SWNOVELS Chapter The Charade: Epilogue
‘CAMBRIELLE,’ Ava called my name from one of the couches in the common room after school one day. ‘Can you please explain to your brother why dressing up like sumo wrestlers for Halloween is a terrible idea?’
I looked over from where I’d been making my afternoon tea at the little kitchenette in our house’s common room at the school. Carter and Ava were cuddled up together on a long couch, scrolling through various images of couples wearing coordinating outfits for Halloween. The school’s Halloween dance was coming up in less than two weeks, and apparently, since Ava and Carter were officially boyfriend and girlfriend now, they wanted to broadcast their love to the whole school by wearing matching costumes.
It was actually nice to see my brother so happy with Ava. She was fun and they brought out the best in each other, but I really could do with slightly less PDA from the happy couple.
Not that they were in everyone’s face with it. I’d actually only caught them kissing once, but I guess it was more that seeing them so happy together just reminded me of how single I was.
How single I’d always been since the closest I’d ever been to getting asked out on a date was when Mack teased my brothers that he was going to take me to the falls in his truck.
But yeah, that was never going to happen. While Mack and I might have an interesting relationship—one that involved him sleeping on the trundle bed in my room a few times during the first week of school while his parents visited a hospital in New York—it was purely platonic.
Mack had only shown up at my balcony doors after I’d heard him sleepwalking past my open window the previous two nights and told him to just hang out in my room so I could stop chasing him through the woods.
And even though my brothers would freak out if they knew their friend had stayed with me those few nights instead of telling them about his nighttime wanderings, they really had nothing to worry about.
Mack had always been obvious about who he wanted to date, and it had never been the little sister of his best friends. Not in a serious way, at least.
I stepped up behind the couch where Ava and Carter were sitting to take a closer look at the image Carter must have suggested. Sure enough, there was a photo of a college-aged guy and girl wearing inflatable sumo wrestler suits on Carter’s iPad.
‘What’s wrong with those costumes?’ I asked Ava after taking a small sip from my tea. ‘I think they’re actually pretty great.’
It was, of course, a huge lie. I would never be caught dead in such a horrendous-looking thing. But I couldn’t resist teasing her a little.
Carter lifted his arm from Ava’s shoulders to give me a fist bump of solidarity before Ava turned around to face me with her mouth hanging open. ‘You can’t be serious, Cambrielle,’ she said. ‘I-I’ve seen your closet and know that there’s no way you’d be caught dead wearing an outfit like this.’
It was like she was a psychic.
But since I was committed to the act, I stirred my tea and said, ‘I don’t know. I think the peachy-tan skin tone of the suits would really complement your eyes and cheekbones.’ Yeah, not sure how it would complement cheekbones, but I was making things up as I went. ‘Plus, it might be a good way to test out how shallow Carter is. I mean, what better way to find out if your love is true than to see if you’ll stick with each other when you put on a few hundred pounds?’
‘Yeah, no.’ Ava swiped her finger across the screen to move the sumo-wrestler image out of view. ‘Half of the reason why I’m dating Carter is because his hotness makes me look hotter. I’d much rather have him show it off than hide it.’
Carter chuckled. ‘Are you saying that if I got fat, you wouldn’t like me anymore?’
‘Maybe.’ Ava shot him a sideways glance, her eyebrows wiggling in a challenge.
Carter’s jaw dropped, and I wondered if I might need to leave them alone to rethink their relationship.
But then Ava laughed and said, ‘I’m totally kidding. Yes, your muscles and pretty face are a nice bonus. A very nice bonus.’ She eyed him flirtatiously. ‘But if you suddenly got a dad bod and looked like Quasimodo, I think I’d still like you.’
‘You think?’ Carter arched his eyebrow. ‘You think? ‘ He leaned closer and started tickling her. ‘How can you say that after all we’ve been through?’
Ava giggled and squealed as she tried to get away from him. And even though it was kind of annoying how much they liked each other, they were also super cute together and I was totally jealous of their happiness.
‘What’s going on in here?’ Mack’s voice sounded behind us, startling me enough that my tea sloshed a few drops over the brim of my mug.
I quickly licked off the droplets before they could drip onto the rug. Then I looked up at Mack who was a full foot taller than me and said, ‘Carter and Ava are testing how shallow each of them are.’
‘And who’s winning so far?’ Mack asked.
‘It’s hard to tell,’ I said.
Ava was now lying on the couch with Carter pinning her in place with his legs as he continued to tickle the sides of her ribs.
As we watched them, Mack lifted my mug from my hands and took a sip. ‘Mmmm,’ he said, smacking his lips together. ‘That’s really good. What is it?’
It took me a moment to respond because I hadn’t expected him to do that. But once I regained my wits, I took my mug back from him and said, ‘It’s blueberry green tea with a splash of chocolate creamer.’
‘Nice,’ he said.
I took another sip from my mug, trying not to think about the fact that Mack’s lips had just been on it. ‘Have you decided what you’re wearing to the Halloween dance?”
‘Not yet.’ He shrugged his broad shoulders. ‘Haven’t really thought that far ahead.’
“Yeah, probably not your top priority right now, huh?”
For a brief second, I considered suggesting that we wear the sumo wrestler costumes if Ava and Carter decided not to use them, but since it would be weird to suggest we dress alike, I stopped myself.
Plus, I had already been working on a special costume for the occasion—something that I was hoping would help me finally get on Ben Barnett’s radar.
Mack glanced at his watch and sighed. ‘It’s five-thirty. I guess I better head home to help my dad make dinner.’
‘Yeah?’ I asked, feeling a little disappointed that he was leaving already.
He nodded. ‘We’re having the twins over for the first time tonight, so he and my mom want everything to be perfect.’
The news about the twins being Mack’s half-sisters had been buzzing around the school all week. I knew that Mack had been slightly interested in Ava and Elyse when they’d first come to the school, so I was sure it was a little weird for him to find out he was related to them. Well, actually pretty shocking since it had come completely from left field. But yesterday, while studying for a biology test, when I asked him how he felt about it, he seemed okay with it. He said it was the least of his worries right now, anyway.
Which was why I asked my next question.
‘Is your mom out of bed today, then?’ I asked, hating that it was a question that even needed to be asked. His mom was the same age as my mom. She shouldn’t be spending most of her days in bed when she was barely over forty.
But Mack nodded and said, ‘Yeah. She’s feeling a little better today.’ He sighed. After glancing at Carter and Ava who had finally stopped their tickling session and were back to looking at possible costume options, he spoke in a low voice, ‘They’re going to New York again next week. I think they were planning to ask your parents if I could stay at your place—with permission this time. So you won’t have to worry about me sleepwalking outside your window in the middle of the night.’
Even though I knew it meant nothing—that Mack would only be staying at my house because he hated to sleep alone when his mom was getting her treatments—my heart still raced a little at the thought of him sleeping nearby again.
But I tried to keep my face neutral because having feelings for Mack was not something I should ever entertain. So, in as unaffected of a voice as I could manage, I said, “Hopefully you’ll sleep better this time.’
And hopefully his sleepwalking episodes would stop so my brothers wouldn’t find out the real reason why I now kept a men’s deodorant and extra toothbrush in my bathroom.