Ty:
Shayla was just a distraction, I swear. You’re the one I want. The one I need. She and I are done. OK?
Her eye twitched as she reread the message while Emma, Izzy, and Rachel shook their heads at Tyler’s blatant bullshit.What was it that Rihanna said?“He was only sorry he got caught,” she muttered and Rachel nodded.
“He seems like an asshole.”
“No arguments there,” April told her. “I know he and I are done, but I can’t lie—it really pissed me off when he said he wanted me, that heneededme. Not that helovedme. He just wanted to own me, control me.” She shook her head. “I just think that’s pathetic. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before.”
“You can’t blame yourself,” Izzy said and wrapped an arm around April’s shoulders, squeezing gently.
“Hindsight is a bitch,” Emma added, making the nail artist chuckle. “Are you going to reply to him?”
April shrugged. “I’m not sure what there is to say.”
Rachel finished up with Emma’s nails, now a glossy red, and directed her under the UV lamp to cure before holding out her palms to inspect April’s fingers. “You know what you’d like?”
April nodded, showing her the photo she’d found, and was relieved when Rachel smiled.
“What about your things? Your clothes and stuff still in the city?” Emma frowned over her shoulder while April got comfortable to let Rachel do her thing.
“I don’t know … It just all feels tainted now. I guess I’ll go back and get some of it at some point, but I’m not in a rush, to be honest. Besides, who knows what else of mine he’s been letting his girlfriend borrow?” April shuddered. “You know, I did lose a skirt late last year. I just assumed I’d find it in a drawer somewhere, but now I’m wondering …”
A gasp drew April’s attention to Izzy, who looked aghast. “You think this had been happening for that long?”
“I honestly don’t know.” And, truthfully, she was tired of dwelling on it.
“Well, we’re going on record here to say that Tyler seriously sucks and we rescind our approval,” Izzy said firmly.
April laughed, the sound lighter than she’d felt in days. “Thank you.”
They nodded and Emma smirked. “So, like, don’t take him back or it’ll be super awkward now that you know we hate him.” Their laughter was in sync, reminding April of their younger selves up to no good or gossiping in class.
Rachel began shaping and filing her nails and April felt the tension draining out of her, to the point that she was startled when Izzy rustled a bag of candy that she’d brought with her. She offered one to April, who wrinkled her nose. Sour candies had never been her thing; mostly they just gave her heartburn. Plus, several of Iz’s favorite brands used grapefruit juice to help make the candies sour, and it was one of the few ingredients that messed with her anxiety medication. All in all, she’d stick with cake, thank you very much.
Emma had taken her hands out from under the UV light and was gleefully filming Rachel’s progress on April’s nails, while also getting close-ups of her own cuticles. It was probably a big deal for Rachel, considering that Emma’s large following often meant she charged thousands for brand deals and promoted posts on her socials. Plus, April had no doubt that Emma would pay Rachel, too—she’d complained a lot in the early days about the expectation that influencers were happy to be paid in exposure. But, as Emma had said,Exposure doesn’t buy me groceries.
“So you’re back for good, then,” Emma continued after lowering her phone camera. There was a cautious optimism in her voice and April hid her smile.
“Yes. I’m back for good.”
Emma squealed, coming up behind her to squeeze around April’s shoulders tightly. “I’m so glad. We missed you.”
“I missed you guys too.”
“Have you thought any more about what you want to do now you’re staying in town? You have a super-soothing voice, you know—I bet you could do good voiceovers for socials.” Emma looked fit to burst, no doubt a dozen ideas flooding her mind all at once. Her exuberance was one of the things April loved best about her.
“Actually …” She cleared her throat, stalling as she debated whether this was even worth bringing up. “We, ah, need to decide what to do with the bar. My mom suggested that maybe we clear it out and do our own thing there—me and Noah. He’s been whiteboxing it this week so we can start renovations properly after the weekend.”
Izzy nodded, face puckering as she ate a particularly sour candy. “That sounds like a great idea. Will you renovate it back into a bar again? Or something else?”
Moment of truth. “I was thinking about opening a flower shop.” A beat of silence, less than half a second, and April steeled herself for laughter or confused pity. Instead, both Emma and Izzy were smiling, like this plan made something resembling sense.