Sure, Pal ('69 #1)

  Sure,

  Pal

  Nikki Paris

  Copyright © 2020 Nikki Paris

  All rights reserved.

  1

  Sienna

  Ava chewed on her lower lip and lazily doodled on a sheet of notebook paper with her hot pink gel pen. When she finished, she wiggled her eyebrows at me and tilted her notebook so I could see. Ava + Evan.

  I grinned at her and shook my head. God, she was such a girl.

  Ava shrugged, smiled, and closed her notebook. Then she twisted a lock of her golden blonde hair around her index finger as she pretended to listen to Mrs. Kline’s lecture about Shakespeare. I studied Ava for a minute — her ridiculously big blue eyes, her petite fairy-like frame, and her adorable slightly upturned nose— and recalled the way she crashed into my life two years ago.

  I was sitting outside of our middle school on a chilly autumn afternoon. The scratchy orange brick dug into my back, and my ass was getting cold from sitting on the sidewalk. My mom was late picking me up, again.

  She was a sculptor, and she often got lost in her projects. When she got like this, she tuned out the entire world and didn’t answer her phone. She probably forgot all about me, which she did more often than not. I was used to it and debating just walking home when suddenly, some bitch literally came out of nowhere and stepped on my hand!

  “Ow!” I yelled, yanking my hand out from under her stupid pink flats. “What the hell?” I shook my hand as the pain seared through it and glanced up at my new mortal enemy. Yep. She looked like the worst kind of girl — perfectly curled blonde hair, gobs of mascara and lip gloss, and a short skirt on a freezing cold day. We were not going to be friends.

  “Oh my god!” She covered her mouth with perfectly manicured hands. “I’m so so so so sorry! I didn’t even see you there!”

  “Obviously.” I glared.

  She didn’t take the hint that I already hated her. She actually sat down next to me in her short little skirt. I thought my ass was getting cold.

  She smiled at me and started chattering. “Hi, I’m Ava! I moved here from LA, and I walked down here to see the school. I’m starting on Monday, and I’m really, really nervous! Are kids nice here? Do you think they’ll like me? Kids at my old school were so so mean. I had a bunch of friends, but they weren’t really friends, you know? They were like mean girls that would stab you in the back the second you weren’t looking. Like, there was this guy I liked, and one day…”

  Ava was still talking, and I stared at her with my mouth slightly open. She was annoying the hell out of me, but I hated her less and less as she talked. Fine. We didn’t have to be mortal enemies, but we still weren’t going to be friends.

  “K, you are super pretty, by the way! I’m so jealous of your eyes! Are they green or brown or gold?”

  I blinked slowly at her, unsmiling. “Um. Hazel?”

  Ava laughed. “Duh. I forgot about Hazel. Oh my God, your hair is so shiny, too! What kind of hair products do you use?”

  “Dollar store shit.”

  Ava gaped at me. “Are you serious? K, if you used some of my stuff, your hair would be like show-stopping! If your hair looks that good covered in garbage sulfate and paragons, then just imagine how you would look with salon-quality products!”

  I stifled a grin. “Paragons?”

  “Yeah. The bad stuff that they put in like all of our beauty products!”

  I burst out laughing. “Parabens!”

  I was full-on laughing at this dumb bitch, but she didn’t get mad. Ava burst out laughing, too, and said, “God, I’m so dumb! Help me!” She laughed so hard that tears started to roll down her cheeks.

  I didn’t want to like Ava Mills, but she was a persistent little thing, and here we were, two years later, best friends forever.

  The bell rang, and a mass of antsy high school kids rushed out the classroom door while Mrs. Kline yelled after us to study for the test on Monday. Right. Like anyone heard or cared about that. I turned the corner and ran smack into Evan. Shit. His chest felt all hard and chiseled. He smelled so good.

  “Geez, Sienna! Watch where you’re going!” He grinned at me and brushed his light brown hair out of his eyes. His hair reminded me of the color of damp sand.

  “Sorry, dude.” I shrugged.

  Evan laughed. “Sure, pal.” He’d started calling me “pal” in the eighth grade, before Ava. I hated it. It meant he only ever saw me as a friend.

