Page 28 of A Taste of Bliss

I nod. “Okay, that I can see.”

Dericia grabs her bag and turns over the open sign to closed, locking the door. We head up the block to the craft store, grabbing her a magical bedazzler that is also apparently enchanted to be skin safe, the glue lasting up to a week. We promise to try that out later and then wind up walking arounduntil we’re hungry enough to dive into a cute little restaurant for drinks and dinner.

Afterwards, I walk her back to my aunt’s house, where Dericia is only a couple minutes late to band practice.

“Come inside with me,” she says, holding out her hand as she pauses at the side door of the garage.

I can already hear Tubbs warming up on his drum kit. “That’s okay,” I say, taking a step towards the house. “I should probably…” I trail off, my traitorous brain not coming up with any plausible excuse. I don’t have to be at The Wild Mare today, and it’s not like I have any other social events.

Dericia grins almost wolfishly at me. “Get inside, Bliss.”

It’s not that I don’t like my sister’s bandmates. I love every single one of them.

But the distance that’s grown between us all is too much for me.

And Taser just fucked me in my shower two days ago and lied about breaking up with his girlfriend.

I don’t really want to see him.

And I still don’t really want to see Amelia.

I’d suggest you get back on speaking terms, then.

The wraith’s deal hangs before me. If I was going to take him up on it—which I’m not—I’d need to get Amelia to agree to bring me back as band manager. And that would require hanging out with everyone again.

But more importantly, I miss Dericia. The past couple of days have been odd in that I’ve actually seen her multiple times. Even though she’s my best friend, our paths just haven’t been crossing lately. Or maybe it’s that I made sure they didn’t cross. Because this isn’t my world anymore.

It doesn’t have to be like that, Amelia’s voice sounds in my head.

And there it is, clear as day.

Two paths and a choice that is mine alone.

Dericia, Taser, Amelia—they weren’t the ones that had pulled away. That’s all on me.

I could walk back the way we came and head back home alone to my apartment.

Or I could go with Dericia into the garage and maybe reconnect with my friends.

Stars, I could even fight with Taser and Amelia, and maybe that would be better than just sitting around waiting. My conversation with Liz floats back into my mind as well.

With so many people’s voices in my head, I’m starting to wonder what I even want.

But one thing stands out very clearly to me. My best friend, standing in front of me, holding the door open like an olive branch.

I can tell she’s about to give up on me and head in, so I take a deep breath, step towards her, and put my hand in hers. She beams at me, pulling me into a tight hug, and ushers me inside the garage.

“Reese, you’re late!” Amelia says from where she’s putting her microphone back on its stand and adjusting the height.

“Yeah, but it was totally worth it! Tada!” Dericia spreads her hands out towards me like she’s unveiling something exciting as I step through the door.

“Bliss!” My sister abandons the mic stand and rushes forward, hugging me like she hasn’t seen me in months.

I remain a bit stiff in her embrace because I’m still mad at her, but I wrap my arms around her anyways.

“To what do we owe this honor?” Tubbs asks, seated at his drum kit.

“I literally had nothing better to do,” I respond with a shrug and grin.