AllFreeNovel
Share Us
1
“Mom says the announcement dinner can wait until you get here.”
Elsie’s voice is tinny over the phone, almost drowned out by the hum of the fluorescent café lights. I roll my eyes, flicking through a pile of old rock CDs.
“I’ll be sure to tell the truck that. Maybe it’ll get us home faster.”
My sister scoffs. “Where are you now?”
“I don’t know. Some hippie café with a weird gift shop attached.”
‘Weird’ is an understatement. The gifts range from handmade postcards to squat animal sculptures arranged haphazardly in a cramped section at the back of the room. A small sign on the wall boasts that they’re ‘artisan-made’.
I’m heading home from Harper College for spring break with my best friend, Milo, and we decided to make a pit stop at this roadside café before continuing. It’s getting late, the sky outside streaked with pink clouds, but we have at least four more hours of driving ahead.
Taking off my glasses, I wipe them down before adjusting them back onto my nose.
“Fuck, there’s nothing good in this place,” I say.
“Let me guess, you’re looking for a present for Milo.”
“Not a present. Something to thank him for driving me down.”
My sister groans. “Just ask him out, already.”
“Elsie!” I press the phone closer to my ear and glance around. “Don’t joke about that shit.”
“You’ve been obsessing over him for years. Maybe now’s the time.”
Yeah fucking right.
“I’m serious, Elsie. Let it go.”
“Okay, I get it. Jeez.” She drags out the words like I’m inconveniencing her. “Please hurry up and get here before I go insane. Dad’s been sleeping in the guest room with the shitty mattress, and I don’t know how much longer I can nod sympathetically when he complains about his back.”
“Relax, crybaby. I’ll arrive in the next few hours and then we can get the party started.”
Elsie sighs. “If I don’t perish first.”
Grinning, I cut the call and slip my phone into the pocket of my denim shorts.
There are only two people in the world who can upend my bad moods—one is my annoying older sister, and the other is leaning against the counter at the front of the café.
I glance over, warmth curling in my belly when Milo’s gaze meets mine. He runs a hand through his shaggy ink-black hair and smiles, slow and sweet.
When we were sixteen, he smiled at me like that for the first time in a dingy high school bathroom and, five years later, it still makes my heart stutter.
Milo tips me a two-fingered salute and I flip him the bird, rolling my eyes. His smile only widens, showing off sharp white teeth.
When I turn back to the gifts, my whole body feels flushed. It must be the heat. The weather’s been unusually nice for spring.
Parsing the jewelry section reveals a few knockoffs and cheap plastic rings covered in kids’ craft paint. So much for ‘artisan-made’. I turn away, ready to claim defeat and head over to Milo when a glint of silver catches my attention.
Careful not to disrupt the teetering display, I deftly pick out a delicate chain from a tangle of necklaces, revealing a small magpie pendant. Bingo.
Milo’s been obsessed with birds since he was a kid, magpies especially. His tattoo sleeve ends in a flock of them circling his wrist. In theory, the necklace is perfect for him. But isn’t giving a guy a necklace a little suggestive? The last thing I need is to freak him out and drive him away.
Not that he has a problem with receiving affection from guys; he spends my dorm parties looking for men to hook up with. Just the thought of it churns something ugly in my stomach, green and all-consuming.
