Daydream (Maple Hills, #3)(15)
CAMI WALKER
I’ll let you know when I’m on my way
Cami hearts my message and I drag myself from the sofa to get ready. Joy is following me around, confused probably, because I never do anything this late. She’s easily distracted by the food in her dish, and I use the freedom from her weaving around my feet to check every closet for an emergency outfit just in case Ava doesn’t have anything I like.
When I come up with nothing, I admit that maybe something new might be a good thing.
* * *
ON THE DRIVE TO THE party there was a split second, honestly just a tiny blip, where I had the urge to call Will.
It caught me off guard more than anything because I’ve done my best to push him to the back of my mind since I had my “new starts” last week at book club and work. Rationalizing, with some encouragement from Cami, that if he wants to say we can still be friends, he needs to put the effort in to be my friend. As it goes, I haven’t heard from him at all, and I’ve adjusted to not reaching for my phone to text him when I wake up.
In that blip, I think I wanted his reassurance that I was going to have fun. As the car moved through familiar-looking streets and Cami talked about people I don’t know with her roommates, I began to feel like I did going to all those parties in San Diego.
It’s funny that with a different house, different people, different school entirely, I still managed to feel like the outsider.
Until we stepped out of the car and Cami linked her arm with mine, reassuring me that she wouldn’t leave my side unless I decided to make some poor life choices with someone from the basketball team. She said it was a shame we only met now, because her favorite player just graduated.
Her intuitiveness about how I’m feeling soothes me. Earlier, when Ava suggested I wear something that was so far from what I’d normally wear, Cami sensed my hesitation and was the one to suggest something different.
Having a group of women to get ready with—ones who seem to want me there in the first place—is what I’ve always wanted. Maybe I watched too much TV growing up, but it always seemed like the pinnacle of girlhood, and I’ve always felt like I’ve missed out.
The party is like others I’ve been to. Hot, overcrowded, and full of drunk college students. Kaia and Poppy, Cami’s other roommates, put themselves in charge of “drinks and fun” the second we walked through the door—which roughly translates to more liquor than is smart and games that make me laugh so hard my sides hurt.
“Three, two, one… drink!”
Poppy blinks rapidly and grimaces as she struggles to swallow the contents of her cup for failing to find a basketball quicker than Ava.
“Halle and Cami,” Kaia says, scanning the room. “Your quest is…”
“Oh, so they’re quests now?” Cami says, pushing her—sort of blond but sort of red?—hair over her shoulder as she laughs.
“I mean, quest sounds more noble and honorable than calling it a dare,” Kaia argues. “Roll with it! Your quest… is go get someone’s phone number. Three, two, one, go go go.”
I’m taking a sip of my drink when Cami immediately runs into the crowd of people. “Shit,” is the only thing I manage to say as I run off in a different direction. It’s not until I take a second to take in the guys in the room that I realize what I’m doing.
I’ve literally never asked for a guy’s number in my life.
And that’s when I spot him. Henry. Staring at his phone in the corner of the room alone. Considering he’s the only other person at this party whose name I know, I suspect it’ll be so much easier to explain to him why I need his number.
But as I’m about to head over, a girl approaches and hands him a Solo cup. She’s much shorter than my five-foot-ten height, I’d guess half a foot smaller. She has long brown hair and a gorgeous smile. He leans in to whisper something into her ear and she laughs, and for some unknown reason, I feel a tiny bit put out.
“Hi. You look lost.” Turning to my left, I immediately spot the guy talking to me. Much taller than me, probably about the same difference as Henry and the girl he’s with. “I’m Mason.”
I don’t know whether it’s the alcohol… No. That’s a lie. It’s definitely the alcohol that gives me the confidence. “Can I have your number?” I ask.
He holds out his hand. “Sure. Do I get your name before I give you my number?”
“It’s Halle.”
“Pretty name,” he says as he types his digits into my cell phone. The fact that he saves his name with both a basketball and an eggplant emoji tells me everything I need to know about this guy, but who am I to judge, I guess.
“Thanks,” I say over my shoulder as I’m running back to the girls. Cami joins the others a second before me and I don’t even wait to be encouraged to take the shot. I’m not someone who’s ever partied, which means every drink feels like five. Even in high school, if someone threw a party when their parents were out of town, I’d be Will’s designated driver.
“Gimme your phone,” Cami says seriously. I don’t question it as I hand it over and she navigates to my contacts. She taps on Mason’s recently saved number and hovers over the delete contact button with her thumb. “Do you like toxic men?”