"Words are everything. Words give wings even to those who have been stamped upon, broken beyond all hope and repair."

—Samantha Shannon, The Mime Order

"Big plans for your birthday, huh?" Jamie asked, sitting beside me on the ratty sofa in the employee lounge of the bookstore.

I flipped the page of the magazine that I was unenthusiastically reading and shrugged as I looked at him. "I haven't really thought about it." He raised his brow and I rolled my eyes. It was uncanny how even after all those years of absence, he still knew me better than most. "Okay, fine. I've been avoiding having to think about it. Happy?"

"I got an evite to the party," he said, frowning when I lowered the magazine. "Don't worry, I'm not going. I'd rather eat my feelings with you any day than spend even a minute at Katie's thing."

I released a breath that I didn't even realize I'd been holding. "I wasn't worried," I said pretending that it didn't bother me that my parents were throwing Katie a birthday/engagement party even with all the controversy surrounding said engagement. Not to mention the fact that their other kid was also celebrating her birthday on that day.

"Tay," he said squeezing my knee. "It's me that you're talking to. You can drop the act."

I dropped the magazine in my lap and leaned back, sinking into the sofa. "You want me to say that I'm pissed? C'mon, Jamie, you already know that I am."

"I was hoping that you'd consider going to dinner with me and Connie if you're not too busy crying," he said with an encouraging smile.

I wriggled my brows. "Connie, huh? You two have gotten pretty close this last month. Is there something that I should know?"

He shrugged but the smile that played on his lips gave him away. "No. Just think about it, alright?"

I nodded but we both knew that I wouldn't. I wasn't up for celebrating my birthday and that meant no fancy dinner either. Besides, I'd already rejected the idea when Nathan had suggested it, so I couldn't say no to him and then yes to Jamie. I'd already planned the perfect way to spend my birthday weekend and it did not involve anyone else's company. I was going to stay at home, watch sad movies and marinate in my sadness. What was so wrong with that?

"Hey, girl," Connie said poking her head into the lounge. "Someone's asking for you."

I grabbed my phone from beside me and made my way to the front of the bookstore where I found Kelly browsing the comic book section. "Hey," she said when she saw me, her smile bright. "Nate told me where to find you, I hope that's okay."

I nodded slowly. "It's fine. Is there something that I can help you with?"

She grinned. "Actually, I'm here to invite you to lunch." At the look on my face, she chuckled. "Just us girls."

I was still skeptical. I'd never been one to be all chummy with the family members of the person that I was dating. That would be inviting way too many people—all with unwanted opinions about our relationship— into my life and I wasn't here for it.

"I can see that you're conflicted, but it's just a simple lunch. I promise, there's no ulterior motive," Kelly said giving me a hopeful smile.

"You can go, we've got it covered," Jamie said appearing by my side.

I scowled at him. "Thanks, friend," I said tightly. Kelly clapped her hands together and when she proceeded with her books to the checkout counter, I pinched Jamie. "Nobody asked you to add your two cents."

He rubbed his arm. "I know, but you were about to turn her down and she looked so eager. Sorry, I'm a sucker for making people happy."

"Shut up," I chuckled as he walked away and Kelly came back. "Let me just grab my stuff and I'll meet you out front," I said, cringing when her smile got wider. She was unnaturally happy— a stark contrast to her mood when we'd left her parent's home last weekend. It was weird because it didn't even seem like it was forced. She was genuinely happy. I shook my head as I shrugged into my coat. Something was amiss.

Kelly babbled on incessantly as we walked to Alexandro's Bistro a few blocks over. I nodded at the appropriate times but my mind was elsewhere. I was wondering when my parents would ambush me. My mother was all about putting on a good show and she no doubt required my presence at Katie's engagement party. She'd said as much in all ten of her voicemails the previous night and I had no intention of responding to their invite. This meant that they'd be showing up at my house any day now.

They were obviously deranged if they thought that it was appropriate to invite me to my ex's wedding. But, knowing my mother, she didn't even think about that aspect. She probably thinks that I should put our differences aside and show my support to my sister on the most important day of her life. Well, fuck that.

"My two goals for today were to get out of bed and find you," Kelly was saying as we rounded the corner that led to the bistro. "So far, I'm a success." She looked so proud that I couldn't help smiling at her joy. "I should've warned you that I talk a lot."

I smiled. "You don't say."

She laughed and held the door for me. "I really can't help myself sometimes. I hate awkward silences, so I tend to fill the gaps."

I chose a table at the back and draped my coat along the backside of the chair. "It's fine." Normally I hated so much chatter but from the bits and pieces that I'd tuned into, Kelly was actually pretty interesting. Who knew?

She picked up her menu and I followed suit. "What's good here?" I asked, skimming the list.

"Everything," she said with bright eyes, lowering her menu. "You should try their cheese fries. It's to die for."

A waiter approached our table with a smile. "Good day ladies," he said politely. "Have you decided on what you're going to have?"

"Two servings of chili cheese fries, please and a diet coke," I said, adding the diet coke as an afterthought.

"Mhmm," he nodded, scribbling my order on his notepad. "And for you?" he asked Kelly.

She smiled sheepishly at her menu and then looked at me. "Let's play a fun game called I'll eat seven cheeseburgers and you won't judge me for it."

