Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes Book 1)

by A. J. Macey

  18

  October 20th

  Saturday Morning

  Lucienne

  Salt permeated the air as I took a deep breath, closing my eyes against the warmth of the sun and allowed the tension to leave my shoulders. The cold water lapped against my bare calves. I’d pushed my jeans up to my knees so I could stand in the waves. Glancing down, the navy polish on my toes shimmered in the clear water. We stood in companionable silence, Char and I. Staring into the horizon as the sun peeked over it, absorbing the quiet serenity the shore offered. We had initially planned on staying in the dorm for the entire weekend binging on movies, chocolate, ice cream, and gossip; but Sadie had a family emergency on Thursday that required her to fly home for a few days. Apart from a few overly enthusiastic joggers, we were alone on the beach.

  Char had driven in from Seattle and proceeded to yank me out of bed at an unreasonably early hour. Ordering me to get my ass out of bed and made me pack an overnight bag. At least she brought coffee. Within ten minutes of her arrival, we were back on the road and heading to Westpoint, one of our favorite coastal towns.

  “You’re the best, you know that, right?” I cooed, glancing over at my best friend. Springy, chocolate-colored curls shifted slightly in the wind, framing her coffee-toned face. Her honey brown eyes sparkled from the reflective light bouncing off the water.

  “Of course, I know.” She accentuated the statement by flipping her hair over her shoulder. “It’s one of the many reasons you love me.” A slight creole accent weaved its way around her words, I could listen to Char talk for hours. Bumping into me lightly, she lowered her voice, gazing out into the water. “I’ve missed you, boo, UW is lonely without you there with me.” Digging my toes into the sand, I bumped her back.

  “I’m sorry, Char, you have no idea how much I wish I could have gone with you. It just wasn’t safe.” My lips curved down at the thought of her being all alone on campus. We’d planned out our entire freshman year at the University of Washington. Every detail discussed, down to which restaurants and coffee shops we wanted to stop at between classes. We never imagined ourselves to be where we were now.

  “I didn’t bring it up to make you feel bad. Just to remind you how much you mean to me. It's definitely been a difficult adjustment for the both of us, but you're still my best friend.” She turned toward me and wrapped me up in her arms, mine trailing around her trim waist. Squeezing tightly, I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

  “I’ve missed you too. Sorry I haven’t been calling much lately, the beginning of this semester has been a little rough.” We released each other but locked pinkies while standing side by side. “How’s everything been for you? Are your parents doing okay with you being gone?” I redirected the conversation. This weekend was supposed to be about having fun and catching up, not dwelling on the past.

  “Mama’s been struggling. You know how she is though, boxed wine and a marathon of baking with your mama and she’ll be good as new. Pretty sure I’ve already gained my freshman fifteen thanks to their cookies,” Char and I laughed at the image.

  Our mothers spent a lot of time together. Having grown up together as little girls, they were close before Char and I ever came into the equation. It’s no wonder we’re the best of friends. The collection of cookie tins building up in my closet had hinted at how much our mothers had been baking lately.

  “Dad’s been really busy at the hospital lately, they’re in the middle of hiring a new surgeon.” Tugging on my pinky, she turned us back towards the shore.

  “I take it Dr. Frankle is finally retiring?” That old man was more than overdue for retirement. He’d been an on-call surgeon at Pinewood Drive Medical Center for as long as I could remember, but he was too stubborn to take any time for himself. Laughing, Char nodded before responding.

  “Yeah, took the geezer long enough.” She pushed her curls behind her ear to no avail, they just bounced right back into her face. “So, now the hospital is going through a hiring process, which means Dad is taking on the brunt of scheduled surgeries. Hopefully, they find someone soon so he can be home more often.” Cold sand squished through my toes as we wandered down the beach. Washington wasn’t known for its warm fall weather, and so the beach was unbelievably cold, making me happy I’d worn a thicker jacket. I wouldn’t change our spontaneous trip for the world though, it had been exactly what I needed. The wind rustled our hair, strands fell from the bun I had perched on the top of my head. “Other than not having you there, school is fine. Homework sucks, obviously, and my practicals are kicking my ass, but it’s not too overwhelming. My roommate is pretty cool, but she’s gone a lot, choosing to stay with her boyfriend at his apartment.” I smirked at that.

  “Any boys for you?” I sing-songed, my smirk grew into a grin at her glare.

