3

"I'm not wearing that," I told Lola as she held up a black halter top with no back and a plunging front. I clutched my towel around my chest, having just got out of the shower to wash the travel funk off of me. I was already wearing the matching black mini skirt Lola had picked out. Its only redeeming quality was that it had pockets.

"Why not? You've lived in Cali for four years, I'm sure you've worn similar," she insisted, shoving the garment into my hands.

"I don't wear anything I can't wear a bra with," I explained, pushing it back.

"You don't need a bra, I have these," Lola said, whipping out a box of band aids. "Now put it on." I looked to Courtney for help but she was busy fixing her makeup in my vanity mirror. How convenient.

"Fine but if I have a wardrobe malfunction, I will tell everyone who was responsible for puking on the engine of the Sheriff's boat," I said, snatching the shirt back. Lola rolled her eyes and proceeded to change into her own ensemble, a body hugging dark purple bandage dress. She pulled her waist length white blonde hair into a high ponytail and then took her turn in the vanity mirror.

"Lo, did you forget who was going to be wearing this?" I groaned, catching a glimpse of my backside in my full length mirror. "There's no way my ass is going to stay hidden in this." She smirked at me.

"It's fine. It's not like you're going commando."

"And a thong hardly constitutes as underwear." Especially the black lace string thong Lola had given me to wear with it.

I managed to situate myself into the barely there fabric of the black halter top and asked Courtney to hand me two band aids. The poor girl's pasties.

While Lola finished her makeup, I took the towel off my hair and started to work on my curls. I worked leave-in conditioner in first, followed by my favorite gel, then flipped my hair upside down and diffused. When I was done, I sprayed some water into my hands from the spray bottle on my vanity and scrunched out most of the cast. I was left with pretty decent curls and any curly girl knows, you take what you can get.

"Wow, I don't remember your hair being so curly," Lola remarked.

"I found a stylist who specializes in curly hair and they really helped me," I explained. Growing up my hair took on a mind of its own. Having straight hair and coming from a family of straight haired people, my mom was clueless about the care of curly hair. It wasn't like she had the internet or YouTube to turn to either. My dad has curly hair but he kept it cropped super close to his head, so my mom's answer was to keep my hair short too. Once I was in junior high and high school, though, social norms were pretty clear that girls were supposed to have long straight hair, so I started straightening mine. Which usually lasted until I stepped out the door and into the Michigan humidity. When I arrived in California, I was sure I'd have better luck. Then a colleague with gorgeous curls caught me buying a new straightener and after finding out I was a fellow curly, marched me straight to her stylist's salon. He gave me a cut, a new routine, and I hadn't straightened my hair in at least three years.

"It's gorgeous," Courtney said, tucking a piece of her own black bobbed hair behind her ear. "You look gorgeous." I blushed. Other than networking and corporate events, I rarely went out. While I dressed up, I was mindful that I was also representing my company and always kept it professional. My current ensemble was definitely not something I would have picked for myself.

"You look great too," I responded, giving her a grin as I sat down to finish my makeup. Courtney wore a strapless black dress that hugged her body and stopped just above her knees. She wore dark eye makeup, intensifying her deep brown eyes and a dark maroon color on her full lips.

"Hot damn we are the three hottest girls in Cadence," Lola declared, slipping into heels that matched her dress.

"Uh hello, what about me?" Hannah asked, walking into my room. She wore a navy blue jumper with a zipper down the front and matching heels. Her thick black hair had been braided and hung over one shoulder. She'd done nude eyes and lips and I felt a twinge of jealousy. My baby sister always looked amazing. Even though she'd been with her boyfriend, Dean, since high school, that didn't keep the guys from asking me about her. After the third time a guy I had a crush on asked me to meet him only to spend the entire time talking about Hannah, I decided to ignore guys altogether. The exception being Kade, of course.

"You're taken. You could wear a paper bag over your head and Dean would still love you," Lola said. "Now let's move it!" I barely had time to pull on my silver strappy sandals before Lola pushed me out the door.

"You can't all be seriously going out dressed like that?" my dad asked from his chair where he was reading his newspaper. In his mind, we were perpetually in junior high and any reminder otherwise was met with staunch parental resistance. Hannah and I went and gave him dutiful kisses on his cheek before fleeing to the waiting taxi.

Ten minutes later, we were standing outside of Darby's. It was Friday, and the parking lot was packed. I suddenly felt a wave of nausea. This felt like some kind of point of no return. Like once I walked in there, I couldn't go back to California or being a memory in this town. On Monday, I started my professional presence here and this felt like my last chance to back out.

"Hey," Courtney said softly. "You don't have to stay. Go in, say hello, and dip whenever you want. You just traveled by yourself across the country. People will understand." Leave it to Courtney to give me an out. I smiled and nodded. I could do this. Just in and out, an hour tops.

***

Three hours later and I was on the dance floor wedged between Lola and Hannah, while Courtney took pictures. Friends from my childhood had been coming up all night to say hello. Even my brothers and Ciara were there. I was super jealous when after an hour Jake said he needed to get Ciara home to rest. I wanted her to take care of herself and my unborn niece or nephew, though, and I gave her a huge hug to thank her for coming. Jake surprised me by pulling me in for a long hug.

"I'm glad you're home," he said, his voice rough with emotion. Hearing my big brother like that made tears spring to my eyes.

"Me too," I whispered and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I can't wait to meet Rider," I said to him and Ciara when I pulled away. My nephew was going to be three in a few months and I couldn't wait to do all the fun aunt things that Hannah had been doing without me.

After they left, it was more people and more drinks. Because Lola would've had them poured directly into my mouth, I put Chris in charge of bringing them to me. He was a good combination of fun and responsibility, spacing the drinks out and adding water every once in a while. It felt nice to be taken care of. Back in California on the rare occasion I did go out, I usually ended up being the designated driver and babysitter, making sure everyone got home safely.

"Lo, I need some air," I shouted over the music. She nodded and I let Hannah know as well. Her boyfriend came out on the floor at that moment, unable to keep his hands off her any longer. Hannah's face lit up the moment he put his arms around her and I knew that was the end of my evening with my sister. Another twinge of sadness cut short by a pinch on my butt under my skirt. My hands flew to my backside and I turned around quickly, noticing the mischievous grin on Hannah's face.

"Love you sister!" she said loudly. I just smiled and shook my head at her. Lola followed me to the back patio. There was another bar outside and the patio was decorated to look like a Tiki Bar. Off to one side was a "beach" area with a fire pit surrounded by Adirondack chairs. There were also a couple of horseshoe pits and then tables and chairs. The music was loud even out here, with the outdoor speakers blaring. A second later Chris and Courtney joined us. After ordering drinks, we sat at one of the tables.

"Well Sis," Chris said, taking a sip of rum and coke, "what's it like to be back?" I shrugged.

"I don't know yet. I mean, yeah it's nice to see everyone but right now it just feels like I'm visiting. I mean some of those people could work for me and I don't even know it. It's kind of weird right now," I said. Lola suddenly sat up straight, her eyes on the doorway.

"Yeah well it's about to get a lot weirder," Courtney said, following Lola's line of sight.