Page 86 of The Has-Been

Rory makes a face, shaking her head, “Aren’t goalies weird?”

June snorts, “Like you aren’t?"

Rory’s face twists, like she wants to be offended, but then just shrugs away June’s jab with, “I prefer…unique. Or, one-of-a-kind.”

June and I shake our heads in unison.

After a second, June scolds, looking me up and down, “Um, hello, why aren’t you getting dressed?”

“What? WHY?”

“I knew you would forget!” Rory says, folding her arms over her chest. “You even told your mom you wouldn’t, but you totally did. Dickmatized by Liam!”

Dickmatized? Well, that’s a new one.

But then a cold sweat rushes over me—the fucking Thanksgiving Gala…

My mouth drops open. I completely forgot all about it—I didn’t get measured for my dress, and now it’s only two days away.

June puts her hands on my hips. “I knew you wouldn’t remember, so I gave Cynthia your measurements from last year. You’re welcome!”

Thank God for June. I exhale.

“Come on, get dressed!” Rory instructs.

“Wait!” I sit up and head toward my bathroom to shower. “Where’s Reese?” I ask, looking between them.

She texted last night and said she wouldn’t be home. But she never elaborated why…or where she was staying.

My jaw sets as my brain comes up with some not-so-creative ideas of what she might be up to. But I shake my head. Reese wouldn’t be hiding anything from us. She’d never lie.

Rory looks at her phone, “She’s meeting us there.”

June, Rory, and I stand on the curb by the main entrance of the mall.

Our arms are each crossed over our chest, eyes narrowed as Reid’s truck pulls up.

His windows are tinted dark, making it hard for us to make out their forms inside.

When Reese climbs out, she calls back, “Don’t forget, you need a tux.”

Reid rolls down his window, eyeing Reese as she pulls her hair back into a ponytail. He leans over the passenger seat, “Did you sleep well last night, Hearteater?” He throws his head back and laughs.

God, I wish I had.

“No—your dumbass friend dropped me off and went home.”

He shakes his head, eyeing Reese as he questions, “I’ll see you tonight?”

Reese smiles and nods as he drives away.

“Lord, have mercy!” Rory drops to her knees, pretending to worship the ground. “The sins I would commit for that man! Lord help me!” She signals the cross mockingly, smacking her hand on the concrete.

We all watch in stunned silence. What is wrong with her? I think holding back my mirth.

But it’s Reese who breaks first—tipping her head back and starts howling with laughter.

My eyes brim with tears of amusement as we all drop to our knees, right on the sidewalk of the mall, pretending to approach a church altar and signal the cross. “In the name of Morgan Reid—we have sinned, Father!” Rory continues, and we repeat the confession.