Read Online These Are the Moments by Jenny Bravo - Free Book Online Page A

squeezed it. “Hate you? Why would I ever hate you?”
    She collapsed into Wendy. “You never think about . . . never mind.”
    Reese gave Wendy a get out while you can look, but Wendy didn’t, which was a mistake because Vivian said, “I mean, this could’ve been you.”
    There it was. Out loud. Soaked up into the atmosphere.
    Reese recovered, “Ok, drinky pants, let’s go get you some water.”
    Reese nudged Vivian toward the bar and Wendy just stood there for a second.
    This could have been you .
    When Reese reappeared, her hair splintering out, she carried four drinks at once.
    “Your friend is a crazy lush who just tried to jump in the pool,” she said.
    “Kicking off the party with a splash, huh?”
    “Very funny,” she said, taking a swig of her vodka water, handing Wendy two drinks, “These are for you. I think you could use them.”
    An hour later, Reese and Wendy sipped their drinks from the lawn chairs, barefoot, singing along to “Sweet Caroline.” Wendy was drunk, and she was perfectly okay with that.
    “No-show,” she slurred. “Bad friend. I mean, I mean, shouldn’t he be here or something?”
    “Do you want him to be here? You do. I know you do.”
    Wendy shoved her hand in Reese’s face. “Shh. I just . . . just wanna get it over with.”
    “Simon, Simon, Simon.”
    Wendy closed her eyes, feeling her head swirl into an alcohol fog. It was nice here. Stars on top of her. Breeze. Songs about love. Talking, talking, talking.
    When she opened her eyes, there were just lights. No stars.
    “Fucking hell,” Reese whispered.
    Wendy lifted her head. Tried to, at least. On the patio, above the stairs, there he was. Simon Guidry stood above the crowd, scanning the faces, wearing blue. Always in blue.
    Wendy sat up all the way.
    And they looked at each other, far away but closer than before.
    Don’t throw up , she told herself .
    She didn’t.
    Their eyes met so briefly that when Simon looked away, she couldn’t be sure if it had actually happened at all.
    Simon was here. Simon was back.

Chapter 16
    Then
    With Simon, every upswing had a downswing with ten times the staying power.
    Everyone was at Owen’s, watching a movie in the game room. It wasn’t much of a game room. It was a more casual living room. The “games” part of the room was virtual. Video games. Owen and Simon would play for hours, who knew what, who knew why.
    It’d been a week since the Christmas party, and nothing had changed. Simon and Erica were still fighting. Simon and Wendy were just friends. Wendy hadn’t expected anything to change, exactly, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hoping. She prayed every night:
    God, give me a sign .
    There had been so many already. Simon showing up to the Christmas party alone. Simon taking her to the roller coaster. When she thought back to retreat, she hadn’t known what kind of God-sign she’d been asking for, but all of them seemed to be aimed in Simon’s direction.
    “He likes you. That’s obvious,” Mom said. “You should see how he looks at you. It’s a sign.”
    The problem with signs? They were impossible to read.
    The couch order was as follows: Simon, Wendy, Reese, then Owen. It almost felt like a double date, except that none of them were actually dating. Reese and Owen acted like brother and sister. She kicked him, and he teased her about her bad dye job. Wendy and Simon acted like an ex-couple. Barely touching. Barely existing.
    “You okay?” she whispered to him.
    His elbow sank on the arm rest, his forehead in his hand. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
    “You’re acting weird.”
    He looked at her. “How do you want me to act?”
    “Never mind,” she said, turning back to the movie.
    She was angry now. When Wendy got mad, it was all-consuming. She simply sat in her temper, letting the angry bits of her bubble over the rim. What was his problem?
    He whispered, “It’s Erica.”
    She nodded. She didn’t care. “Okay.”
    “Look, I’m sorry,” he said,