Page 6 of The Friendsgiving Pact

Making matters worse, everyone was already about two hours ahead of them, drinking-wise, and so Matt’s announcement had caused a chorus of drunken cheers that could only have rubbed salt in Izzy’s wound.

Theo was at Izzy’s side in record time, shoving through the throngs of people congregating around Avery to ask a million questions, like How long has this been going on?, and I’ve had twenty bucks riding on this since sophomore year, and I honestly can’t believe it, you told me at graduation it was never going to happen???

Avery tore her eyes away from Theo, who was whispering urgently in Izzy’s ear. The reaction from the rest of the party wasn’t unexpected—everyone’s assumption that they were together for most of their high school career, whether or not they were dating other people, was part of why she’d suggested this stupid idea in the first place. But the volume of the response caught her off guard. It made her feel uneasy, like maybe this wasn’t the brilliant solution to their problems that she thought it was back at the diner.

Things were so much simpler when it was just her and Theo. It always had been, from the moment they first met. She hadn’t realized until now that putting their relationship in the town’s spotlight, even if it was fake, threatened to complicate it.

All of a sudden Grace’s house felt claustrophobic, too hot and humid with the heat of dozens of bodies. Avery made some vague excuses, keenly aware of the fairly intense conversation Theo and Izzy were having in her peripheral vision, and pushed her way to the back door.

She escaped onto the back deck, breathing in the cold, fresh air. Snow was still falling, but just a light, glittery dusting that danced in every faint gust of wind. Even shutting the door behind her sent a puff of snow swirling up toward the heavy low clouds that obscured the night sky.

Avery lifted her face up and let the snowflakes melt on her flushed cheeks, the cold already seeping through her sweatshirt. She shuffled her feet, clearing a tiny circle around her on the deck, and stuffed her hands into her sweatshirt pocket.

Behind her, there was a sharp burst of noise that cut off almost as quickly as it started. She was off to the side, behind where the door swung open, so she could see the intruder first.

It was Izzy, doing almost the exact same thing Avery had done. Deep breaths, looking up at the sky, wrapping her arms around herself to ward off the chill. Avery had half a thought to hide, to try to melt into the shadows and let Izzy do her thing alone, but Izzy’s gaze landed on her before Avery could execute her plan. “Of course,” Izzy muttered, shaking her head. “Figures.”

“I’m sorry,” Avery said. She wasn’t quite sure exactly what she was apologizing for—telling everyone she was dating Theo? Letting Izzy believe a lie that Avery had thought might be kinder than the truth? Or maybe just existing in a spot that Izzy had sought out for some peace? Even though she had dated Avery’s best friend for almost a year, they hadn’t had many solo conversations. They might talk if they were around each other, but they were only ever around each other if Theo was there. They had nothing in common, save him. Avery was AP classes and student council and school newspaper and National Honor Society, while Izzy was usually in the ceramics room or photography lab and never attended any after-school events. And truth be told, Avery had always been a little afraid of Isabella Samuels. She was just so tall.

Izzy huffed. Her annoyance formed a cloud at her lips that quickly dissipated, unlike the look on her face. “It’s—whatever. Congrats, I guess.”

Avery had a desperate, futile desire to salvage Theo’s reputation. “He didn’t want to hurt you.”

It was too dark for Avery to see Izzy roll her eyes, but she felt it. “I’m sure. He never does.”

“He really doesn’t,” Avery said feebly.

“Yeah, because every girl loves it when their boyfriend of two weeks decides to play knight in shining armor and goes rushing off to take another girl to homecoming.”

Avery blinked. “I—we—he said you were okay with it.”

Another eye roll so powerful it could probably have been felt back in California. “I was. Doesn’t mean I still am.” She crossed her arms and tossed her honey brown hair over her shoulder. Sometimes she felt like Izzy had been designed in a laboratory specifically to make her feel insecure. She even looked exactly like who someone would expect Theo to date: She was tall and glamorous and able to pull off scornful glances, while Avery was short and dorky and totally unable to look down her nose at anyone without going cross-eyed.

“What does that mean?”

Izzy sighed. “It means, Avery, that I learned that weekend what everyone else already knew. That no matter what, with Theo, everyone will always come second to you. So yeah. Congrats.” She turned on her heel and stalked back into the party, leaving Avery alone with her muddled thoughts.

Or so she thought. Out of the gloom of Grace’s backyard, Cameron emerged. Fucking Cameron, as Theo sometimes called him. His family lived three streets over, although those three streets might as well have been an entirely different town. Grace and her parents lived in a modest three-bedroom home, clean and comfortable but dated, while Cameron’s family lived in a brand-new (by Itasca standards, which meant at least fifteen years old) subdivision put up by a developer right on the edge of town. Cameron’s house was all gleaming surfaces and expensive finishes, with four bedrooms upstairs and one more tucked into the basement, right near the hot tub. It was practically a mansion.

“Avy? That you?” he called.

“It’s me,” she confirmed. She had never loved his pet name for her, but Cameron seemed sure it was endearing. It was one of many things Cameron was very certain of, despite having no evidence that any of it was true. He stomped up the steps, knocking snow off his shoes as he went, and her stomach lurched with each stomp. “Did you walk?” Avery asked, somewhat unnecessarily. If he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have been cutting through the backyards to get there. But she had to say something. Something that wasn’t blurting out, with absolutely no preamble, Hey, I’m dating Theo!, because even Cameron would find that suspicious.

“Brayden said his uncle was probably going to set up on the corner of Oak and Main, and I didn’t want to risk it with the booze in my backpack,” Cameron explained. He stopped right next to Avery, his cheeks endearingly pink. His blond hair looked almost white in the moonlight.

“Probably wise,” Avery agreed. Brayden’s Uncle Jeff was the town’s police chief (although Theo liked to scoff and point out that “chief of police” was a fairly lofty title for a man in charge of all of two deputies, one of whom wasn’t even full-time) and he wasn’t anywhere near as lenient as Brayden’s other uncle, the firefighter. Uncle Jeff would know exactly what Cameron would have in his trunk, and exactly where he was going, if he saw him. Much safer for Cameron to walk, even if the softly clinking backpack was probably a dead giveaway to anyone close enough to hear it.

“I missed you,” Cameron said abruptly, cutting off Avery before she could add something bland, like definitely a good call. “I’m so sorry about everything. I fucked it up, I fucked it all up, and I am just so sorry, Avy.”

“It’s—”

“No, don’t say it’s okay, because it’s not. We had such a good thing, and I went and threw it all away.”

Well, that much was true. Although Avery hadn’t been about to say it’s okay but rather it’s fine, I’m actually dating Theo now. But Cameron was barreling on into a clearly prepared speech. “All I’m asking for is a chance.”

“A—chance?”

Cameron drew closer, and Avery caught a whiff of his scent. He always smelled like laundry and cologne, and suddenly she was overwhelmed with memories. Memories that weren’t entirely unpleasant or unwelcome. Memories of Cameron kissing her, of—well. Suffice it to say, Avery had been with Cameron in part for his skills. Skills that, as of November, had yet to be found in the dating pool of Hilleboe College.