  Ava exploded around the corner next — she always made her presence known — and squealed when she saw her boyfriend. She flung herself into Evan’s arms and burrowed her head into his chest. He had to lean down almost a full foot to kiss her. “I missed you!” Ava gushed.

  Evan laughed. “I just saw you at lunch.”

  Ava rolled her big blue eyes and then batted her eyelashes at him. She’d ditched the mascara over the summer and opted for eyelash extensions. They made her even more beautiful. Was that why Evan started dating her? Was it the eyelashes or the killer C-cups that she’d also sprouted over the summer?

  Evan draped his arm over her shoulders as we walked, and Ava said, “Si! What are we doing this weekend?”

  I walked slightly behind the happy couple. When they both stopped to look at me, I shrugged. “What makes you think I have any good ideas? I barely even like people.”

  Ava rolled her eyes, and Evan grinned at me. Curse Evan and that stupid, cute smile.

  “Well, you guys are coming to my game tonight, right?” Evan asked.

  “Of course, baby.” Ava laced her fingers through his.

  I had a love-hate relationship with watching my best friend’s boyfriend play soccer. He looked sexy as hell, and I loved it. I could never touch him or tell him, and I hated it.

  I should have told Ava that I liked him before they started dating, but I’d said, “Cool! Evan’s a good guy, for sure!” I had a hard time standing up for myself and telling the truth about what I wanted. Not that the truth would have stopped Ava. She was crazy in love with Evan, and he was crazy in love with her. They deserved each other and happiness.

  I was unlucky.

  2

  Evan

  “Son, hand me that wrench over there.” My dad leaned over the hood of my beautiful 1969 Camaro, up to his elbows in grease. The car was supposed to be a gift for my eighteenth birthday, but it wasn’t running yet. He bought the Camaro one and half years early and said, “Let’s get that engine purring by the time you graduate high school. Then, the car’s yours.”

  My older sister, Bea, whined about getting a plain old Hyundai Elantra for her eighteenth birthday. When my dad came home with my Camaro, Bea said, “Evan always gets special treatment! I think we all know who Dad’s favorite is!”

  Our dad had laughed and messed up Bea’s shiny blonde hair. “Oh, Bea!”

  I wasn’t my dad’s favorite. Parents don’t honestly pick favorite children, but we did have a special bond. I handed my dad the wrench he’d asked for and couldn’t help but smile at the sheer excitement in his eyes.

  Ava’s white Jetta pulled into the driveway a moment later, and she jumped out before shutting off the engine. “Ah! Baby!” She ran over to me, leaving her car door open and flung her arms around my neck.

  I laughed out loud. “Aves, I’m going to get your cute little dress all dirty.”

  She laughed and kissed me. “I don’t care.” I loved Ava’s bubbly excitement and passion for life. I kissed her back and then looked up to see Sienna in the passenger seat. She rolled her eyes and leaned over to pull Ava’s keys from the ignition. Sienna blew her long, dark hair out of her eyes and then slowly climbed out of the car. She closed her door, then Ava’s, and made her way over to us.

  “Wow.” Sienna’s eyes traveled over
my Camaro. “That is a beautiful car.”

  My dad looked up and grinned at her. “Smart girl.”

  Ava turned to the car now. “You’re going to like paint it, right?” The Camaro was bright orange with white stripes down the hood. The paint was chipped and rusted, and it looked truly terrible.

  I laughed. “Yeah, Aves. What color should I paint it?”

  Ava slid her arm around my waist. “Blue, like your eyes!”

  Sienna shook her head. “No, this car needs a serious badass color. Either black or red.”

  My dad laughed again as he finished tightening something on the engine. I didn’t know what he was doing yet, but he was going to teach me everything he knew about cars over the next couple of years. He wiped his hands on a rag and said, “Well, son, you can have a car that’s blue like your gorgeous eyes or badass like your old man.” He patted me on the back. “I’ll let you be with your friends, but let’s get back out here bright and early tomorrow.”

  “Sounds good, dad. You might have to wake me up, though.”

  “You bet your ass I’ll wake you up if you’re not out here by seven.” My dad waved at Ava and Sienna. “Good to see you, girls.” Then he turned and headed back into the house.

