Page 109 of Wherever You Are

I like how quaint this one feels. Just a bed, tin desk, and white wooden dresser. That’s more than enough for me.

Daisy spins to face me as I unfold a box. She’s always moving. It’s kind of like watching a hummingbird flit around a space. “We could also paint the walls.” She abandons the skateboard and plops on my bed. “There’s a hardware store nearby, and we can buy some brushes and stuff.”

I’m smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.

I have new roommates. Six adults and two babies to be exact. I’m living with the Calloway sisters and their men.

If you’d told me that’s how all of this would have panned out months ago—I’d have said you were dead wrong. More surprising than that—I’mcomfortablehere.Not too nervous or skittish.I never thought I’d feel that way with people so famous and so much more interesting than me. I know it has to do with Lo. He made a lot of effort to welcome me and make my surroundings feel like home. He’s my brother, but hefeelslike family now.

I follow Daisy’s gaze to the walls and then I rip the tape off a box. “I have some posters in here too, and I love the new paint idea.” We exchange a wider grin.

Daisy rests her feet on the skateboard, swaying them back and forth while she sits. “What color are we thinking? First one that comes to mind. Go!”

“Aquamarine,” I blurt out, and then my face falls. Skin hot. Is it hot in here?

“Ooh, aquamarine. That also happens to be the eye color of a certain someone.” She wags her brows. “Anything new you wanna share?”

I shake my head. “Nothing, really.”

She sidles next to me with a pair of scissors, cutting open a different box. Her smile is softer and extinguishes the heat on my neck. “Nothingnothing. Or nothingsomething? Because I have this theory that nothing is just seven letters hiding an unspoken truth.”

There are definitely unspoken truths when it comes to Garrison Abbey. But these truths aren’t mine to release into the world. He’s been so good about keepingmysecrets from people—like anything I accidentally say to him about the Calloway sisters or Loren—that I wouldn’t even think to share his.

And there are a lot of secrets at the moment.

Flunking out of Faust.

Lying to his parents about the boarding school.

Breaking into Superheroes & Scones and sleeping there at night.

I’m a little surprised I aided and abetted that last act, but he’s my friend. And he needed my help. It’s really that simple.

“The unspoken truth is…” I tell Daisy. “Besides you, Garrison is my only other friend, and so he pops up in my head a lot.” I pale again. “Apparently, now with wall colors.”

Daisy smiles. “Aquamarine would actually look really pretty. We can go to the paint store in a few—” She cuts herself off as her husky bounces into the room. “Hello there, Coconut.” She squats down and scratches the dog’s soft white fur.

A few months ago, around Daisy’s 20thbirthday, Ryke brought home the husky to help with her PTSD. Coconut is a certified service dog and also the cutest fluffy thing in this house.

“So are there house rules?” I wonder, pulling out a stack of hangers from the box. “It’s just…I’ve never lived with three couples and two babies before. So I don’t know how this works.” Admitting my innocence causes my breath to shallow. I probably sound like a fool. Quickly, I look away before I can meet Daisy’s gaze. If I can’t see it, it won’t be immortalized in my memory.

“Hey,” she says sweetly.

I look up, and her eyes are kind and also vulnerable on me. Like she’s trying to show me the sadder pieces and not just happy-go-lucky Daisy.

She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. “I don’t think many people have been in this living arrangement before.”

We both look around the bare room. But it’s not really the space we’re feeling. It’s the people, the fame, the wealth.

When our eyes meet again, Daisy says, “We’re like unicorns here. Living out unique lives.” She stares off in thought. “Not a lot of people will ever understand what we go through or even care, and that’s partly why we’ve been drawing closer to each other, living together.” She hugs her legs. “I wasn’t always that close with Rose and Lily, but I really wanted to be.”

“You weren’t that close?”

And she goes on to tell me deeper things about her childhood, about being the sister left behind, and Daisy asks me more about my life in Maine.

We talk for hours and hours, and we forget about paint colors. It’s a tomorrow project. Today, I just really like sharing her company. And I know I’m not going to regret moving in.

25BACK THEN – May