style="font-size:15px;"> “You probably didn’t do a lot of sledding in Texas as a child, anyway.”
“Nope, only when I visited my aunt up here for Christmas and we got lucky enough for it to not just be gray and cold.”
“So almost never, then. That’s probably my least favorite thing about our winters. Not only do they drag on for weeks longer than you want them to, but most days it’s just ugly out.”
“I completely agree. If I’m going to live somewhere with four seasons, I want four real seasons.”
“Exactly,” I said. “My cousins live up in Michigan, and as awful as Michigan can be—”
Brooke appeared behind Aiden, and I stopped talking.
Always dressed impeccably, she had also not lowered herself to wear anything in theme today. She was in black velvet leggings, a navy blazer and a sheer black tank top. The only thing arguably holiday-related was the Tiffany’s filagree heart necklace she was wearing on a long chain. She clicked toward us in her heeled ankle-boots, rolling her eyes dramatically.
“Ugh! I am so sorry, you guys, Mr. Andrews was nagging me for, like, ten minutes about how, for this essay, I need to ‘arrange my thoughts’ and ‘write an outline.’ Ugh. Okay, let’s get out of this soul-sucking hellhole.”
We climbed into Aiden’s Jeep. We rode with him whenever Brooke woke up early enough.
Brooke buckled her seat belt and turned to me. “Oh, did he give you that seasoning stuff?”
“Yeah, just now.” Okay, so she had known about it. That was less weird, then.
“I don’t know what it is, but every time his mom cooks, the food is amazing and it’s because of that stuff. So now you can cook me food whenever I want it and I don’t have to wait for his mom to let me come over.” She gave me a cheesy grin. “Oh, okay, so here’s our new mission, Aiden. We have to find Natalie a boyfriend.”
I leaned back against the headrest. “Brooke...”
“Oh, shush, I know better than you. I’m thinking she needs a hipster-type guy.”
“I told you, I don’t want some weird poser who wears nonprescription Ray-Bans. It’s really not my thing.”
“That shouldn’t be anybody’s thing,” said Aiden.
“Agreed.”
“No, guys,” Brooke said, “not the annoying kind of hipster who’s just catching on to the mainstream hipster thing, more someone who is a little off-kilter, but not to an annoying extent.”
“I already think he sounds lame.”
“Nat, be real, I’m not saying he needs to be exactly anything. I mean someone who is into the same things as you. You’re not going to date, like, a football player.” She gestured at Aiden. “I don’t see that being something you’re into. Or maybe you need someone who is your total opposite. I don’t know! It’s going to be fun to shop you around. Which is why—” she pulled out her phone and opened up Facebook “—we are going to this tomorrow night.”
I took the phone and looked at it. “Stupid Cupid Rager?”
“Yes. It’s at Alexa’s place, have you been there? Well, it’s huge and has a pool table and a movie theater, and is the best. We’re hoping to get snowed in there. It’s even better in summer because of the pool in the back, but whatever. It’ll be fun, anyway. She has a hot tub!”
“Snowed in?” I groaned. “That seems like it could be kind of a nightmare.”
“Yeah,” Aiden agreed. “There are more than a few people I would rather not be locked in a house with.”
“God, Mom and Dad, chill out. It’s going to be fun goddammit.”
Aiden’s eyes shifted to mine in the rearview. I stifled my grin.
“Point is,” Brooke went on, “there’ll be a ton of people there and it’s going to be awesome. Lots of guys. And Alexa used to go to Northwest, so I think we might not already know and be sick of them all. Bonus!”
“Does Natalie even want a boyfriend?”
“Aiden. Every girl secretly wants a boyfriend, no matter what they cop to. It’s how the world works.”
“Brooke, I’m not searching that desperately. I’m actually not even searching. You are. For me. Without being asked.”
“I know you’re not, you’re doing the opposite! You’re hiding! And what happens if you squander your youth and beauty by not even trying?” She glanced back at me again. “You’re always going to be pretty but you know what I’m trying to say.”
“I don’t see the point in wasting time or youth on some drunk LAX bro, either.”
“Then you haven’t met some of the LAX bros I know. What?” Aiden was giving her a look. She rolled her eyes and turned back to me. “He’s being jealous. So will you go?”
“I don’t know...”
“Come on! You promised!”
She gave me her best puppy-dog eyes. They didn’t work on me ordinarily, but I had promised. And I didn’t have any plans.
“Fine! Fine, if it’s that important to you, I’ll go.”
She squealed.
* * *
“GO TO THE party, Natalie.”
“But I don’t wanna.” I was bent over the back of the couch, a listless sack of un-fun. My father was in the kitchen making us egg salad sandwiches and trying to convince me to be a teenager.
“Brooke is right—there are certain things you have to do at your age. Even if it’s not fun, you’ll be with your best friend. And Aiden, you two are friends.”
“Yeah, I know. But Brooke tends to gets wasted and wander off, and then I’m left alone.”
“Tell her in the beginning of the night, say, ‘Brooke, I would really appreciate if you could make an effort—’”
“Dad, Dad, Dad,” I cut him off, pushing myself off the couch and holding up a hand. “Do you really see that being a real conversation? No, she’s going to do what she wants, and it would be incredibly loserish of me to have a conversation about sticking by my side.”
“Fair enough.” He cut my sandwich diagonally, and then cut his down the middle. “Then hang out with Aiden.”
He turned around and gave me a look.
“Shut up!” I said, covering my face with the neck of my hoodie.
“Aiden and Natalie, sittin’ in a tree...”
“Dad! He’s Brooke’s boyfriend, I don’t know why you’re so intent on me
