6

"I'm never drinking again," Lola groaned, pulling my pillow over her face.

"Sure honey. And I'm a purple unicorn," I said with a yawn. Courtney giggled next to me.

"I'm so hungover, you very well could be," Lola said. A knock at my bedroom door made her groan.

"Breakfast in ten ladies!" my mom called through the door. The three of us sat up. My mom did breakfast like she was a mom in a rom-com movie. Pancakes, muffins, fruit, bacon, the list was endless. Every single day. We practically fell over each other to get out of bed and head downstairs.

My dad, Hannah, and Dean were already seated. I raised an eyebrow at Hannah and she turned red. It figured that my parents would relax the "no sleep over with girl/boyfriend" rule for the baby. I sat down next to my dad and the girls took chairs next to me.

"Did you girls have fun last night?" Mom asked coming in from the kitchen with a big bowl of fruit salad.

"Yeah, Lola did a great job with the party," I said, taking the bowl and putting a few spoonfuls on my plate.

"So good you left early to meet Kade Taylor on our front porch?" Dad inquired, pouring coffee into the mug in front of me. Dean chose that moment to choke on his scrambled eggs and my sister whacked him hard between the shoulder blades.

"Geez pops, way to go straight for the jugular," I muttered, adding milk and sugar to my coffee. "How did you even know?"

"I've been a parent for almost thirty years. I know things," he replied. Hannah snorted.

"They installed a security camera, Sis," she said. "FYI, it hears EVERYTHING."

"Wow, that's horrifying." Great. My mind quickly replayed our conversation for any sensitive subject matter.

"Don't worry, I made him stop watching when you got home," my mom told me.

"You're a regular James Bond, Mr. Diaz," Lola said laughing. My dad looked proud of himself.

"Please don't encourage him," Hannah groaned.

"What? The NSA could learn a thing or two from me," he said proudly. Thankfully, he didn't pursue Kade as a topic of conversation and the rest of breakfast went by uneventful. Dean took off afterward and the four of us girls made plans to go shopping for my apartment that I was getting keys for on Monday. I asked my mom if she wanted to come but she was going to babysit Rider so Jake and Ciara could work on the nursery. She let me know that a big family dinner was planned after church the next day and I made a mental note to get all the toys today to try and buy my nephew's love.

Lola and Courtney were going to head to their shared apartment to shower and get ready and Hannah and I would meet them at the store. After more long hugs and several reminders we were going to see each other in a couple of hours, they finally left and Hannah and I took turns in the bathroom.

I put on black leggings and a Star Wars T-shirt while letting my hair air dry. After a swipe of mascara and lip gloss, I grabbed my Nikes and met Hannah downstairs. She also wore black leggings but her shirt was a plain green crop top showing her taut tummy. Her Vans were the same color as her shirt and she looked Pinstagram ready. I think I still had strawberry seeds stuck in my teeth, even after I brushed them again.

My mom loaned us her SUV so we would have more room for our whatever we bought. I drove us to the outskirts of town, where the nearest big box stores were located. Close enough to be convenient, but far enough away to keep the town's founding fathers happy. Small town life.

Courtney and Lola weren't there yet, so we sat drinking the iced coffee we'd grabbed from our local coffee place, Beans.

"So Kade showed up last night, huh?" Hannah asked watching my face. I nodded.

"Yep."

"And?" she pushed.

"And it was super awkward," I replied, punching my drink with the straw, trying to break up the ice.

"Did you kiss him?" I stopped drinking and looked at her. "What? Isn't that what usually happens when the ex shows up?"

"In the movies, Hannah. Not in real life. In real life, it's awkward and confusing and annoying," I told her. "Besides, he's with Katy. He's not a cheater." Especially after being cheated on himself.

"She's a bitch, though," Hannah said.

"Doesn't matter. No one deserves that."

"Even though she had no problem doing it to Kade first?" Hannah asked and I sighed.

