Pretty ironic that my father turned out to be the one thing I couldn’t have control over.
“How much longer?” I huff.
“Chill. She’ll be here,” Kendrick drawls, tearing his eyes away from his phone when mine pings with a text.
Zoey: I need you. CODE RED!!!!
My lips tip into a smile. Meet Zoey Michaels, expert drama queen, in love with love, vegan who forgets she’s vegan when she wants a burger and—drum roll—my childhood best friend.
“What’d the idiot do this time?”
I flick my head to see Kendrick peeking over my shoulder without a splinter of shame.
“Really?” I clutch my phone to my chest.
“She dumped his ass yet?” he asks.
“No, of course your brother isn’t annoying, Kass,” I mumble under my breath. “Said no one ever.”
“Can’t blame a guy for trying.” He beams.
Technically, he’s wrong.
I could blame him. You see, my brother and I have only ever had one sibling rule: no dating, looking, or breathing near your sibling’s friends.
Ever.
In another world, I’d have a right to be pissed at him for crushing on Zoey. But… in this one?
In this one, I broke the rule first.
You know the awkwardness that occurs when you’re forced to see someone you dated after breaking up? That cringeworthy moment that makes you want to crawl under a rock and never come out?
That’s what I’ve had to deal with every single day for weeks now. In my own house, as if it weren’t bad enough. If you think running into your ex in public is bad, try coming home to find him on your couch.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you my ex-boyfriend and biggest waste of time: Blake Nichols.
Yes, as in the Blake I mentioned earlier. Brother’s friend, dark hair, muscled—you get the idea. I should’ve known he was trouble with a capital T from the first time I saw him. Kendrick had me beat in that department. He knew Blake was bad news from the get-go and strictly forbade me to date him.
Then there’s Alex.
The only genuinely nice guy out of all my brother’s buddies. He’s kind, respectful, the “mom” of the group if you will—I mean, if moms had rock-hard abs and striking green eyes.
I know Alex to have grown up with two younger sisters and overly strict, loaded parents, which raises the question of how the guy with a picture-perfect life ended up dislocating jaws for money.
Illegal habits aside, Alex is a perfect gentleman who’s only ever had a few girlfriends, as opposed to Blake, who got around more than the seasonal flu. Alex is the only guy my brother deemed Kass-boyfriend material, and so Blake and I came up with a plan.
After weeks of begging, we got Alex to cover for us. I pretended to date him, asking Kendrick to drop me off at Alex’s, only to go to Blake’s the second his car dashed down the street. I was so naive back then, so certain what Blake and I had was love. Until our “love” was murdered by a three-word text.
We’re done. Sorry.
Blake ended our six-month relationship over text exactly two weeks ago. Alex told us he was done lying, and if Blake wanted to be with me, he had to put his big-boy pants on and tell Kendrick the truth. Blake decided he’d rather drop the whole thing than get his balls chopped off.
We haven’t said a word to each other since.
Do I feel bad about breaking the sibling rule? Let’s just say the fact that my brother has always had a very public crush on my best friend sure helps me sleep at night. I don’t doubt for a second he would’ve broken the stupid rule in a heartbeat if Zoey was single.
Lucky for me, she has a boyfriend: Sean, some college guy with a big house, a big wallet, and an even bigger ego to match.
When they first started dating, Zoey would go on for hours about how much better older guys were. Turns out the only thing Sean excels at is sitting on his parents’ couch playing video games.
They’ve been on and off for a solid year. These two break up like they breathe, and I’ve stopped counting the times she’s sent me this exact text asking to come over after they had a fight.
I type a quick reply.
Kass: Can’t. My cousin arrives today. I told you.
A few seconds go by.
Zoey: So??? Bring her.
Kass: But I promised I’d show her around town.
Zoey: You can show her around tomorrow. Today we’ll show her a box of tissues and The Notebook.
Kass: Thanks but no thanks.
Zoey: Pleaseee. It’s really over this time. I’m never getting back together with him.
Kass: I’m never going to eat cake again.
Zoey: Huh?
Kass: Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we were listing things we lie to ourselves about.
Zoey: Not funny.
Zoey: U coming over or what?
Kass: *sighs* You’re lucky I love you.
Zoey: YAY! Bring popcorn.
Kendrick nudges me with his elbow, and I look up, smiling at the sight of my cousin scanning the crowd.
“Winter!” Kendrick waves. Her face lights up, and she hurries over, carry-on bag hanging off her shoulder and suitcase rolling by her side. Letting her luggage hit the floor, she walks straight into our arms.
“How was your flight?” I ask when we break away.
She crinkles her nose. “Almost threw the lady showing me pictures of Romeo the cat out the window, but good.”
Kendrick laughs, picking up Winter’s bag with one arm and banding the other around her neck to tousle her hair. Making our way through the commotion, we answer my cousin’s million questions about her substitute home for the following months.
“Oh, and some American guy on the plane made fun of the way I say sorry. Rude much?” She frowns, her Canadian accent drawing a chuckle from me. A piece of the family has been missing this past year.
But now?
We’re whole.
“Yeah, well…” Kendrick smiles. “Welcome to America.”
Kassidy
I’m bursting into Zoey’s one-bedroom apartment an hour later. Nudging the door closed with my elbow, I kick off my shoes and steer a course to the living room. The first thing I see when turning the corner is Zoey’s floor, covered in a ridiculous amount of mascara-tinted tissues.
Eh. The usual.
On the ground, sitting on a throw up of pillows and blankets are Zoey and my other best friend, Morgan. A bowl of popcorn rests between them—let me rephrase, a bowl in which popcorn should be rests between them. The popcorn in question is all over Morgan’s hoodie. Morgan, being Morgan, keeps trying to catch popcorn into her mouth and failing until the floor is covered.
These two are my ride or die. I have no idea how I would’ve made it to senior year without them. I met Morgan freshman year, while I’ve known Zoey since kindergarten, but it feels like the three of us have known each other our whole lives.