JENNIE

Lisa brought me a can of dr. pepper when she got up to refill her wine, and I stared at the logo printed on the aluminum. Felix didn't like Dr. Pepper, and I'd never seen his dada drink it either, which led me to believe the case always stocked in the garage was for me.

Lisa hesitated before speaking. "Can I ask you something?"

No one ever said that unless something serious was about to come out, and I tried not to hold my breath. "Go for it."

"I've never heard you talk about your dad."

I blinked slowly. "Probably because there's nothing to say. I never met the guy."

"Is he still alive?"

I shrugged. "Maybe."

Lisa looked like she just discovered she was standing barefoot surrounded by broken glass and wasn't sure which step to take next. All her options were going to be painful. "I'm sorry I brought it up. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. It's just, we've known each other a while, and I always wondered."

"My dad fled town as soon as he found out my mom was pregnant, and she hasn't heard from him since." My body went cool, matching my voice. "He didn't give a single thought to us, so I make sure to return the favor every chance I get."

I couldn't read what was going on behind her eyes, other than the panic swimming there. Was she thinking about what she'd done to Felix? It didn't compare. Lisa hadn't been in much of Felix's early life, but she also didn't disappear. She hadn't walked away and left him without a word at all. Even scraps were better than nothing to a starving person.

I leaned over Lisa, snatched the remote off the nightstand, and turned the TV on. It was super awkward, but anything was better than continuing the conversation, and my actions communicated it effectively.

The older movie on screen was low definition, and I'd turned it on somewhere in the middle of a scene where banquet tables with fine china were being flipped over and pushed to the side.

"The flowers are still standing," Lisa said to herself quietly.

"What?"

On screen, a young Bill Murray shouted the same thing. More tables crashed to the side, and a green ghost floated around a crystal chandelier, dodging laser beams.

"That's my favorite line in Ghostbusters." Lisa gestured to the TV. "When he pulls the tablecloth off and breaks everything on the table except the centerpiece."

I shrugged. "I never saw the old one."

It was like I'd just told her I didn't know who the president was. A personal affront. "How is that possible? Man, I loved this movie when I was a kid."

I watched the Ghostbusters come up with their game plan of trapping the green ghost. The special effects looked ancient. "How old is this thing?"

"I don't know . . . It came out in nineteen eighty-four, I think? I saw it in the theater with my parents." A weird look flitted over her face. Embarrassment? "I got freaked out," she said, "by the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, and my mom had to take me out to the car. We missed the end of the movie."

A smile caught the edge of my lips. "I'm sorry, a marshmallow man? Those fluffy, white things?"

"Yeah, but he's, like, a hundred feet tall."

I chuckled. "Sounds terrifying."

"To a six-year-old, it was. He was running around crushing buildings." Lisa settled in and got comfortable against the headboard. "Whatever, you'll see. We're watching the rest of this."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh, are we?"

"This movie is a classic." She peered at me with scrutiny. "What else haven't you seen? Caddyshack? Animal House? Ferris Bueller's Day Off?"

I pressed my lips together. Did she realize those movies were already at least twenty years old by the time I was born?

"Jesus." She shook her head. "Okay, we start fixing this tonight."

So, we watched the rest of Ghostbusters, and I wasn't sure which I liked better—the ridiculous movie, or the way Lisa watched me experience it. And when it was over, we talked. Like, an actual conversation about everything from my desire to go to veterinary school to her aggravation with a fellow surgeon whose phone chimed non-stop through procedures.

It was shocking how easy she was to talk to, and I tried not to make the comparison to the way things used to be between Felix and me.

"It's getting late," I mumbled while yawning.

The lights and TV were off, and the room was dark. Lisa's hand twitched on my bare stomach, curling around my waist to hold me closer. "Mm-hmm. You should stay."

It warmed me that she offered, but . . . "I can't."

We both knew I couldn't. Besides my curfew, what if Felix came home early? I squeezed her arm to get her to release me, which she did. When I slid off the bed, she turned on a bedside lamp, and we both squinted at each other in the light.

She gazed at me while I pulled on my clothes, surveying me from the bed like I was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen, and I went all wobbly.

"I'm not on-call next weekend, and Felix's heading to North Carolina on Thursday."

I'd forgotten about Felix's upcoming visit to his mom's for two weeks. It'd certainly make it easier to see Lisa again, but exactly what was she suggesting? My hands slowed as I pushed my head into my shirt.

Her voice was light. "In case you wanted to get cracking on the list of new classic movies you need to watch."

God, her smile was gorgeous. How could I say no? I hoped my smile back matched hers. "Sure. I'd like that."

It was nearly one in the morning when I left her bed. I had to hurry to make it home before curfew. My mom was pretty lax about stuff—I could have texted her if I needed an extension, but it was already so late, and what kind of excuse would I give?

"Sorry, Mom. I'm hanging out in Dr. Manoban's bed and she just banged my brains out."