I laughed. "And to think that I made my coke diet to soften the blow."

The waiter cleared his throat. "And to drink?"

She turned to him with a half smile. "I was kidding about the seven burgers; I'll have three instead and a Pepsi." At my horrified expression, she laughed. "Okay, fine a coke."

I laughed as the waiter walked away. "I'm very suspicious of people who would choose Pepsi over coke."

"It was a lapse in judgment," she defended. "I was thinking about my cheese burgers."

Our laughter gave way to a comfortable silence. It was so peaceful that even Kelly seemed reluctant to upset it. She smiled at me when the waiter returned with our food and I inhaled excitedly. My cheese fries smelled divine and by the look on her face, she was sharing my euphoria. "There's nothing quite like good food," she said in between bites and I was inclined to agree with her.

"So, Tay," Kelly said after our meals were devoured. "I can call you Tay, right?"

I shrugged. "What's in a name?"

She smiled. "Rumor has it that you're not celebrating your birthday."

I raised my brow. "Nathan told on me?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, but I overheard him on the phone the other night when he was trying to get you to agree to dinner." I nodded but said nothing. "I tried that once," she continued. "Didn't work out quite as I'd hoped."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah, I got home to find my family and basically all of my classmates already there. They'd even cut the cake without me."

"A surprise party without the guest of honor," I said trying to hide my smile. "You must've been one pissed off teenager that day."

She laughed. "Man, I was pissed off for the entirety of high school, not just that day. The party was just the cherry on top."

"What did you have to be so angry about?" I asked, eyeing the bottle of wine that Kelly had ordered just before our food had disappeared. I poured us both a glass while she pondered my question.

"Well, for starters, I used to wake up every morning and think, could my day get any worse?" She rolled her eyes at my chuckle. "I'm serious, as unbelievable as this sounds, I was not the happiest child. My parents had even dragged me to a psychiatrist, who'd then decided that I was clinically depressed at the ripe age of thirteen."

I sipped my wine, processing her words. "Wow, that bad?" I wasn't exactly the poster child for happiness but I doubted that I'd have loved being labeled as depressed before I was even old enough to know the true meaning of the word. Even now, I was simply sad. Her confession really put my problems into perspective.

"Yep. Back then depression wasn't as romanticized as it is now, though. It was more of a stigma. Being deemed a depressed teenager wasn't a cool thing. If anything, people steered clear of me. Friends were non-existent and my parents treated me as though I were fragile, hell, they still treat me that way."

I cleared my throat, feeling slightly out of depth. "Why are you telling me all this?" Sure, I'd blurted out my problems to Nathan when we'd first met but this was something else entirely. It wasn't a simple case of being dumped for your sister. No, this was her sharing a piece of her with me and it scared me a little.

"I don't really know," she said, frowning slightly. "I'm usually not this open, but I guess it's because I feel comfortable around you."

"How? I've barely said two words to you."

"And there's your answer. I love that you're not overly friendly or being fake just to make a good impression." She gave me a soft smile. "In fact, I can see why Nate likes you so much. You're nothing like the others."

"I'm not?"

She shook her head. "Nah, you're actually real."

"And the others were what, imaginary?"

"I wish."

I refilled my glass, feeling myself loosen up with each sip. "What were they like? Were they all Emily clones?"

She scrunched her brow as though my question bothered her. "Actually, no. There was no one quite as tasteless as Emily. She was a lapse in judgment. A mistake that he didn't make twice."

"Then, what?" My snoopy behind asked.

"Let's just say that they were the kind of women that our parents undeniably approved of."

Feeling affronted, I asked, "So dating me is his way of rebelling?"

She laughed. "No, silly. You're the real deal."

I rolled my eyes. "You're a smooth talker. You know that?"

"I consider it a gift, one that my brother lacks."

I sucked in a breath. "I don't know about that. He's done pretty well so far. I mean, he landed me after all."

She smiled. "I don't think that you two could stay away from each other if you were paid to. I know true love when I see it."

I almost spit out my wine as a coughing fit overtook me. "What." I wheezed, gulping down more wine. "Are you talking about?" Her amused smile taunted me. "That's not funny, Kelly."

"Oh, come on," she said rolling her eyes. "It's a little funny."

I smiled, dabbing at my face with a napkin. This girl was more than likely my spirit animal. "What about you and the guy from the art gallery?"

She laughed. "Who? Caden?" At my nod, she lowered her voice. "We sleep together occasionally, but that's all there is to it."

"I don't know," I said in a sing-song voice. "The atmosphere was pretty charged that day."

"Yeah," she said with a sultry grin. "Charged with sexual tension."

"Does Nathan know about you two?"

She scoffed. "God, no. He'd never understand. The fact that his baby sister and best friend screw each other for fun, would most likely piss him the fuck off and ruin my chances of getting Caden into my bed ever again."

I rolled my eyes. "I doubt that you have any trouble getting anyone into your bed."

"This is true."

We both laughed at that as the waiter came by with the bill. "No," I said when she reached for it. "This one's on me. You can get the next one."

"You mean that?" she asked and the sincerity of her question caught me off guard.

I smiled at her as I put the money in our menu along with the bill and gave it back to the waiter. "Of course."

"I'm so glad that you said that, because you and I have plans tonight," she said, smiling mischievously as I buttoned my coat.

"Of course we do."