"He has obviously forgiven her, so regardless of her past behavior, no she doesn't deserve to be cheated on." I still remembered how shattered he was when he found out she was sleeping with one of his best friends. Why he would ever take her back was beyond me.

"His brain is clearly in his dick," Hannah muttered, flipping down the visor to check her makeup. No argument there.

Courtney and Lola pulled up next to us and we got out of the car to greet them. Lola had a Cadence Mustangs hat low over her face, her long blonde hair pulled through the back.

"Still feeling it, Lo?" I asked, handing her my aviators.

"Gawd yes," she answered putting on the sunglasses. "I don't regret it, since you know it was for you, but damn the next time I'm just buying you a card."

"Lightweight," Courtney teased grabbing a cart from the cart corral.

We went through the store, picking out a bunch of small appliances that I would need since I had sold everything back in California. It made more sense to sell it all and buy new when I got here rather than pay to have it moved. When we were done, Courtney suggested lunch at the Cadence Cafe, our favorite spot from high school.

The place had recently had a facelift but still had the same faces taking our orders and cooking. Hannah had worked for the owners, Hal and Laura, all through high school, so we tended to get preferential treatment. We chose a booth in the back next to the jukebox.

"This feels so surreal," I said, watching Laura's daughter, Mickey, walk away to grab our drinks.

"When was the last time you were in here?" Courtney asked. She was sitting across from me, with Lola slumped against her.

"Oh man, when I came home for Easter break senior year, I think," I answered. Mickey came back and placed a Dr. Pepper in front of me. I ripped the paper off my straw and stuck it in the drink, taking a deep long pull from it. Next to coffee, Dr. Pepper was my elixir of life.

"Yeah, Dean and I met you and Kade…" Hannah's voice trailed off.

"Yep, that was it," I said, trying to sound casual. An awkward silence fell on the table.

"Sorry," Hannah apologized.

"Why? That was exactly when I was here last so no sorries necessary," I told her.

"I know, but I didn't need to bring him up," she explained, fiddling with her straw wrapper.

"Alright look. We can talk about Kade. We don't have to avoid his name. This is not a Voldemort situation," I said.

"Voldemort? Really?" Lola asked.

"Yeah, from Harry Potter. He-who-shou-," Courtney started.

"I know who he is," Lola cut her off. "I just didn't think we were nerdy enough to bring him up in normal conversation."

"Nerdy is my middle name," I said proudly, snagging a French fry off her plate as Mickey set our lunch down.

"Hey I will throw you a party and put up with your geeky fandom, but I will not share my fries," she growled.

"Glad to know there's a limit to our friendship," I joked rolling my eyes. Just then my phone started to ring. The name of the dealership I had an appointment with flashed across the screen. "Hello?" I answered.

"Hi, is this Sara Diaz?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Oh great. I'm with the service department here at Meyers Auto Mall. I'm afraid we've had to shut down due to equipment failure and we won't be able to keep your appointment for this week. We can reschedule but we aren't sure when we will reopen at this point," the person on the other end explained.

"Oh, okay. Well thank you for letting me know. I appreciate your call," I told them. We exchanged closing pleasantries and hung up.

"What's going on?" Courtney asked

"The dealership where I was going to take my car to get serviced cancelled my appointment. Something about equipment failure. I was really hoping to get at least an oil change," I said frowning.

"Well you know where you could take it instead," Hannah said. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Yeah, I guess I don't have much of a choice," I admitted.

"Do you want the number?" Courtney asked, reaching for her phone.

"It hasn't changed. You should still have it," Lola interjected.

"Lo, I don't even have the same phone I did four years ago, let alone all the same phone numbers."

"I just texted it to you," Courtney said. "They're not open on the weekends but you could call first thing Monday." I looked down and sighed.

"Thanks Court." Calling Taylor Auto was the last thing I wanted to do on a Monday, or ever, but I needed to put on my adulting pants and take care of my car.