Love Me | Series Book #1

TWENTY THREE

My friends actually listened to me. It was the day before my birthday, and to my surprise, I hadn't been blindfolded only to be led to a venue glowing with strobe lights, and full of faces that I couldn't put names to. I told them I didn't want a party, and they didn't give me one. But, they did show up to my front step at seven in silk pajama sets, with sleeping bags in their arms.

The sleepover was my call. It isn't often that you hear about teens throwing slumber parties for their eighteenth. But, it's exactly what I wanted. Maybe I did it for nostalgia's sake. It used to be like this all the time. Back in ninth grade, we'd take turns hosting them at our houses every month. The nights would consist of watching 90's teen flicks, trading stories about our then-crushes, and if we were at Rachel's, playing outrageous pranks on her brothers.

Of course things were different now, despite the 90's movies because you can't watch enough of those.

After they made their beds on the carpet in my living room, I headed towards the kitchen to get the popcorn started. While I shuffled through the cabinets in search for a large enough bowl, Aly pulled up the movie on Netflix. By the time I returned, they'd settled on She's all That.

"I can't believe they kissed. Guess there's no hope for me huh? They're practically official now." Rachel said, as I sat down next to her, handing her the bowl. I guess I missed half of the conversation while I was in the kitchen, but it didn't take long for me to catch on.

"Don't say that," I said, drawing my legs up on the sofa. "You'll find someone."

"Exactly," Aly chimed in from her other side. "In a few months we'll be out of here anyway. High school guys don't matter in the long run."

Rachel's face contorted as she tried to smile, and then pursed her lips like tasted something sour. I'd forgotten that my friends didn't have the same insight as me on Chase and Leah's relationship. So, after Rachel caught the two of them making out in his truck this morning, I tried to act surprised when she practically fell into sobs about it during free period.

Maybe it was best that's all she knew. I could only imagine her reaction to hearing that Leah's been to his house more times this week than she has within the past four years.

"I just don't understand. What does he even see in her? She looks just like every other girl in this town. You'd think California would have produced something better quality."

"Rachel!" I gasped. Aly snickered.

"I'm sorry but it's true! I've known him since we were freshmen, and all of a sudden she comes out of nowhere and he's head over heels. I'll be honest, if there was any girl I thought he'd settle down with, I expected it to be you, Kaya."

I turned my head so fast, I nearly whipped her with my braid. "Huh?"

"What?" Rachel looked from me to Aly. "Like it's not true? As much as I want to deny it, you know I'm right."

"No." I blinked in disbelief. "He doesn't want to date me. What are you talking about?" I looked to Aly for support, but she didn't offer any. Instead, she popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth, and took her time chewing it.

Rachel raised an arched brow, and tilted her head sideways. "For the longest time, I thought you were my biggest competition. Turns out I was wrong."