“I know. I was looking forward to seeing your parents,” Selma responds next to me, fumbling with the wrapper of her straw. She folds it over and over again.
“Oh, you’ll still see them,” Lily continues, resting her head on her hand and leaning closer to the two of us.
It’s a Thursday night at Lenny’s, which means it’s packed with both underage and of age college students—it being Thirsty Thursday and all. The verdict is still out if this place will wind up getting shut down by the health inspector or the cops, but it’s still one of my favorite places. It’s familiar, an old hangout we’ve been coming to ever since we were all bright-eyed and eighteen and would do anything for a cheap beer we could get our hands on.
The walls of Lenny’s are completely covered in dollar bills. Some of them are signed, or have pictures drawn on them. It’s a typical dive bar. Old neon signs illuminate the place. Every table is covered in people’s artwork and names.
“Did you hear that, Mav?” Lily questions, kicking me under the table.
“Hmm?” I ask, bringing my attention back to her. My hand absentmindedly finds Selma’s leg next to mine, and I rest it against her thigh.
“Mom and Dad are coming to watch our tournament in Missouri over Thanksgiving holiday. They’re staying in the same hotel with us. The team is doing some fancy dinner for Thanksgiving. Which means you’ll be all alone here. Unless you could go, too?”
Selma leans in closer to me, using her actions to show me she would also like me to be there to watch their volleyball tournament. Both of them play on the team, and the team has a great chance of going to state this year. I wish I could be there to watch them.
“You know I can’t,” I begin, taking a moment to take a long sip of my beer. “I finally have the opportunity to shadow Keith Yang, I can’t let that opportunity go to waste.” Keith Yang is not only my idol, he’s one of the best criminal defense lawyers in our state. He’s known to do pro bono cases all the time. I want to help people who’ve been wrongfully convicted of crimes and working with him is my first step in doing so. I hope to work at his firm when I complete law school. This is my chance at an in with him.
“Chug! Chug! Chug!” is chanted from across the bar. A group of frat guys cheer on one of their brothers as he chugs Lenny’s famous pitcher—a concoction pertaining all the different beers that Lenny’s serves. Everyone in our group has done the challenge at least once. Foam spills out from the sides of the guy’s mouth as he chugs, but after a while he sucks it all down.
Selma’s hand lands on mine, which is still in her lap. “We wouldn’t want you to miss this opportunity Mav. We’ll have plenty of other tournaments you can come to. I’m just sad you’ll be spending Thanksgiving alone.”
“I can check with Aspen to see what his plans are,” I offer.
Lily makes a gagging noise from across the table. “Probably drowning in any chick he can get his grubby little hands on.” She rolls her eyes and chugs the rest of her beer. It makes a clanking noise when she drops it back on the table. “Another!” she shouts, looking at Lenny at the bar, and asking for a fresh one like she’s in Game of Thrones. “Seriously, Maverick, how are you even friends with that douche canoe?” Lily asks, peeling the wrapper off her beer bottle.
Screams erupt from another part of the bar, but this time none of us even glance that way. It’s a typical noise here. We’re so lost in our conversation that none of us even notice when Aspen walks up to us.
“Aww, Lily Bear, why do you have to be so sweet?” he asks, sliding in next to Lily and pulling her close to him. He pats the top of her head like he would a little sister, and through her grumbles, she shoves him.
“Gross, Aspen! Get your nasty hands off of me! Who knows where they have been recently.” She fiercely rubs where he just touched her, being as overdramatic as usual when it comes to him.
Lenny comes to our table and sets a new beer down at the edge of our table. Before Lily has a chance to take it, Aspen picks it up and chugs it in two seconds flat. Lily’s look rivals the same one Veronica had when she was staring down that piece of paper.
If looks could kill, my best friend would very much be dead.
“Oh, stop being so dramatic, Lil,” Aspen says, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and setting it back on the drawn-all-over table. He makes eye contact with Lenny at the bar and holds up three fingers, putting his hand down when Lenny nods back at him. “Plus, I’m as clean as a whistle, baby.” He grins at her and she rolls her eyes, scooting away from him in the booth.
I wonder if my sister realizes it’s blatantly clear to both Selma and I that there’s something more than hate between her and Aspen. There has been for the almost-four years we’ve been at college—but I’m certainly not going to be the first one to bring it up to either one of them. I just mind my own business in that regard.
“Did you tell your sister about my soulmate?” Aspen asks, looking over at Lily and waiting for her reaction.
I can tell he’s trying to rile her up and get another reaction, which is exactly what he gets.
“Soulmate?” Lily sputters, wringing her hands together on top of the table.
“Yes, my soulmate is moving in with me. Things are getting serious,” Aspen replies.
Lenny walks over and deposits three beers in front of Aspen, who hands one to me and the other to Lily. She begrudgingly takes it from him.
I finish off the last bit of my first beer before pushing it out of the way and setting the new one directly in front of me.
Selma must do something to Aspen underneath the table, because he jumps, giving her a scowl.
“He’s lying,” Selma starts, looking at Lily’s pouting face earnestly. “Maverick found someone to pick up Kira’s portion of the rent and move in with us. Aspen—for some reason—is under the impression that he and this girl, Veronica, are star-crossed lovers, but once you meet her you will very clearly see that she’s not interested in him.”
Aspen’s hand flies to his chest in a mocking display. “You wound me, sweet Selma. Every woman is impressed by me.”
“Not this one,” Lily mutters under her breath, taking a long drink of her beer.
“Especially you, Lily Bear,” Aspen says, tapping her on the nose with the tip of his finger.
Lily’s eyes widen, and I can see her turning a new shade of pink.
These two, I swear.
My mind travels to Veronica for a split second, wondering where she is tonight. I hadn’t thought to invite her out with us tonight, and now I’m wondering if I should have.
“Tell me about this Veronica,” Lily says, dragging out her name with disdain.
I can’t help but chuckle, which earns me a very dirty look from my twin sister.
A girl walks up to Aspen and tries to put her hand on him, but surprisingly, he waves her off and stays engaged in our conversation. Dismissed, the girl retreats to her large group of friends. They seem to console her, then send her in another man’s direction twenty seconds later.
“Do you have anything to add, brother?” Lily asks, sitting back in the booth and crossing her arms over her chest.
There’s a large rip in the red vinyl next to her, and I focus on that for a moment. I shake my head, wondering how it’ll go between Veronica and Lily. I know there’s a possibility the two of them could be friends—if that’s something Veronica even has. All I know for certain is that Veronica wants nothing to do with Aspen, and therefore, there’s nothing Lily needs to be jealous of when it comes to her.