surprise me. Not to mention that, despite how discrete I know she's trying to be, I occasionally notice my brother's name lighting up Manal's phone screen.

She's been spending a bit more time typing away on her phone, with the tiniest of smiles curling the corners of her mouth, but she's not mentioned a word to me.

The curious part of me is dying to ask what's going on with her, but I also suspect that if it's anything, she'll tell me when she's ready. I don't really want to put her in an awkward position. For all I know, they could just be talking about me.

Somehow, I doubt it, though.

Still. I've resolved to be the bigger girl about this, even though I'm concerned that at least one of them is going to get hurt by all of this. Zeb's a flirt, but I know he'd fall hard, especially for someone like Manal. If he's as convinced as he is that she's not interested at all, I'm just worried that he's right.

Shaking my head out of my thoughts, I shuffle backwards into the sofa a bit better and turn my attention to the movie that we're watching tonight.

The girls have been doing their best all week to distract me from the impending hearing on Friday, so I know that they've put on yet another comedy just for me, even though Manal's much more into horror.

Josie seems to be able to watch just about anything and never really weighs in on the debate about what to watch.

Still, as the movie goes on, I find myself paying less and less attention to it, particularly because it's one that I've already seen multiple times. Instead, my brain decides that now is the perfect time to batter me with all sorts of worries about what Friday will entail.

What will Mason do when he sees me there? What kind of questions will they ask? Will I manage to get through the whole thing without throwing up or fainting?

Just as I'm in the middle of that delightful cocktail of confused ramblings – my brain is, of course, trying to persuade me that it'll be worst case scenario – my phone rings, pulling me out of my stupor.

I breathe a sigh of relief, until I glance at the caller ID. It's my Mom, and I'm not sure which is worse: the thoughts that have been plaguing my brain since I agreed to testify at the hearing, or the prospect of speaking to my mother, who's only going to have a go at me.

Zeb's words ring around in my ears, about giving her a chance, and because I've spent my whole life taking my older brother's advice, I decide that I'll keep doing that.