Free What Happens Now by Jennifer Castle Page A

at her blankly.
    “You should come,” said Eliza. “It’s the first party he’s ever thrown. He’s worried nobody will show up.”
    I’d never been to a party at an unfamiliar house before. But, hell. If Kendall could go to Europe, I could go to a party full of Dashwood kids.
    “I’ll show up,” I heard myself saying.
    “Good! It’s on Saturday. Do you know where the barn is?” She said it like a proper noun. The Barn.
    “I thought he lived in a church.”
    Eliza shook her head and rolled her eyes, as if she’d heard this before. “Nope. It’s a barn.” She walked back to the truck and I heard a ripping noise. She came back with a trapezoid of cardboard and a highlighter pen, writing an address on it as she walked.
    “Here,” she said, pushing it at me. “Bring friends.”
    Max was getting in the SUV now so she climbed in on the passenger side. I felt hopelessly inarticulate around Eliza. I wanted to change that.
    “Why are you making a Bramscarf?” I found myself shouting up to her through the window.
    Eliza gave a crooked grin that somehow made her even more striking. “Saturday night. You’ll see.”
    They both waved as they drove by, and I waved back. When they were gone, Kendall, who had heard it all, stepped out of the car.
    “Did that happen?” she asked. I held up the cardboard as proof. “You’re going, right?”
    “If you’re coming with me.”
    Kendall whipped out her phone. “I’m lining up a shiftswitch for Saturday,” she said as she started typing on it. Then she paused and looked me right in the eye. “We’re going to have a lot of fun before I leave, Ari, and it’s going to start with this party. I can feel it.”
    “No regrets, and all that?” I asked, running my finger along the edge of the cardboard.
    “All that,” said Kendall, “and more.”
    On Saturday morning, Mom dragged Dani and me to Target, intent on being there the minute it opened. The previous night had been her night off and her opportunity to sleep when most other humans do, so now she had the energy for her favorite hobby: shopping.
    My mother loved to buy stuff, pure and simple. The things she put in our cart weren’t fancy. They were items that felt useful but weren’t really, if you thought about it for more than three seconds. Multipacks of shampoo and packages of thank-you cards, new sheets for the sofa bed even though we hadn’t had anyone stay over in years.
    As Mom decided between two portable car vacuums, I thought of the first time she and I went to the supermarket after we moved in with Richard. He’d given her some extra money and told her to pick up some “treats.” Things had been so lean for us since my father left, when she was barely making enough as a bank teller to cover the basics. “Treats” were not in the budget. But that day, she let me choose a package of cookies. I went right for the Chips Ahoy!, because that waswhat Cadence Lowery from my class always had in her lunch box, and Cadence Lowery was everything.
    Now, finally, Mom earned her own money, and it was pretty good money, too. I understood the mini-shopping sprees, I really did. She worked hard for the pleasure she got out of them. And Danielle? Let’s just say, she’d never known how a package of Chips Ahoy! could feel like Christmas. Which was great, and also not-so-great.
    As we passed the toy section, Dani asked, “Can I get a Littlest Pet Shop blue monkey? It’s new. Madison has one.”
    “God, no; those things are so ugly,” said Mom.
    “And you have a hundred of them,” I added.
    But Dani raced down the aisle before we could stop her. She had the thing in her hand so fast, I couldn’t help appreciate her talents in that area. “They have it! They have it!” she squealed.
    “We’re not buying any toys today,” said Mom. “We talked about this. Why don’t you do some chores at home, save up, and we’ll come back next time.”
    “Ugh!” grunted Danielle, then accented it with a foot stomp.