Free Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison Page B

need help bringing in the rest of the beer? Jillian, why don’t you help her?”
    I was, after all, busy. I turned back to my closet. There was a moment of silence before I heard Michelle’s quiet voice.
    “The
    rest of the beer?”
    I froze, the creeping, hesitant feeling of realization wash-ing over me. I turned to Jillian. “Tell me there’s a ‘rest of the beer.’”
    Her already wide eyes widened more as she pulled her eyebrows into a desperate, worried expression. I looked at Michelle. She was biting her lip, and had the same expression on her face as Jillian.
    I gave a humorless laugh, before shaking my head.
    “What the hell is wrong with you, Michelle? God, it’s like you’re stupid or something. One minute you’re telling me you’re all insecure about everything and the next minute you’re ruining my party.” I looked into her eyes. “Great job. Seriously.”
    “But Bridget, you just said to get some beer, you didn’t say how much you—”
    “I gave you Meredith’s credit card and told you to get beer for the party, how is it not obvious that you’re going to need more?” I spoke quietly, but I was livid. And I was worried, too. I had been depending on the alcohol to make the party a success. Depending on it to give me the confidence to try and get Liam back. “And if you had any question about it, why didn’t you just call and ask? ”
    “I tried! You didn’t pick up!”
    “Liar,” I said, and then remembered my phone lying on the f loor of the garage where I’d left it when I was filling the cooler with soda. I hadn’t seen it in hours.

    7 4
    P A I G E H A R B I S O N
    “I’m sorry, it was stupid—” Michelle started.
    “You’re right, so why are you still here?”
    She looked up at me, looking a little panicked.
    “What do you mean?”
    “I
    mean why aren’t you driving back to get your brother to go buy more?”
    I saw a glimmer of relief on her face, before a new fear seemed to take hold.
    “Um. Well, he’s not at home.”
    I laughed again, “I’m sorry, what? Your brother has been sitting in that stupid gaming chair since we were like, six, what do you mean he’s not home?”
    “He went out with a friend—”
    I didn’t let her finish. “ God, Michelle. Now what the hell are we going to do?”
    Jillian piped up. “I might…have an idea.”
    “What?” I asked, crossing my arms. I was not optimistic about anything Jillian might come up with.
    “What about your dad’s bar?”
    “I can’t use that stuff, he’ll kill me.”
    “Are you sure he’ll notice?” Jillian asked.
    “Am I sure he’ll notice? Yes, I’m sure he’ll—” I had an idea.
    “Ooh, but you know who won’t notice? Your dad. He drinks like, all the time, he’ll just think he drank it and buy more.”
    I saw that she regretted the idea now that it was being turned on her. “I don’t know, Bridge.”
    “Oh, stop it, we both know you’re going to do it, so just go so you can come back. Just fill the rest of the bottles back up with water when the party’s over. To him it will probably taste just the same. I’ll try and take a little of my dad’s, too.”
    Jillian didn’t move. “Go!”
    She stood up and pushed her way past Michelle. By the time I heard her car start, I was already back in my closet looking 7 5
    for something decent to wear. I was barely aware that Michelle was still there.
    “Bridget,
    I…”
    No way. There was no way we were going to do this now.
    “It’s probably not a good idea to talk to me right now. If I were you, I’d just go do something about your makeup.” I locked my eyes on her outfit. “And you’ll probably want to change.”
    She looked for a moment like she was going to say something, but then turned around and headed for the bathroom, where my makeup was.
    “Don’t use my mascara, it’s not sanitary to share it.”
    She’d shared it a million times, but I was mad. She was not going to waste my good mascara after how dumb she’d