Chapter Eleven

I woke up with my phone stuck to my sweaty cheek.

I didn’t want to miss any chance that I’d hear from Avery again, even though we’d said our goodnights. By sunrise, my battery had drained, so I tossed my phone up on my nightstand and rolled out of bed.

The morning flew by in a blur. Mom and Dad were out the door first thing to do their last-minute shopping for tomorrow, because like the rest of the nation, they celebrated the holiday on the day they were supposed to. And they never shopped ahead of time. Given the conditions of the supermarkets on a day like today, they’d be lucky to get back home in a couple of hours. But I hoped it wouldn’t take too long, because Dad had promised to buy the drinks I needed for my celebration today.

By midmorning, Daniel was off playing a game of backyard football with his buddies—his idea of an annual Thanksgiving tradition. When my parents returned from the store, with my short list of drink orders in hand, I packed up my things and started for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Mom asked, blocking my exit.

“Same place I’ve gone every year for the last five years,” I said. “Thanksgiving at Mel’s.”

She eyed me closer. “Who’s going to be there?”

I heaved a sigh. “Yes, okay?”

“Meaning?”

“Avery’s going to be there. He’s picking me up in two minutes, so if you don’t mind, I need to—”

“Roz, I don’t like—”

“I’m not doing this. Not now. If you have something to say, save it. I’ve tried talking to you about this twice, and you’ve shut me down each time. If you’ve come around, and you’re ready to talk—great. But don’t wait until I’m about to walk out the door to spend the day with my friends.”

I expected her to fire back at that. On any normal day, she’d never stand for one of her kids talking back. But she held her hands up in surrender and moved, and I shoved past her and out the door before she could change her mind.

Avery pulled up just as I reached the edge of the driveway, juggling a stack of drinks.

“Here, let me help,” he said, sliding out of the SUV to lighten the load. He popped the trunk open and helped me load the waters, sodas, and juices into the back. He turned to me. “Hi.”

“Hi,” I said, and for some stupid reason, I couldn’t quite meet his gaze. Something had changed for me last night, and suddenly Avery wasn’t just the guy from TV, or the guy who’d hit my car. He was a very real person whom I felt a very real connection with.

There was a feeling—the kind I’d always craved, one that left me a little speechless, a little weak at the knees. A sort of dizzy, happy, blissful feeling that kept me short for breath more often than not whenever he came around. The very kind that made this reality so much better than any dream . . .

Avery gave me that feeling.

“I’m nervous,” I admitted.

“You wanna know something?” he asked, dipping down to whisper in my ear. “Me too.” A shiver got the best of me, but then he stepped away and my hormones settled at once. “Do I look okay? Am I underdressed?”

“You look great,” I promised, assessing the khakis and sweater ensemble he’d doubted. And I understood his uncertainty. I’d doubted my own appearance today, too. After yesterday, I didn’t know what to wear. Dress up? Dress down? Fix my hair? Do my makeup? I’d settled for a long skirt, sweater, and jacket, and I kept my cosmetics as natural as possible.

“I brought a back-up outfit,” he admitted.

“No, you didn’t.”

“I want your friends to like me.”

“You know, you’re right,” I said, nodding. “One fashion mistake and my incredibly materialistic friends will tear you to pieces.”

“I know you’re joking, but it still scares me. I want to make a good impression.”

“You will. Just be yourself, and you can’t go wrong.”

He closed the trunk and rounded the back of the car, opening the passenger’s side door to help me in. And then he returned to the driver’s seat, and we hit the road. I instructed him a few blocks away to the center of town, and we pulled off to park in the same row of spots where our worlds had first collided.

Avery was a ball of nerves. He kept licking his bottom lip, and his hands fidgeted the whole way up the stairs to Mel’s front porch.

“Are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, but his voice was dry, and I felt so bad for the poor guy. He was an international star, and he was used to being in the spotlight all the time. But suddenly the idea of meeting a group of normal teenagers had him freaking out, and it was actually kinda adorable.

He wanted them to like him. I wanted them to like him.

“I’m here,” I yelled into the house, opening the door, because we never bothered knocking or ringing the bell when we visited each other. It was really just a waste of time.

“Oh my god, I’ve been trying to call you all morning,” Carter said, turning out of the kitchen. She stopped dead in her tracks as she met us in the foyer.

Her mouth gaped open and she stared up at Avery, almost as if she hadn’t registered that I was standing right next to him. She never once glanced in my direction. Her face was riddled with disbelief, and all I could hope was that she wouldn’t pass out and knock herself unconscious for hours on end. It was the Avery Effect. He had an inborn way of making girls do that.

“I’m gonna go die now.”

“Wait,” I said, grabbing her wrist as she turned away. “Don’t you want to meet—”

“I have to help Ally with the . . . things.” She disappeared into the kitchen.

