16
LEXI
“It’s about time you showed up!” Riley hollers as I pull up to the house.
She’s hanging around outside on the front porch with Penny and Mercy, and much to my surprise, Hope is out there with them.
“Oh, shut it,” I tell her playfully, getting out of the car. “I told you what time I’d be home. Give me a few minutes to change and we can go.”
Riley follows me into the house, trailing behind me all the way to my bedroom.
“Is Hope going with us? For real?” I ask, striping out of yesterday’s clothes on the way into my closet. “I know we planned this entire day with her in mind, but I’m not sure I believed she’d join us.”
Girls’ Day Out.
Shopping. Lunch. We might even see a movie.
Should be fun, in theory.
We’ve been looking for a way to pull Hope out of her funk and lessen some of the tension and stress we’ve all been feeling since Jake showed up and flipped our lives upside down. Not that it’s his fault. He had no idea what the hell he was walking into when he came looking for Riley. None of us blame him. Except possibly Hope, but no one has a clue what’s going through her mind lately.
“She seemed oddly excited about it when Penny asked.”
“Hmm.”
I’m not sure what else to say. None of us expected Hope to agree easily, let alone be excited about it. Not with the way she’s been acting toward us since the truth came out.
I slip on some ripped up skinny jeans and pull a clean tee over my head. Riley’s sitting on the end of my bed when I step back out.
“Yeah. I wasn’t sure what to make of it either.”
“It’s what we wanted. If she’s excited about it, let’s enjoy it.”
While it lasts.
Given Riley’s expression, she’s thinking the same thing.
I slide my feet into my favorite pair of Converse and grab Riley’s hand, pulling her up from my bed. “No more worrying. Let’s go!”
She laughs as I drag her behind me through the house. The others are still waiting on the porch when we get back outside.
“Mercy!” I scoop her up and haul her down the stairs, her giggles putting an instant smile on my face. “Are you ready to buy all the things?”
“Yes!” She pumps her little fist in the air.
“Right on,” I tell her, opening the door to Penny’s car. I put Mercy down and let her climb into the back seat. I watch as she buckles herself into her booster seat, then I double check to make sure everything’s secure before closing the door.
“Can I drive?” Hope asks as the rest of them get to the car.
“Sure,” Penny says, handing over her keys.
Penny gets in the passenger seat, leaving me and Riley to squish in the back seat with Mercy. Since I’m smaller, I slide in first, letting Riley have the seat next to the door. When she gets in, I groan and push myself closer to Mercy.
Riley calls me a bitch under her breath as she buckles her seat belt, and I crack up.
“We’re gonna need a bigger car,” I joke, buckling my own.
“You’re just jealous because I have a fat ass and you don’t.”
“I am, actually. I’d kill—”
“Where are we headed?” Hope asks, interrupting our banter.
Riley purses her lips, giving me the side-eye.
“The Avenue?” Penny asks, looking over her shoulder.
“Works for me,” I agree, nudging Riley, who nods.
“And we’re off!” Mercy announces excitedly as Hope pulls away from the curb.
My mood dampens slightly when I get a glimpse of Hope’s face in the rearview mirror and see her eyes roll. I keep my mouth shut, not wanting this day to start off on a bad note but fearing it may be too late. I don’t know where Hope’s supposed excitement went, but I sure as hell haven’t seen it. She better not ruin this day for the rest of us. As much as we want her to spend the day with us, she could have easily said no. No one forced her to come.
Sensing the tension, Penny turns on some music to fill the silence.
Fifteen minutes later, Hope pulls into the massive shopping center.
“Park over near H&M,” I suggest, knowing it’s the one store where we can all find clothes we like, even little Miss Mercy. We’re all have clothes-obsessed, with different styles, but H&M has a great selection, so we all usually leave happy.
Today is no exception.
After we find a parking spot, the five of us stroll into H&M and don’t come out for at least two hours. We have a blast trying on clothes and choosing outfits for each other. If life were a movie, I’m sure this part would be turned into a montage, peppy, upbeat music and all. By the time we leave, our hands are full, and our bank accounts are all a little lighter.
Penny insists we go to Bath & Body Works next, and we all load up on our favorite lotions and body sprays. We don’t spend too long there before we head to Journeys, where Mercy decides we all need some matching Chucks.
The hardest part is finding some we all like. Hope’s leopard print suggestion gets vetoed instantly, and she stubbornly refuses to offer her opinion on anything else. Riley vehemently protests anything pink. I don’t do glitter, ever. Penny wants tie-dye, but they’re way too bright for me and Riley. Much to Mercy’s dismay—and our relief—the unicorn and rainbow design only comes in kids’ sizes.
In the end, we settle on black high-tops with small, embroidered flowers, and everyone’s happy. Except for Hope, who’s mood turned sour when she didn’t get what she wanted. And Riley. I know she’s not a big fan of the flowers, but she’ll never say a word, and wear them anyway to please Mercy.
“Where to next?” Riley asks as we leave the shoe store.
“A restaurant, preferably,” Hope complains, earning an annoyed look from Riley.
“Lunch sounds good,” Penny blurts out, preventing Riley from saying something that would start a fight. “What’s everyone want?”
Hope rolls her eyes and grumbles, “Pick somewhere.”
Penny takes a slow, deep breath and turns to Mercy, asking her where she wants to have lunch. We all hear Hope scoff but pretend we didn’t. She can be rude to us all she wants, but if she turns that snide shit on Mercy, all bets are off. We put up with a lot of Hope’s bullshit, but none of us will tolerate that. Not even for the sake of a girls’ day.
I want to ask what her problem is, but I know it won’t do a damn bit of good. She won’t tell me. She never does. The smallest hint of confrontation makes Hope shut down. It’s best we grin and bear it for now, and keep our fingers crossed that some food in her stomach will improve her mood.
At Mercy’s request, we head over to Mimi’s Cafe, realizing about halfway there that it would have been smarter to take all the shopping bags to the car so we wouldn’t have to haul them with us across the huge parking lot. Oh, well. No sense in turning back now. We’ll have to pile them by our feet under the table when we get there. No biggie.
Which is exactly what we do once we’re seated. For as busy as the restaurant is during the lunch rush, they’re quick to get our food out to us. Everyone digs in, clearly starving after all the walking around we’ve done. It’s not until we’re almost finished eating that the tension that’s been simmering between Riley and Hope all day finally boils over.
Seems like Hope’s excitement about coming out today was short-lived. We’ve been dealing with her slights since we left the first store. Muttered, sarcastic comments. Dirty looks. Rotten mood for no good reason. She’s been acting like a petulant teenager, and everyone has their breaking point. And of fucking course, Hope has to go and do the one thing that will push Riley to hers.
“I can’t wait to have pretty nails like Auntie Lexi,” Mercy tells Penny when she mentions going to the salon after lunch.
“Oh, yeah, squirt?” I ask with a grin, feeling her excitement as if it were my own. “Which color are you going to choose?”
“Rainbow!”
“Right on. Should we do our toes, too?”