  Ava pushed me up against the Camaro and kissed me again. “Mmm,” she sighed. “I couldn’t give you a proper hello with your dad watching.” She kissed me again and again.

  Sienna snorted. “Well, I’m still here. I don’t want to watch you eat each other’s faces either.”

  I quickly pulled away from Ava and glanced at Sienna. “Sorry, pal.”

  Sienna raised a single eyebrow at me. “Are you?”

  Ava laughed. “Fine, Sienna, we’ll go make out in Evan’s new car, and you can look the other way.”

  “Fucking hell, Ava! Why did you drag me here if you just wanted to make out with your stupid boyfriend?”

  “Hey! Stupid?” I grinned at Sienna.

  Ava laughed and stood on her tiptoes to kiss me again. “Don’t call my baby stupid, Si.”

  Sienna groaned and covered her face with both hands. “Evan, is Rob coming?”

  Rob was my best friend. He’d asked Sienna to the middle school dance before I could even work up the courage to admit that I wanted to ask her. They never started dating, but I backed off anyway. But that was all such a long time ago. Why was I even thinking about it? “Yeah, he should be heading over after he gets off work.”

  “Cool.” Sienna’s voice was deadpan. “Are you guys seriously going to make out right now?” She shook her head. “Do whatever you want. Is Charlie home, Evan? I’ll hang out with her.”

  Charlie was my thirteen-year-old little sister. Charlie and Sienna were a lot alike. They were both deep and sarcastic. I laughed. “Yeah, she’s up in her room trying to figure out how to put on make-up.”

  “Aw!” Ava grinned. “I’ll go help her!”

  “She already yelled at Bea when she tried to help.” I shrugged, then picked up a rag to wipe my hands. They weren’t that dirty. My dad was the one doing most of the work on the car.

  Ava looped her arm through mine and started to drag me toward the house. Sienna was already inside.

  Ava said, “But I’m your super cool girlfriend. It’s different coming from me.”

  When we walked into the living room, Charlie and Sienna sat on the couch with a bag of chips, watching Parks and Rec.

  “What happened to the make-up, Charlie?” I grinned at my little sister.

  Charlie glared at me. “Make-up is stupid.”

  Ava’s mouth dropped open in shock. “Oh my God! Charlotte, let’s go upstairs. I’ll show you how fun it can be!”

  “Nah. I’m good.” Charlie popped a chip in her mouth without even looking at Ava.

  “Is this the Little Sebastian memorial episode?” I laughed and collapsed next to Sienna on the couch. I reached over her to grab a handful of chips.

  Sienna grinned at me and sang, “Bye, bye, Little Sebastian. I’ll miss you in the saddest fashion.”

  I laughed and nudged her with my elbow. “Not bad, pal. You could be an official member of Mouse Rat.”

  Ava sighed loudly. “I guess I’ll just stand here.”

  I looked up at my girlfriend and patted my lap with a smile. Ava was really into PDA and loved it when I did stuff like that. Honestly, any time I even touched her, her pretty face lit up with that movie-star smile. It was hard not to love the attention I got from Ava. How could I not be into someone that loved me as much as she did?

  Ava flashed me her smile and snuggled up on my lap. I could have sworn I heard Sienna let out a sharp breath.

  When the episode ended, Ava sighed loudly again. “Are we done watching this? It’s not funny to me.”

  Charlie, Sienna, and I all said at the same time, “WHAT?”

  “God, don’t kill me!” Ava threw her head back and laughed, then she wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed me.

  “Boo!” Charlie yelled and threw a handful of chips at Ava and me. “Keep that garbage to yourself.”

  The next episode started, and I slid Ava off my lap, scooting closer to Sienna to make room for Ava on the couch. I studied Sienna for a minute and said, “You’re totally an April.”

  Sienna smirked at me. “You think I’m creepy? Fine. You’re totally a Jerry.”

  I burst out laughing and gave her a light shove.

  “Who am I?” Ava asked.

  “Leslie.” Sienna and I both said at the same time.

  Ava wrinkled her nose. “I want to be the pretty one. What’s her name?”