“That could’ve gone better,” Avery said, twisting his lips, but then his thought was cut short by the sound of a dish shattering in the next room. Jasper and Ally, attached at the hip, rushed into the foyer.

“That’s a reaction I like,” I joked. “Roz is here. Drop everything and say hello.”

Like Carter, neither of them paid attention to me, nor did they appreciate my joke. They were both focused on the man standing at my side.

“Hi, I’m—”

“We know,” Ally said, taking Avery’s outstretched hand to shake it. “Ally. Jasper.”

“It’s great to meet you both. Roz has talked a lot about you.”

“I need an explanation,” Ally said, turning her stare to me. “How did this . . . when did you . . . that picture you sent was real?”

I bit my lip. “I’ll tell you everything, but first I wanted to—”

“Mel!” Ally turned, yelling up the stairs. “Melanie, get your butt down these stairs right now.”

“In a minute,” Mel called from her room, and I could only imagine she was up there trying to make herself look somewhat presentable.

Knowing Mel, she’d been all around the house cleaning like a crazy person all morning. She loved hosting these Thanksgiving dinners, and she never wanted anything to go wrong. So her appearance often took the backseat to the preparation. She was always stealing precious moments to clean up once the rest of us were here to focus on the food.

“Okay, I was trying to—” Mel stopped at the top step, looking down on the four of us in the foyer. Unlike my friends before her, her eyes didn’t go straight to Avery. Instead, they locked straight on me, and her face was expressionless. She was silent. One slow blink at a time, she started to nod. “Okay, yeah. That makes a little more sense.”

“What’s that mean?” Jasper asked.

“Mel thought Roz was dating Wes Barrett,” Ally said. “And they’d be totally wrong together, but—”

“Who’s Wes—”

“Let’s not do this again,” I said, stepping in before we had a repeat of our diner conversation. Ally could catch Jasper up on that whole thing later.

Mel finally descended the staircase and stopped. “Avery?”

“Yes.”

“Mel,” she said, offering him a hand, and he shook it. “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Thank you. I’m happy to be here.”

Mel nodded once, but then she turned into the kitchen, and she was only out of sight for five seconds before a shriek escaped her lips. “Jasper.”

“I’m on it,” he said, flashing a guilty smile at us for the glass he’d probably left shattered in the middle of the kitchen floor. Ally and Jasper turned out, leaving me alone with Avery again.

“I should’ve tried harder.” I rested my forehead against his chest. “I didn’t give them enough time to absorb the shock. I didn’t think they would act so—”

“It’s okay,” he said, taking my hands. He gave my fingers a squeeze. “We’ve got time.”

When Avery went back out to the car to get the drinks, I followed my friends, ready and willing to take whatever they were going to throw at me.

“He’s outside,” I said. “Whatever you have to say, say it now. You’ve got one minute.”

“Avery-freaking-Chase,” Jasper said. “For real?”

“When did this happen?” Ally asked. “Last week you hated—”

“I know,” I said, stopping her. “Things have changed. He’s been in town for a while, and we kinda ran into each other. We’ve hung out a few times, and I don’t know. I guess we’re friends now.”

Carter scoffed and turned to the counter.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Mel asked. “We specifically pressed you for details, and you refused to give us anything. You can’t just walk in here, spring him on us, and then blame us for being surprised.”

“I’m not blaming anyone. But you guys would’ve never believed me.”

“Of course we would’ve,” Mel said, but both Ally and I looked to her like she was crazy. “Okay, maybe not, but you didn’t even try. And . . .” She looked to Carter before turning back to me. “It was a little inconsiderate, Roz.”

I looked down to the floor, saddened that they’d ganged up on me. It’s not like I’d brought him in here hoping to give them the shock of their lives. I knew it would be a rough transition, but what choice did I have? They would have never believed me!

As I peeked up again, I realized that none of my friends were looking at me anymore, but each of them was watching Carter as she silently worked in the corner of the kitchen, assembling pizzas, and trying to avoid the whole conversation.

And then it hit me.

They weren’t mad because I hadn’t told them about Avery. They were mad because I hadn’t considered how it would hurt Carter to see one of her friends with a boy she’d liked for as long as I had.

Mel, Jasper, and Ally . . . they were silently judging me for not taking Carter’s feelings into consideration. And they were right. I’d never considered her or how it would affect her to see him here—at my side. My guest.

I was too caught up in all the crazy things I felt that I hadn’t thought for one second about anything more than the butterflies that rioted in my stomach every time Avery glanced in my direction.

I’d thought about what Roz wanted, and not what was best for the people I loved.

I was the worst friend in the world, and I wouldn’t blame Carter if she hated me forever.