“That night at Cave really opened you up to drinking liquor, Cyn.” Rainey nudges my shoulder. “First it’s margaritas, next it’s moonshine.”
I roll my eyes at her, then take another drink.
“So, how’s the jailbait working out?” she asks me, waggling her eyebrows. I bark a laugh.
“First of all, he’s twenty—totally not jailbait.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Carson says, waving her hand in a dismissive gesture. “That’s just semantics.”
“Secondly,” I continue, leaning back in my chair, “I’ve got a date on Friday night with a teacher who is decidedly not jailbait, and who seems to like me a lot. So there.”
Rainey rubs some of the salt off the rim of her glass. “Oh, yeah? Tell us about him.”
I reach for the basket of chips. “His name’s Jeremy—he’s a science teacher.”
“And?”
I frown. “And what?”
Carson sort of squints at me, her dark eyes narrowed as though she’s attempting to solve a riddle.
“And—is he hot? Is he doable? Do you see yourself wearing panties on this date or will that just prevent the inevitable from happening sooner?”
I roll my eyes. “Right—because I do a lot of hooking up at restaurants with guys I barely know.”
Rainey shrugs.
“Apparently you do a lot of hooking up at bars with guys you barely know. Or was Smith just an exception to your rule?”
I glare at her. “I’m not discussing this again.”
“So, you’re going on a date with Jeremy,” Carson interrupts. “And that’s great. But, come on, Cyn—we have to ask.”
“Ask what?”
“About Smith.”
I crunch down on a chip. “What about him?”
Carson shrugs. “I dunno—I guess I sort of thought that there might be something there, you know?” It’s my turn to shrug.
“He’s an twenty-year-old high school student, Cars. You hold him up next to Jeremy—college educated, full-time employed, clean cut—and it isn’t really a contest.”
“Yeah, but who’s the winner,” Rainey mutters under her breath. I pretend to ignore her, then gulp down more of my margarita.
“Okay, moving on,” I say. “I want to talk about us. It’s a little over a month away from graduation and we haven’t even talked about this summer. I think we should take a trip or something to celebrate our master’s degrees.”
“Oh, a trip!” Rainey nods enthusiastically. “I will definitely need some good beach time after graduation.”
I glance at Carson, who is uncharacteristically quiet as she fiddles with a lime wedge that’s soaking the edge of her cocktail napkin.
“What do you think, Cars?” I ask her. “Cancun in June? You know how I feel about rhyming.”
She gives me a wan smile, then looks down at her lap.
“I need to tell you guys something.”
Her expression is too serious for this to be anything good. Carson licks her lips nervously and I can see her clenching her hands into fists.
“What’s up?” Rainey asks, her brow furrowed. Carson clears her throat.
“I’m not graduating this spring.”
I blink at her, then shoot a look at Rainey, whose mouth has sort of dropped open.
“What are you talking about?”
Carson sighs.
“When I decided not to student teach this spring, I gave up on my last required credits. I thought I might be able to make them up some other way, like through a class or something. But I missed Drop/Add and the registrar wouldn’t let me into a course retroactively.”
She takes a sip of her drink.
“So, sure, we can go to the beach—but it won’t be a post-graduation celebration for me, that’s all.”
For a long moment, we’re all quiet.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” I finally ask her.
“I didn’t want to bum you all out.” She gives us a self-deprecating smile. “Look, this is my deal. I’ve got to handle it. I’m going to go back in the fall—hopefully do my student teaching then—and graduate in December. It really isn’t that huge of a deal.”
I nod slowly, wanting to be supportive.
“Well, that sounds like a good plan.”
I scoot over and give her a one-armed squeeze around her shoulders. “I wish you’d told us before, Cars. Seriously.”
She half shrugs and reaches for a handful of chips.
“I know—I guess I just didn’t want to think about it. Tutoring has kept me busy and I’ve even started working with commuter students on some college classes. It’s nice to do the one-on-one thing. I think I’m just better at that.
“So, anyway.” She bites her lip, then shrugs again. “Sorry to be such a downer.”
Rainey hops up from her stool and comes around to our side of the table. She pulls Carson from her seat into a big hug.
“We love you. We’re here for you.”
She pulls back a bit, then stares at Carson and me.
“In fact, why not celebrate before the summer? We don’t need to wait until June—my parents’ condo in Ocean City is always empty. Let’s drive down to the shore. It’s not that warm yet, but we can hit up Seacrets and get our Dirty Bananas on!”
It’s a tempting thought—Seacrets beach bar makes the best banana cocktails on the planet. But I shake my head.
“I can’t—I’ve got so much grading to do. Not to mention my date with Jeremy on Friday night.”
“Boo,” Rainey says, giving me a thumbs-down. She glances back at Carson. “What about you? You going to be a party pooper, too?”
Carson looks at me. “Honestly, Cyn, I could use a weekend away. Would you be totally pissed if we ditched you?”
“Of course not.” I shake my head. “You should totally go. Go meet some guys, go dance, go drink. All of that stuff. You deserve to have fun, too.”
Rainey lets out a joyful little whoop, then grabs her phone off the table.
“I’m going to go call Dad and let him know we’re using the condo.”
She practically skips toward the door of the restaurant, her phone already pressed to her ear. I take the opportunity to give Carson a proper hug.
“I hate that you felt like you couldn’t talk to me,” I say quietly as I pull back to look at her. “I just don’t want you to think you can’t tell me stuff.”
Her mouth lifts in a sad smile and, for the first time, I see how tired her eyes are. She looks like she’s been losing sleep.
“You’ve had a lot going on lately,” she says. “I know things are hard with your dad and then there’s student teaching and the stuff with Smith. Now, throw this Jeremy dude in the mix, and the last thing you need is to listen to my sob story.”
I elbow her gently. “I will always have time to listen to your sob stories—that’s what sisters do for each other.”
There’s a sheen of tears in Carson’s eyes now and she finally hugs me back.
“I just want to find my place in this world, you know?”
I exhale hard, then nod.
“Yeah. I know.”
Rainey comes bounding back into the bar, grinning from ear to ear.
“We’re all set!” She turns to me with a little pout. “You’re sure you can’t go?”
“Positive. But I know you guys will have a blast.”
Rainey drops her chin into her hand and regards me. “There is, however, a very important subject we need to discuss.”
I quirk a brow at her. Rainey isn’t usually one for breaking out the big guns when it comes to heavy conversation.
“Oh, yeah? And what’s that?”
Her naturally pouty lips curve up into a wicked little smile.
“We need to talk about what you’re planning to wear on this big date of yours. I, for one, think you should try rocking those black leather boots again.”
I groan. “What, since I had so much luck in them last time?”
“Exactly!”
I glance over at Carson, who is grinning widely. Rainey launches into an extensive overview of the sexiest items in her closet, and I take another sip of my drink.
Yeah. Life is complicated. But, if nothing else, I have this—these almost-sisters I couldn’t imagine living without and one completely delicious frozen margarita.