Exhale smiled and opened the door for what felt like the thousandth time. “Hi, Zaida,” she greeted her brother’s girlfriend, smiling in acknowledgement of the rest of the Masterson family.

Zaida smiled and enveloped Exhale in a warm hug, then introduced her to her parents and younger brother. Exhale couldn’t help feeling relieved that Ethan had taken her advice and did everything he could to get Zaida to take him back. “Everyone’s out in the backyard,” Exhale said, suddenly feeling she was directing traffic with the way she continually had to point to the back door as people filed through. Just as she was about to close the door, she spotted the Hanson family arriving. Keeping the smile on her face, she met the rest of his family for the first time as they trooped past her to the backyard.

Taylor held behind and stayed with her in the foyer. “You looked like you could use some company,” he said with a shrug when he saw the questioning look on her face. “How long you been doing this?”

Exhale glanced at her watch, and said, “About forty-five minutes. My dad’s barbequing, my mom’s greeting and entertaining, Ethan’s off the hook since it’s his party, and Echo refused to be put to work, so here I am. But I think I should be done soon. The only people we’re waiting on is my Uncle Stevan and Aunt Ava and the Lenders’.”

The blue of his eyes seem to brighten for a second, but Exhale assured herself that she was imagining things. “You can go outside with everyone else,” she said. “I don’t want you to feel forced to stay in here. I know I sure as hell would rather be out there.”

“Really, Exhale, I want to,” he insisted, glancing out the large picture window exhibiting the guests as they moved around the backyard. “Where’s Raine? Isn’t she coming?”

“She’s out back trying to charm Ethan. She should be coming in any second now that his girlfriend’s here. Be prepared to see a ridiculous temper tantrum,” Exhale said with a laugh.

Almost as if she had heard them talking about her, the back door opened and slammed shut as Raine came stomping into the foyer, her arms folded tightly across her chest, and muttering angrily under her breath. Exhale had to struggle not to allow the laugh dwelling in her throat to escape as she asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Zaida’s after Ethan already! Can you believe the nerve of that girl? I was out there having a wonderful conversation and she just comes and busts it up.”

“Oh, Lord, Rainey, would you calm down?” Exhale said, amused by Raine’s melodramatic behavior. “You know they’re together. I would let your fantasies of my brother dumping his gorgeous girlfriend to go out with a sophomore, especially one that happens to be his younger sister’s best friend, go.”

Raine shrugged and immediately her anger dissipated. It amazed Exhale every time to see how quickly Raine’s mood could change so dramatically. “I guess your right. For now. Eventually he’ll come to his senses and realize he’s madly in love with me.” Her eyes turned to Taylor, noticing for the first time that he was standing there. “Oh God, you think I’m retarded now, don’t you?”

“Only slightly,” Taylor replied with a laugh.

Another knock at the door interrupted the conversation, and Exhale automatically yanked it open, revealing her father’s younger brother Stevan and his wife Ava on the porch. A genuine smile came over her face, being that they were easily her two favorite family members. They were both only twenty-three, so they were more like peers to Exhale and her siblings rather than her mother’s brothers who were all much older. “Hey, Uncle Stevan,” she said, raising up onto her toes to kiss his cheek. “How’s the baby, Aunt Ava?” After kissing Ava’s cheek, she put her hand to her aunt’s growing stomach.

“Well, other than kicking me when I’m trying to go to sleep at night, the baby’s doing fine. Hi, Raine, I haven’t seen you in awhile!” Ava smiled brightly and gave Raine a kiss on the cheek also before noticing Taylor hanging back against the wall. “And I don’t think I’ve met you before…”

“This is…my friend. Taylor Hanson.” Exhale stumbled over her words a bit, not sure whether it was too forward to be calling him her friend. When Taylor seemed to smile a little bigger at the title, she felt better and knew with confidence she had chosen the right word.

“Nice to meet you, Taylor,” Ava said, her smile open and friendly. “You can just call me Ava like everyone else does.”

Stevan and Ava stayed with them in the foyer chatting for a few minutes before making their way through the house with Ethan’s birthday present in hand. Raine watched them go, then laughed. “I love them, Hale. You’re so lucky that all of your family aren’t old and stuffy like mine…Is everyone here now?”

“Umm…I think so,” Exhale said, mentally ticking names off the guest list. “Oh, wait. The Lenders aren’t here. But y’all can go outside if you want.”

“No, we’ll wait,” Raine said, leaning back against the wall. “Isn’t that the girl that just started at school?”

Exhale nodded and glanced over at Taylor. “Yeah, Taylor knows her, don’t you?”

“I don’t know her.” A slight blush crept over his cheeks and he turned his eyes away from her. “I’ve just heard of her, that’s all.”

“Is that them?” Raine pointed through the narrow glass windows on either side of the door as a group of people began walking up the driveway toward the house. “Oh, yeah it is. I’d recognize that glare anywhere.”

With a sigh dwelling in her throat, Exhale pulled the door open and forced a smile. Ian greeted her with a friendly smile and introduced her and Taylor to his parents and sister. Rory’s eyes never left the ceiling and her face remained stoic. “Everyone’s in the back,” Exhale said when the introductions were over.