  “Hell no, I am far too busy with my studies to concern myself with members of the opposite sex.” Waving her hand in a submissive gesture, she tilted her head haughtily, pulling a laugh from me. “I will admit there are a few yummy looking morsels on campus, but none of them are worthy of all this.” She pulled me to a stop and ran her hands down her body, being sure to push up her generous amount of boobage in the process. “What about you? Any boys?” The smile I had been sporting was replaced with a frown almost instantly.

  “Maybe? Yes? No? I don’t even know.” Sighing, I tucked the wayward strands that had escaped my bun behind my ear. “It’s complicated,” I mumbled. “I told you about what happened at the party, well, since then things have been tense between all of us.” Char made a low humming sound.

  “Oh yes, the yummy daemon twins of sex and mischief. You never gave me those details, little missy.”

  “And I won’t be any time soon,” I exclaimed with a laugh. “I’ve mostly been hanging out with Sadie and Benji. I wish she could have come with us, I guess something happened with her brother, and she had to fly home for the weekend.”

  “I can’t wait to meet her, Benji too, but I know very well you’re trying to change the subject.” She turned her attention to me, arms crossed in front of her red sweater. “Have you talked with said boys since everything went down?” I pursed my lips, eyes narrowing on her. She knows me too well.

  “As a matter of fact, I did...kind of.” Humming an affirmative, a skeptical expression was etched onto her face as she waited for me to continue. “I spoke with Cam.” She cut me off before I could get the rest out.

  “Vamp cutie with the glasses?” I nodded. “Gotcha. Proceed.” I couldn’t contain my laughter at her antics. She could always make me feel better, even when discussing a topic as cruddy as this one.

  “ Anyway,” my voice shook with mirth, “I spoke with Cam, and I’ve been texting the other guys, but I haven’t said anything to Hudson yet. I had texted him yesterday, but he didn’t respond. I think the others are planning on talking to him soon.” Shrugging, I trailed off. I didn’t have a clue what I should do about Hudson. Confrontation was something I would usually avoid at all costs, but that night I hadn’t been myself. Char’s phone ringing cut off her response, her attention shifted to answer it.

  “Hey, Mama,” she greeted, I heard Char’s mom jabbering on the other end of the line. Her accent was much thicker than Char’s, and she had the habit of throwing bits of French into her vocabulary.

  “Hi, Gabrielle!” I shouted, my hand cupping around my mouth as I leaned across Char to get closer to the speaker. Char was quiet as her mom continued to speak quickly. I rarely caught everything she said in a single conversation

  “Here, she wants to talk to you.” Laughing at her mother, she rolled her eyes and shoved the phone into my hand.

  “Lucie! Chérie! Lucas and I miss you and Charlie terribly.” Gabrielle’s voice was warm and welcoming as she addressed me. “How’s college? Have you made any new friends? What are your classes like? Did you get the cookies your mother and I sent?” My stomach ached with how hard I was laughing. Answering her questions as accurately as possible, warmth spread th
rough my chest.

  Charlie’s family had always made me feel welcome. According to our hometown, Charlie and I were sisters that simply belonged to two families. As her parents had ‘adopted’ and cared for me, my mother did the same for her. Weekends were usually spent at one of the houses. Our mothers would be in the kitchen drinking wine, baking, and gossiping about fashion for Gabrielle’s blog since Char’s dad, Lucas, was usually working a rotation at the hospital. I was grateful that the tradition had continued after we left for college. I couldn’t imagine how lonely my mother had been in the house without me there.

  “D’accord, chérie, I’ll let you two go, enjoy your weekend. Oh! And tell Charlotte she needs to be home on time for the annual Halloween party at the hospital. Au revoir!” Before I could respond the line went dead, I chuckled at her enthusiasm.

  “I’ve been informed to tell you that you have to be home for the annual party at the hospital for Halloween.” I handed her back her phone. She rolled her eyes, stuffing it back into her pocket.

  “I love how she wants to talk to you and not me! It’s like I’m the red headed step child of my own family!” Throwing her arms into the air, she stormed away… well, tried to storm, the sand prevented her from being too intimidating, up the beach towards the car. Jogging to catch up with her, she threw her arm over my shoulder once I reached her side.

  “Remember when we went with your mom to the beach?” Char asked me. “She was catering the Reynold’s wedding, I think. And we ended up covered in batter from one of the recipes because of the clumsy waiter?” We laughed, full belly laughs that caused us to stumble and almost fall, remembering the week-long summer trip we had taken to help my mom prepare hundreds of cupcakes for a beach wedding.

  “You mean the waiter who tripped on me because he was too busy staring at you?” I corrected. Huffing at me, she waved a hand in front of my face.

