Sarah is thrown back into an ugly past when her old best-friend-turned-enemy kills herself. With the help of new smiles and old glares, she learns that some things just won't stay dead until you make peace with them.
"It's getting too hot for this," I said when Will hung his arm over my shoulders. It was Saturday, and he walked me down the steps of my house to his car, which reflected dull sunshine as it waited in the heat.
"I can deal," he said, giving me a firm squeeze before going round to get in the driver's seat. I hopped in the passenger side with a playful eye roll.
"Turn on the air," I moaned as we drove off. I stared out the window and my mind began to replay the messages from last night. I would have to see today just how mad Thea actually was.
"Hey," said Will, shaking me gently from my daze, "Don't linger on it. I'm sure she's forgotten about it."
I wasn't so sure, but I shrugged.
"It's Eliza's birthday party," he insisted, "Let go and have some fun."
We rolled to a stop in front of a row of red-brick terraced houses lined with white gates and bright green maples. Eliza's house had a pair of pink and white balloons displayed on a fence that was lined with a selection of flower-bushes and had me sneezing as soon as I got out of the car.
"Here," said Will, pulling nasal spray from his pocket, and I raised an eyebrow.
"You don't have hay fever."
Will shrugged as we walked up the steps, "But you do."
I slowed as I smiled at him gently and squeezed his middle with my free arm, the other carrying a metallic pink box and golden envelope. The dress I wore lifted slightly in the breeze once we'd gone through the house to the back garden, which was decorated in every bit the fairy-tale escape that matched Eliza so perfectly. A long white table decorated with pink and white paper plates and napkins with the occasional pink-tainted mason jar holding daisies.
Eliza greeted us both with a hug, and I handed over her present ("from Will and I"). Thea and Abbey stood with Harry and Matt, laughing about something, and I felt my heart begin to race. Now I would find out.
"Hey, guys," I said as I walked over. Thea turned around and gave me a small, maybe even tight, smile. Abbey reached over and hugged me, and I tussled Harry's hair.
"How are you holding up, by the way?" I said to him, and he shrugged.
"Fine," he sighed, "It was either break up now, or attempt long-distance, which we both knew wasn't going to work..."
He scuffed the dirt at his feet and added, "I miss her, though."
I nodded, "We all miss Sam, too."
"I'm so sad she had to go, even if it was for art school," said Abbey, and Thea led her away, saying something about getting more food. Will appeared beside me with a bottle of ginger beer.
"Thanks," I said drily, and sat down on an outdoor lounge, staring at Thea as she laughed with Abbey by the table.
"Hey," Will snapped his fingers, "Stop it."
"Sorry," I said, giving him my most convincing smile. He rolled his eyes and pulled me closer, resting his nose into my hair as I sank into his cool shirt. Here, I was safe.
The rest of the lunch party continued in that same fashion. Every time I looked at Thea, she was looking at me, and we both looked away quick enough to call it coincidence should anyone ask - which they wouldn't.
By the end I found myself almost indifferent, and attempted to engage her in more small talk as the party went on, which she took up willingly with small smiles that seemed to me only half full.
As Will drove me home, I smiled slightly at the dashboard, hoping that it would be enough to make me feel as happy as I looked.
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