To Have and To Hold

Chapitre Quinze

Infatuation: an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something. And that wasn't at all what was going on here, not possible. Okay, well, maybe a little possible, but highly improbable. When I'd met Jeremiah, it'd felt like I'd known him my entire life. Everything he said—and the way that he said everything—had something inside of me ringing true, as if my body was like 'Yup, that's your soul mate, keep him'.

And dang, did I ever want to.

Annabeth came home Thursday night, exactly two days before Jasmine's wedding, tanned and eyes brighter than they'd been the day she left. Well, home was a relative term. She went to Josh's apartment, her home, and visited us that night, our home. She still had the apartment key and let herself in, finding Jasmine and I on the couch watching a TV show. Jasmine sensed that the phone call hadn't gone well, even though she didn't ask. She just stroked my frizzy hair and made me kettle-corn.

"I miss this," Annabeth announced when she came inside, startling us both. "Sitting on the couch, watching shows with my girls."

Jasmine sprung from the couch. "AB!"

I turned around in my seat, gathering my blankets closer to my chest, watching. I asked myself if I was still angry at her. I wasn't. But she didn't need to know that.

Annabeth's arms swept around Jasmine, and they rocked on the welcome mat. Jasmine glanced behind her shoulder. "Come on, Alice, join this friendship hug."

But the friendship hug had already ended, and Annabeth was watching me with wary eyes. "She's angry at me," she said in a small voice. "Aren't you, Alice?"

I just sat my chin on the edge of the couch. "How was Greece?"

It wasn't the subject change I was hoping for; her eyes didn't light up. "Good," she said, stepping closer. "It was. But are you really still mad? I mean, I get it if you are. I just want to know." And she turned on her puppy-dog eyes, ones that I could never stay mad at.

I let out a sigh. "No, I'm not still mad."

And suddenly her arms were around my head, smothering me. "Good. Because I love you a lot and I don't want you angry at me."

My words were muffled, and even though I wanted to let myself be annoyed, I found that I wasn't feeling it. "Love you, too."

She sat down between us and recounted her stories of Greece. She actually had a lot of fun. Her and Josh hung out on the beach almost as often as they spent their time in their hotel room. They'd even made friends with their maid, who would bring them champagne each night and leave it on their countertop, with a nice little note, happy honeymoon.

"Oh!" she exclaimed suddenly, turning to look each of us in the eye. "I got the pictures! I have the flash drive with me. Jazz, go get your computer."

Jasmine quickly hopped to her request, jogging to her bedroom to snatch her laptop from its charger. She came back, holding it between her hands. "Are they cute?"

"Very," Annabeth replied happily. "I'm really happy with them."

The entire couch moved as Jasmine plopped back down, passing the laptop over to Annabeth. She dug around in her pocket and withdrew a small flash drive, plugging it in. "Josh really liked them, too. The guy did a really good job, even though he was awkward."

We all laughed. "Him and his hands." Jasmine tried to mimic his gestures.

The pictures loaded quickly, and the first one we caught a glimpse of was of Annabeth posing in her wedding dress. Her hands were holding her bouquet, and she was looking down on them with an expression of reverence. "This one is so beautiful," she said, pointing at her expression. "Look at my lips—they look so red."