Where There's Light | ✔

26. Just Us (2)

It'd been two hours since the last time I saw Nolan. His words bounced around in my head.

Not for show, but for us.

As much as I wanted to believe what he said I knew they were just the ramblings of a drunk guy.

Someone snapped their fingers in my face. I blinked, pulling out of my thoughts. Gia stood in front of me, a concerned look on her face. Great. Someone dressed as a giant cat is concerned about me.

"You okay?" She asked. "You've kinda been zoned out for a few minutes. I thought you were brain dead or something. I'd been calling your name. At first I thought you were ignoring me to get out of talking to me like my sister does. Then I thought you were just acting like a zombie. You know, since you're dressed as a—"

"Gia," I said, trying to keep the annoyance out of my voice. I swear she'd go on forever if you let her. "Why'd you call me up here?"

We were standing in her bedroom which was pink. Very pink. With hints of leopard print on the rug and desk chair cushion. Her walls were covered in posters of pop stars and other celebrities. Like Bee, she had dozens of stuffed animals, mostly cats.

If Bee didn't let her commitment issues get in the way I think they'd be the perfect pairing.

Gia grabbed two gift bags from her desk. "I need your help," she said, handing me the bags. "I don't know which Bee would like more. Something practical or something sentimental?"

I sat the bags on the dresser. Gia watched as I opened the first bag, anxiously tugging at the tail of her costume.

"You know Bee better than I do," she continued. "So you'll know which gift wouldn't cause her to freak out."

Inside the first bag were a pair of generic red boxing gloves. On second glance I noticed there was a Muhammad Ali quote stitched on them.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a Bee

I smiled at it the word play, looking back at Gia. "She'd really like those."

"I know." She beamed. "She loves things with her name on them."

Inside the other gift bag was a book. A scrapbook to be exact. The outside was blue, decorated with stickers of Disney characters. 18 Reasons Why was written on the front.

Inside were pictures of Bee and Gia together. They spent more time together than I thought. What shocked me most was how Bee happy was in the photos.

All that time I thought she only hung out with Gia out of boredom. Pictures didn't lie, though. And those pictures told a whole other story. Bee liked Gia, no matter how hard she fought it.

"You're right," I said, closing the book and placing it back into the bag. "That would send Bee running for the hills."

Gia frowned, swiping her bangs out of her face. "That's what I thought."

"You should keep it, though. Give it to her at another time."

A small flash of hope appeared on her face. "When?"

I shrugged, not knowing the answer. Bee was still in denial about her feelings. It could be a while before she came around.

"You'll know when."

Her brow raised at my vague response. "That's all you got? Thousands of words in the English language and that's the advice you have? What is it even supposed to mean?" She grabbed the bag with the boxing gloves, leaving the room while still going on about my advice.

I chuckled to myself, following her out and back down to the party.

When we got down the stairs everyone was laughing at something, their phones out to capture whatever it was on video. Gia and I gave each other a quick glance, silently asking the other what was going on.