Page 30

Chapter 30

Isa

Everett had fallen behind Grace and me, and when we looked back at him, he was fiddling with his phone. Abigail, I thought. His youngest sister didn’t have a phone yet, but could’ve been messaging him from her iPad. I knew how attached she was to her brother, especially when she was sick. Everett quickly shoved his iPhone into his back pocket when he joined us in the azalea garden, looking like he’d been caught. “Girl talk over?” he ventured.

Grace smiled and nodded, and I took a deep breath before stepping forward and stretching up to put my hands on Everett’s shoulders. It was time. Maybe I couldn’t apologize for everything, but I could give him something. “Everett Adler,” I said. “I’m sorry this is a couple hours late, but blame Principal Unger’s interruption. I know I’ve been the worst these last few years, but I also want to be friends again—so much. I miss you, and I’ll always adore you….” I smirked as I unstrapped my right shoe, my destroyed foot covered in Band-Aids and fresh blisters. “Unless you break my girl Grace’s heart.” I raised the heel over my head threateningly. “Then your pretty face won’t be so pretty anymore.”

At that, Everett smiled and wrapped me in a hug. “Isabel Cruz!” he shouted for the whole park to hear. “Finally!” Tears pooled in the corners of my eyes when he spun me around. “ Finally, I have my best friend back!”

“Hey,” Grace said as I quickly blinked. “What about me?”

Everett set me back on the ground, then looked at her. “You…,” he said slowly, “are pretty cool, too.”

The ripple between them was almost visible, a shimmering thread. I rolled my eyes at the sexual tension. I really hadn’t seen it? “You can hold hands,” I told them. “Holding hands is permitted.”

Grace and Everett reached for each other’s hands so quickly that they fumbled lacing their fingers together. I swallowed a snort; it would take some practice. “I’m sorry I didn’t invite James, Isa,” Grace said. “You were right—it was never just us. James and I’ve just drifted so far apart, and I’m not sure how to find my way back.” She bit the inside of her cheek. “Inviting him would’ve probably been a step in the right direction.”

“It’s okay,” I said. James and I—well, we would have our moment. Not today, but tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and the day after that. More than enough moments to fall in love. “I don’t mind being with my best friends.”

Grace, Everett, and me, I thought as we headed up an azalea-lined woodland trail. We are once again three.

With a piercing ache, I suddenly wished James was here. Truly, I was content with Grace and Everett, but James being here would be the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae. Use your magic, J, I hoped. Use your magic—or Find My Friends—and catch us.

Catch me.

The azalea trail led us to another garden, this one humming with voices and music. “Oh,” Grace said when we popped out of the woods. “Oh, hello.”

There was a wedding in front of us. An actual, real-life, probably-streaming-on-Instagram wedding. It looked like we’d missed the ceremony, but the reception was in full swing. From our childhood trips to Fairmount Park, I recognized the expansive house as the famous Strawberry Mansion. A big white tent had been erected on its lawn while a dance floor and bandstand had been built on its terrace.

Where, naturally, we were currently standing. No one noticed us right away—thankfully. Everyone was too busy dancing, drinking, and taking pictures, but I somehow heard myself squeal over the music. “Yikes!”

“Let’s just turn around,” Grace said. “We’ll pretend this never happened.”

I nodded quickly, but Everett didn’t respond. Instead, he raised his arms above his head, stretching and taking in the fanfare. The band had just finished their rendition of “Twist and Shout,” and the wedding guests were clapping. “Everett,” I said. “Come on, please. I’m not too keen on adding ‘wedding crasher’ to my résumé.”

“In a minute,” he replied. “I want to see what song is next.”

“You want to see what song is next?” I side-eyed him. Because who cared what song was next? We had to leave. If someone asked us to present our invitations, we had no invitations to present. Not to mention, we were sorely underdressed for the occasion!

Everett nodded. “Yeah, just the next song.”

“Okay, Adler,” I snorted as the applause died down. “You do that.” I turned on my heel, back toward the trail. Grace turned with me. “But I’m out of—”

A voice came over the microphone, a voice that made my stomach lurch. “Ladies and gentleman, you’ve been such a delightful crowd,” the guy said, “so we’d like to play another tune for you. It’s one of my personal favorites, and in addition to the newlyweds, I’d like to dedicate it to someone who thinks she hasn’t seen anything extraordinary today.” He paused. “Isa Cruz, this one’s for you.”

Everett whooped and whistled while Grace screamed. And I couldn’t fault her, because there was James. James, wearing nothing but a hipster button-down and dark jeans, onstage at a complete stranger’s wedding. He was crouched low and holding the mic close to his mouth, his eyes staring straight at me despite the sea of people swimming between us.

I, for the record, was frozen. Everything in my body was shrieking like Grace, but I couldn’t seem to move. Only my eyes widened in shock, and I clasped my hands together as if I’d been waiting my entire life for James Barbour to serenademe.

Extraordinary, I thought, remembering my fight with Grace. I’d told her I’d seen nothing extraordinary. How could he possibly know about that?

James slowly rose from his stoop as he sang the first verse of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” He turned away for a moment, then turned back and winked at me.

A minute later, when the Frankie Valli song exploded into its chorus, so did the wedding. Everyone was twisting, twirling, jiving, and vibing. James didn’t hide behind his keyboard at home, but he’d never let his electric stage presence leave his bedroom. Not like this, not in a way that made Grace’s mouth drop. “You knew!” She punched Everett in the arm. “That’s why you wouldn’t leave! You knew he was going to do this!”

“Well, yeah.” Everett shrugged. “He and I are friends, you know. I texted him to let him know where we were heading.”

“Unbelievable,” Grace said before I felt her eyes on me.

“He loves this song,” I told her, unable to look away from James. “He’s always, always wanted us to play this song.”

“He loves the song ?” she replied. “Isa, he loves you !”

He does, I thought. He really does.

I was teary by the time the song was over. While the bride and groom were absolutely asking themselves who the heck this kid was, they were cheering, and so were their family, friends, and obligatory business-related invites. James smiled and took a humble bow.

“Isa, what are you doing?” Grace asked when I made zero moves toward the stage. “Get up there!”

I felt fear flash in my stomach. “No,” I said, voice wavering on that one word. “I can’t—I can’t go up there, G. It would be inappropriate.”

Grace waved her hand. “Inappropriate-schminappropriate,” she said. “Take a deep breath and climb those stage steps!”

Pulse racing, I looked at Everett. “Isa Cruz does have a track record of kissing the guy first,” he said sagely.

And I remembered; I remembered marching up to his locker and kissing him on the last day of middle school. I remembered how desperately I’d wanted it.

Here and now, I realized wanting to kiss Everett was nothing compared to how much I wanted to kiss James. My heartstrings would snap if I waited one more minute.

“Wish me luck,” I said.

“You don’t need it,” they said back.

I smiled, spun, and hurried toward the stage.