When Atlas finally shows up, both Allysa and I are busy with customers. He’s carrying a brown paper bag. I motion for him to wait by the counter, so he stands patiently while we finish up. Allysa is finished first, and for at least five minutes, she and Atlas are having a conversation I can’t hear from this side of the shop. I’m trying to give my attention to the customer in front of me, but knowing Allysa is speaking freely to Atlas has me more than nervous. I never know what’s going to come out of her mouth.
Atlas looks pleased, though. Whatever she’s telling him, he’s enjoying it.
It feels like a decade later when I’m finally free to join them. Atlas leans in and greets me with a kiss on the cheek when I reach him. His fingers graze my elbow for several seconds after our greeting before he pulls his hand away. That simple physical gesture sends a current through me, making it hard to focus without being too obvious that I get giddy around him.
Allysa smiles at me knowingly. “Adam Brody, huh?”
I have no idea what she’s referring to until I look at Atlas and he’s grinning. I had a poster of Adam Brody on my bedroom wall the first time Atlas came to my house.
I shove Atlas’s arm. “I was fifteen!”
He laughs, and I love that Allysa is being nice to him. I know she has every right to give complete loyalty to her brother, but it’s not in her to be rude to people simply because other people don’t like them.
She’s not a ride-or-die friend, nor is she a ride-or-die sister. That’s what I love the most about her, because I’m not ride-or-die, either. If you do something stupid, I’m going to be the friend who tells you you’re doing something stupid. I’m not going to join you in your stupidity.
I want my friends to treat me the same way. I prefer honesty over loyalty any day, because with honestycomesloyalty.
“Thank you for lunch,” I say. “Did you get Josh’s school situation settled?”
Atlas has been working to enroll him in a school more local to where he lives, rather than the school Josh was in all the way across town.
“I did. Fingers crossed they don’t look too hard into the enrollment forms I had to fill out. I lied a little.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I say. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
“How old is he?” Allysa asks.
“He just turned twelve,” Atlas says.
“Whoa,” Allysa says. “Worst age ever. But at least you don’t have to pay for day care. Silver lining.” Allysa snaps her fingers. “Speaking of children, Lily won’t have Emerson next Saturday because she’s going to a wedding. A night out all by herself as a single adult.”
I roll my head and look at her. “I was about to invite him. I didn’t need your help.”
Atlas perks up. “A wedding, huh?” A sly smile plays on his lips. “You plan on sleeping through it?”
I immediately blush, and that makes Allysa curious. Atlas turns to her and says, “She didn’t tell you she slept through our first date?”
I’m not even looking at Allysa, but I can feel her staring. “I was tired,” I say, excusing the inexcusable. “It was an accident.”
“Oh, I absolutely need more of this story,” Allysa says.
“She fell asleep on our drive there. Slept in a parking lot for over an hour. We never even made it into the restaurant.”
Allysa starts laughing, and I kind of want to crawl under the counter and hide now.
“Who’s getting married?” Atlas asks me.
“My friend Lucy. She works here.”
“What time?”
“It’s at seven. Nighttime wedding if you can swing it.”
“I can.” Atlas does this thing with his eyes where he briefly looks like he wishes we were alone. It’s sending tingles of warmth crawling down my spine. “I need to get back. Enjoy your lunch.” He nods at Allysa. “It was nice officially meeting you.”
“You too,” she says.
He gets halfway to the exit when he starts whistling. He walks away in a cheerful mood, and it makes my heart swell to see him so happy. I have no idea if his good mood has anything to do with me, but the teenage girl in me who was worried about him all those years ago is extremely pleased to see him doing so well in life.