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The bucket journey—or whatever the hell we were calling it today—was a mistake. I needed to make sure I was out of this town sooner rather than later.

Chapter 10

Paisley

Well, I was so embarrassed I felt like I’d die, but at least I could embarrass Harper too, and then it was like all was right in the world, right?

I’d spent at least an hour fussing around with different clothes, trying them on in front of the mirror, my heart pounding, and even going through the Pinterest fashion boards like Harper had recommended, and Iguessif I was being honest, I’d admit that I kind of liked the way I looked. Untrained eye and all that, probably. I’d hunted through the boutique close to Gwen’s house until I found a chic yellow coat and tried it on in the fitting room and gawked at myself because it was fittedperfectlyto me and the color was my new favorite thing in the world, and for a second I’d felt like the coolest, most put-together, good-looking person alive.

I’d made sure nobody but Harper saw, because at least if she laughed in my face then I’d just have to hide from her for another month and a half until she was gone, and then I could never try at anything again. But then worse, she didn’t laughat me, just avoided saying anything about it, and even when I coaxed her to compliment me because I was about to die of humiliation, she just mumbled something about how I looked great.

So once we were in the camper and I’d successfully changed the topic, I made sure to take a selfie without getting too much of my outfit in it, because otherwise I’d have to delete it from my phone. I pressed up close to Harper’s side to take a picture with her, and something about being this close to her made it all feel easier, like I could breathe easy, comfortably. She was just calming, somehow.

Or maybe Kay was right and I liked her. But I’d rather throw myself from the camper and drown than consider that thought any further.

I snapped the picture, and I set the phone down, reaching for my hat. “I can look more like normal so we actually know who’s in the picture,” I said, and she stopped me—shooting a hand out and catching me by the wrist, keeping me from taking it off.

“Wait—er.” She scrunched up her face. She’d clearly done it without meaning to. “I mean, I guess you can, if you want.”

I scowled. “What, do you have a kink for girls in baseball caps?”

“A kink—what? No.” She shook her head hard, blushing. It was so easy to get her to blush, but it never got old. It always felt like winning a prize. “Just… you know. You went through a lot of effort to style yourself up for this.”

“I didn’t really put in any effort,” I said, which was the most bold-faced lie anyone had ever told. “Just kind of grabbed some random things and threw them together.”

“You know, I can tell when you’re lying.”

I felt my face burn. “What? You cannot.”

“In the first place, you’re perfectly well-coordinated, so I don’t believe it was just random things…”

I stuck out my tongue, turning away. “Ugh, god, I told you I don’t want pity compliments. This is just round one, okay? I’m still honing my deadly eye for good looks and—”

She took me by both wrists, and she turned me back to face her, meeting my eyes with a resolute expression. “I know when you’re trying to avoid facing a topic, too.”

“Ugh—let a girl hide from reality.” I pulled my wrists away, sipping my tea. “I’m gonna crawl out of here and swim away, and we’ll just see how we like that, won’t we?”

“Paisley…”

“Drink your tea. It was very magnanimous of me to get it for you.”

She sighed, swirling her tea idly. “Thanks for the tea. That I specifically said I didn’t want.”

“But you did want it, didn’t you?”

“Well—” She fidgeted with her cup.

I was going to miss knowing her this well. I mean, sure, I had Emby, and I knew her every bit as well, but Harper was just… different. Somehow.

Harper sighed. “Hey, Pais?”

“What’s up?”

“Thanks for this.”

I turned and shot her a grin. “No prob. It’s good, right? Kay always puts in a little extra love. I think it’s just her thing.”

She looked away. “I think you know I don’t just mean the tea.”