Rory breezed past them, hardly paying them any attention except to let her eyes settle on Taylor for a brief moment. It looked as though she had put hardly any effort into her appearance but still managed to look absolutely flawless. Exhale firmly shut the door for the last time, and she immediately felt like running upstairs to her bedroom and hiding. She had hoped that even though his whole family was invited, Ian’s less-than-friendly sister might not show up. Now a girl that hated her passionately for no good reason was going to spend the day at her house. She followed the Lenders family out to the backyard, Raine and Taylor close behind her. The three of them stuck together, making their way over to a corner of the yard and sitting in an open section of grass. As soon as she touched the ground, Exhale began nervously picking at the cool blades of grass in front of her.

“What’s your problem?” Raine asked, immediately taking notice of Exhale’s behavior. “You’re acting all jumpy all of a sudden.”

“I’m kind of worried about what I got Ethan. It took me forever to think of something, but now that I have it, I feel like maybe it’s too cheesy or something. I just have this feeling he’s not going to like it.”

“Exhale, trust me…As a guy with a brother who’s just as passionate about guitar as yours, I know he’ll love it. Ike got excited when I gave him a plastic pick that was in a bag of Doritos,” Taylor interjected.

Exhale smiled, relaxing slightly. Even though she’d only known him for a few weeks, Taylor could always make her comfortable in any situation. She genuinely enjoyed the time she spent with him, whether in person or just talking on the phone. After their day at the mall with him, Exhale felt completely at ease when she was around Taylor. She never wondered about what they would have to say to each other, and their long, almost nightly, phone conversations were proof of that. The only nervous feelings she had were caused by her attraction to him, but they were no longer because she felt inadequate around him. She no longer wondered if Taylor truly enjoyed spending time with her, because it was obvious that he did in the way he seemed just as happy to see her or talk to her as she felt. And the only doubt still present in her mind was whether he could ever like her in the way she liked him.

Magdalen Brooks looked around her backyard at the turnout for the party and smiled. Then her eyes spotted a young girl Exhale’s age sitting with the adults and looking bored. Magdalen glanced around until she found Exhale, Raine and Taylor off in a corner by themselves. She made her way across the yard until she was standing over the three of them. “Exhale, you should go invite Ian’s sister to come sit with you. The poor girl looks bored out of her mind. Don’t be rude.”

Exhale glanced over at Rory and struggled not to make a face. “Sure, Mom.”

“Thank you,” Magdalen said with a smile.

As she watched her mother walk away, Exhale wished she had never agreed because everything had been perfect up until her mother’s request. She grudgingly stood up and made her way over to Rory, who was sitting in a folding chair with one leg crossed over the other, trying to look completely interested in her fingernails. “Hey, Rory…I’m Exhale…Uh, Ethan’s sister.” Rory slowly raised her gaze. “You’re in my homeroom.”

“I know who you are,” she replied coolly. “But what do you want?”

“My friends and I were wondering if you wanted to come with us,” Exhale said, suppressing the urge to smack her. “You look really bored over here.”

Rory stared at her for a second, obviously deciding what to say. Upon realizing that sitting and staring at the nonexistent dirt under her fingernails was not the way she wanted to spend the day, Rory rose to her feet and followed Exhale across the yard. She sat down gingerly, taking great care not to get grass stains on her skirt by bending her knees and resting back on her feet, while Exhale flopped down carelessly beside her.

“Hi, I’m Raine,” Raine said with a smile.

Rory returned the smile. “I know, Clarice talks about you all the time. I’m Rory.”

Exhale rolled her eyes and leaned back beside Taylor against the fence. Taylor noticed, but didn’t look over, unable to tear his eyes away from Rory. She was more beautiful than Isaac could have ever described to him. Suddenly Taylor became self-conscious, wondering if she hated his band, or thought he looked like a girl. His thoughts were interrupted when she spoke again, this time to him. “And you’re Taylor Hanson. I’ve been begging Ian to introduce me to you guys since I saw you sing at MayFest years ago.”

Heart sinking, Exhale watched as Taylor enthusiastically responded to Rory. She could see in his eyes how happy he was that she was a fan. The look in his eyes was all too familiar. It was the look Raine had every time she talked about the new guy she was interested in, and the same look that overcame Ethan when he talked about Zaida, and the very same look that she could imagine was present in her eyes when she thought of Taylor. Taylor had a crush on Rory. She recalled his words on the day he’d come to talk to her on his porch the day they’d met: “I just remember Isaac mentioning her once. I actually thought you were her when I saw you sitting out here…” The thought suddenly entered her mind that if it hadn’t been for him mistaking her for Rory, he probably never would have come out to talk to her.

After five minutes of listening to them flirt with one another, Exhale couldn’t take it anymore so she stood up and walked across the yard. Raine had watched the whole scene unfold before her, and jumped up after Exhale. “He’s not worth it,” she said after a few seconds of silence between them.

“Raine, you just don’t understand,” Exhale said with a sigh. “You’re so pretty, and I’m so…Ugh, why did I even let myself think I stood a chance with him. I’m so fucking retarded.”

“Hale, you guys are great friends. Maybe you were just meant to be that way. Who knows? If it’s supposed to be anything other than that, you have to believe it’ll get there.” Raine tried to sound encouraging, but she could see her words weren’t helping.

“Just forget about it, okay? I don’t care anymore. He didn’t ask me to go out with him, so he’s not doing anything wrong. I’m just being an idiot.”

“But he is doing something wrong,” Raine argued. “He’s hurting your feelings.”

“But he doesn’t see it that way.” Exhale wanted to curl up on the ground and cry her feelings away, but instead she swallowed the lump in her throat and blinked her eyes against the tears trying to escape. “Just drop it, Raine. I really don’t care anymore.”

INDEX | CHAPTER SIX