  “April?” I didn’t realize what I’d done until Charlie leaned over and raised a single eyebrow at me. I cleared my throat. “I mean, Ann?” I’d inadvertently called Sienna pretty by comparing her to April. Not that she wasn’t pretty— Sienna was gorgeous! Not that I thought about her that way anymore! Shit.

  “Yep. That one.” Ava nodded and laced her fingers through mine.

  Sienna stared straight ahead at the television, completely unaware or uninterested in what I’d just said. Charlie’s eyes darted back and forth between Sienna and me, and then she gave me a wicked grin and leaned back on the couch.

  ◆◆◆

  After my friends went home, I went back outside to look at my Camaro. Charlie followed me out and said, “Why are you dating Ava?”

  “Come on, Charlie. Don’t hate on my girlfriend.” I grinned at my little sister.

  Charlie folded her arms across her chest, unsmiling. “I’m not. I honestly want to know.”

  I shrugged. “Ava’s sweet and hot, and she knows what she wants.”

  “Hm.” Charlie still didn’t smile.

  “Why did you want to know?”

  “I think you’d be better with Sienna. Plus, you like her.”

  I raised both eyebrows. “Whoa, Charlie. You better not say anything like that in front of Ava. And of course, I like Sienna. We’ve been friends since we were your age.”

  Charlie shrugged. “You flirt with her a lot.”

  I laughed out loud. “That’s not flirting. You’re only thirteen, so maybe you don’t understand what flirting is yet.” I reached out to mess up Charlie’s light brown hair.

  She smacked my hand away. “I’m smarter than I look, Evan.” Then Charlie turned to head back into the house. “Night,” she called over her shoulder.

  I shook my head after the front door closed behind her. Yes, Sienna was awesome. Yes, in a different world, I could see myself with her. But I wasn’t living in that world, and I was damn lucky to have Ava.

  3

  Evan

  One month later, Ava sat on the floor of my garage while I worked on my Camaro. My dad was at work, but he’d given me enough pointers to do some minor repairs on my own.

  Ava always wanted to hang out — constantly, really. But if I wasn’t playing soccer, I wanted to work on my car. That meant that Ava spent an obscene amount of time on my garage floor. It annoyed the hell out of her when I didn’t
pay attention to her, so Ava usually brought Sienna to keep herself entertained.

  I had to admit, it was more entertaining for me when Sienna came, too. When Sienna was there, I got to overhear conversations about bra cup sizes and kissing techniques.

  Also, Sienna was funny. She had this unique ability to make Ava laugh so hard that she snorted. Ava never allowed herself to be “unattractive,” except for when she was with Sienna. I honestly liked my girlfriend better when her best friend was around.

  But Ava was on her own today, scrolling through her phone with a bored expression. Suddenly Ava’s eyes grew wide, and her mouth dropped open. “Baby! Let’s go camping next weekend!”

  I raised both eyebrows at my girlfriend. “Do you even like camping?”

  Ava laughed. “I’ve never tried it before, but I’m sure with you, it would be fun.” She bit her full bottom lip. “We could snuggle up together all night. And you could protect me from wild animals.”

  I laughed. “Sounds fun.”

  “Yay!” Ava clapped her hands and jumped up. “I’m calling Sienna. She has to come, too! It can be like our last fun little trip before we start our senior year!”

  “Uh…” I stood up straight and wiped the grease from my hands with a rag. “I don’t think Sienna loves being the third wheel.” It didn’t escape my notice how Sienna got annoyed, border-line angry, every time Ava kissed me in front of her.

  Ava shrugged. “So get Rob to come, too. Maybe they’ll finally hook up.”

  That thought seriously annoyed me. “Uh, I’ll ask him. I don’t know if everyone’s going to go for this, though, Aves.”

  ◆◆◆

  Neither Rob, Sienna, or I remembered actually agreeing to go camping with Ava, but eight days later, we were setting up a tent near the Washington coast. Ava got what she wanted. I both admired my girlfriend and was annoyed by her tenacity simultaneously. Lately, I was annoyed more often than not. That was normal, though, wasn’t it? I’d been with Ava for a little over a year. Couples went through weird phases where they irritated the hell out of each other, right?