Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 120230 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 601(@200wpm)___ 481(@250wpm)___ 401(@300wpm)
“Okay.” Vansi held up her hands. “I was creeped out by that doll before, but now I’m never, ever going near it and I will run in the other direction if I see it. What were your parents thinking?”
It should’ve been a horrifyingly insensitive statement, but the way Vansi had said it, the words held a gentle sympathy. They made Darcie sob out a laugh through the tears that had begun to roll down her face.
Grace went over, took her hand. Darcie didn’t shake her off.
“I don’t know,” she said afterward, mopping up her tears on one sleeve of her loose gray sweater. “I think it was the thing to do in their circle at the time. A doll no one else would ever have. Truly one of a kind.”
Vansi stepped over to hug Darcie, Grace releasing her hand so Darcie could return the embrace. Because while Vansi could have a sharp tongue, she was also generous at heart.
“Well,” my best friend said when she pulled back, “I think Bea would’ve enjoyed knowing that her doll is still causing a ruckus. We’re all missing her spirit this week, aren’t we? It was always meant to be eight of us.”
A glance at Grace. “I didn’t mean—”
“No, I understand.” Grace squeezed her hand. “Aaron talks about how you named yourselves the Great Eight. I get it. I wish I would’ve made it the Prime Nine, that she was here still.”
And, for the first time since the night our world fractured into seven damaged pieces, we began to talk about our Bea. Until by the time Ash returned to the room, we were all seated with fresh mugs of tea or coffee in hand, a plate of Aaron’s peanut butter–chocolate cookies doing the rounds as we shared stories about the friend who hadn’t made it to this reunion.
Ash looked stricken as he realized what was going on, but when Darcie reached out a hand, sorrow and apology on every inch of her face, he immediately walked over to sit next to her.
Tucking her against him, he ran his hand down her arm.
“Remember that time she talked us into toilet-papering that one teacher’s car?” Aaron leaned forward, mug in hand and elbows braced on his thighs. “I mean, it was such a juvenile thing to do, but she made it hysterical. Until even I joined in, though I was the ultimate teacher’s pet.” A sheepish grin that had Grace dropping a kiss on his cheek. “My parents would’ve disowned me if it ever came to light.”
“That asshole deserved it,” Phoenix muttered. “He put our whole class into detention because he couldn’t figure out who’d thrown a spitball in his direction, and none of us would talk.” He shook his head. “I mean, if that’s not a sign of global dislike . . .”
“I can’t believe we got away with it. Our lucky night,” I said.
“No,” Aaron argued. “It was strategy. See, Bea and Nix were top of their grades, and Darcie was student council president with a spotless record and thus above suspicion, which sort of carried over to the rest of us by association. Helped that Kaea kept winning rugby and athletics trophies. No one was ever going to look at the Great Eight.”
Aaron’s grin lit up his whole face. “Bea also made sure we did it on a night when the naughty kid most likely to be blamed had an airtight alibi—he was in theater practice. No scapegoat for them to point at.”
“Beatrice was always smart like that.” Darcie’s throat sounded scraped raw, but a smile glowed in her eyes. “She could get around adults in a way I never could figure out. It was like she was born knowing how people’s brains worked.”
I shifted on the sofa, not comfortable with how Darcie was coloring her sister and not about to allow it to stand. Because it wasn’t Bea who was the manipulative one of the two. “She never talked us into anything we didn’t want to do,” I pointed out. “She’d suggest, but it was always our call.”
“That’s right.” Vansi swallowed a bite of cookie. “I bowed out a couple of times because the risk was too high my parents would ground me forever, and she never held it against me.”
“Yeah, she was good like that.” Aaron’s smile held a weight of memory. “Must’ve been all that yoga and meditation. Remember that time she signed us up for that silent meditation retreat as a joke and made a bet that we wouldn’t last the day?”
“I’d forgotten about that.” Kaea grinned. “Jesus, what a trip. I could not believe that Bea, whose mouth moved like a train, beat us all!”
“I was runner-up,” Vansi pointed out with a fist pump. “Meanwhile, my dark and handsome and taciturn lasted exactly three hours.”
Phoenix’s lips twitched. “That Zen garden was a beautiful place to propose. And what did you do when I spoke the romantic words I’d sweated over for days? Just nod yes and stick out your hand. I had to wait hours for vocal confirmation. Brutal, baby.”