Yeah, that'd go over just great.

Lilith glanced around the bar area of the restaurant, then stared at me over the top of her half-empty pint of beer. "So . . . you're like, what? Dating Dr. Dada now?"

"Uh, no. I don't think—" I couldn't 'date' Lisa. First of all, where would we go? Nashville was a big city, but the suburb we lived in had a small-town feel. She ran into patients often whenever she and Felix went anywhere. "Honestly, I have no idea what we're doing."

"Other than boning each other."

I gave her a plain look, not rewarding her amusement. "Right. Just boning each other."

She took a long sip of her drink and chuckled to herself as she set it down on the tabletop. "I swear, Jennie, this thing keeps getting better every time we talk. I can't wait until you're telling me you're going to be Felix's new stepmom."

My eyes went as wide as possible. "Oh my God, stop."

Lilith pushed a section of her brown hair back over her shoulder and leaned in to get close. "I'm teasing. But, seriously, dude. She's hot and a doctor. Well done, you. You need to teach me your ways."

Me, teach her? Lilith was the sexually confident woman I wanted to be. "Yeah, right. And how many guys have I been with, again?"

"You mean, outside of the Manoban family?" She grinned.

"Ouch. That was savage."

"I know, I'm sorry. Couldn't resist." She propped her elbows on the round table and rested her chin on her hands. "Your number doesn't matter, because it's not a contest. Guys can fuck a bunch of different women and still be clueless about sex." She lifted her eyebrows. "Believe me."

"Well, Lisa is—uh—not clueless."

Her smile was wide and genuine. "Glad to hear it. You deserve a good dose of vitamin D."

I laughed and shook my head. Her unabashed attitude still caught me off guard.

The crowd in the bar ignored us, and I'd forgotten they were there until a cheer went up over a baseball game on the televisions covering the back wall.

"Hey, you know who else is hot and probably gives good vitamin D?" Lilith said loudly, just as the hubbub died. "Clay Crandall."

The name didn't ring any bells. "And he is?"

"My new neighbor. I saw him moving in last week, and he's gorgeous. I went over to welcome him to the neighborhood right away—you know—because I'm friendly like that." Her expression was devious, and I imagined her putting on her sexiest outfit before sprinting in her stilettos to his doorstep. "Not married, and no girlfriend—or boyfriend—in sight. He's some tech guy. I think he sells software? I can't remember. It was hard to hear over how fucking hot he was."

"I'm sure." My gaze dropped down to the black straw floating in my glass of Dr. Pepper. Sitting in the bar area, and my friend across from me drinking beer, intensified my feeling of being an older person trapped in a young body. Was I the only one in this restaurant who wasn't legally allowed to drink?

"God, I hope he never puts up curtains," Lilith said wistfully.

I smirked. "You pervert."

"Don't I know it."

Our server arrived, a scrawny guy with sideburns that were too long, carrying our dinners and aiming an enormous smile at Lilith. He was practically drooling in our food, but she didn't notice. Not the drool, or the guy producing it, either. Perhaps she was used to guys falling over themselves around her.

He dropped off my fajitas with a loud thud, and slowly slid her salad in front of her like he was presenting her his heart on a satin pillow. As she readied her fork, she gave him a quick, "thanks," and then dug in.

He slunk away, his shoulders slumped in defeat.

I'd only been friends with her for the summer, but if I knew one thing for certain, it was that Lilith would chase a bunny around an exam table all day, but she did not chase men. At least, not unless she absolutely had to have him.

"Dinner's on me tonight," she said as she crunched a crouton.

"You don't have to do that." The restaurant was just across the parking lot from the strip mall that held the vet clinic, and we always left our cars parked there after our day was over. I assumed she was going to order a second beer. "I don't mind driving you home tonight."

"I'm not buying you dinner for being my designated driver, I'm buying it to lessen the blow that I can't go to the Joven concert next weekend."

"What?" I froze mid-bite. We'd bought our tickets weeks ago, and I was dying to see them live.

"I screwed up. I thought my cousin's wedding was this weekend, but it's not, and my mom's being a jerk about me bailing. I can't get out of it." She gave me sad, puppy-dog eyes. "I'm really sorry. Do you want to try to sell our tickets? Or I can still pay for mine if you want to go with someone else."

I gazed at the sizzling skillet of fajitas in front of me. I was disappointed she couldn't go, but I still really wanted to. Did I know anyone else who liked Joven?

Oh.

I did. She'd caught me dancing in my swimsuit to their music once in her darkened garage. Plus, she wasn't on-call that weekend.

"Your face is weird," Lilith said abruptly, staring at me through the steam from my food. "What are you thinking about?"

"Doing something crazy," I said. "Like, maybe asking Lisa if she wants to go."

Her eyes widened along with her smile. She liked this bad idea a lot. "Oh my God, do it."