  “Tomato, potato, same difference. God, that was so much fun.” Stopping at the sidewalk, we turned back to look at the sunrise once more. “We need to come back during the summer. Go swimming and binge on seafood and mimosas. We can make it a group thing. Sadie and Benji can come, maybe those boys, too, if they get their shit together,” she suggested. Honeyed eyes sparkled as she stared into the distance, nodding her head absently. I know that look.

  “You’re totally planning that trip right now, aren’t you?” I guessed. Silence was her response. After a few more moments, she whipped her head towards me quickly, finally back in reality.

  “Say what now?”

  “Nothing”—I laughed—“let’s go get some food and get checked into the hotel so we can drop off our bags.”

  “Oh, yes puh-lease! All this talk of seafood is makin’ me hangry.”

  We spent the rest of the day feasting on seafood and desserts, binge-watching Netflix, and filling each other in on everything we had missed over the summer. I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend a girls’ weekend, and having my best friend back meant the world to me.

  October 21st

  Sunday Morning

  Lucienne

  The car ride back to RSU had been filled with loud music, singing, and laughing hard enough I cried. My legs were stiff as I stretched in the guest parking lot. Char grabbed my bag from the trunk, and I shucked the small duffle over my shoulder, letting the weight settle on my hip before we started down the path to the dorms.

  The quad was fairly busy this morning, students relaxing and studying across the grass in the uncharacteristically warm weather. I spotted a few kids from my classes spread throughout the space, but when I spotted several specific faces, I groaned in agony. I was having such a good weekend, too. My dramatics caught Char’s attention.

  “What?” Her black brows pulled low over her eyes as she looked at me. Tilting my head slightly, Char followed my gesture to find the Bitch Crew walking towards us on the path. “Are those the bitches who’ve been giving you trouble?” I nodded, nibbling my lower lip. We would have to pass right by them to get to my dorm. “Well, fuck them.” Haughtily lifting her head, she put a little extra sway in her hips as we walked, her signature way of telling people to stay out of her way.

  “Is that guy with them, Hudson?” Looking again to the group, I realized I’d somehow missed Hudson with his arm around Brittney. I grew nauseous at the sight but dipped my head in the affirmative. Linking pinkies, she bumped me with her hip. “It’ll be okay, boo, let’s just get to your dorm. Your mom will kill me if I don’t bring back those tins you’ve been hogging.” Her reminder of my mom brought a smile to my face, easing the tension in my chest.

  “Hello, Lucie,” Claire sneered when we finally neared each other. I rolled my eyes, beyond tired of their petty drama.

  “‘Sup bitch,” Char catted back, her smirk was firmly planted on her face as she stopped in front of Claire. “You causing problems with my girl? Because I don’t give a shit if you’re a supe or not, I will fuck you up.” Claire and the other bitches scoffed. Sneaking a glance at Hudson while they were all focused on Charlie, I almost gasped aloud. His lavender eyes were even worse than when I saw them on Thursday; dull, muted, and nearly blank. It seemed as though he hadn’t even noticed they had stopped. His unfocused eyes stared off into the quad. When they made their way to me, I found anger and disgust there. What the hell?

  Quickly averting my gaze back to the girls, I willed my tears not to fall. It felt like I was choking, that horrible gasping feeling when you need to sob, but hold back. Focusing as much as possible on their little standoff, I heard Claire’s response. It was unbelievably full of snark, head bob and all.

  “I don’t know who you think you are, but…”

  “First of all, hoe,” Char cut her off with a wave of her hand, “that was the most cliché thing you ever could have said to me and second, I’m the fucking bad bitch that will destroy you if you keep coming at Lucie. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have better shit to do than deal with petty bitches like you.” With a face that could kill, she looked the Bitch Crew up and down, clearly not impressed with what she saw. “Come on, boo.” Nudging me with her elbow, we started to walk around the group. Claire, however, seemed to have different plans, making the mistake of opening her mouth once more.

  “Oh, Lucie, I’ll be sure to let Noah know what you’ve been up to, especially after this.” She glared at Char, who had stopped dead at the mention of Noah, before turning. Here we go. Char pulled back and punched Claire in her left eye, the thud of the hit sounding in the quiet of the group followed quickly by an unattractive screeching.

  “You can tell Noah I’ll be fucking waiting for him if he ever tries to come near her again, you hear me, bitch? Same goes for the rest of you. Back the fuck off,” Char snarled. Snaking her arm through mine, she dragged me along and down the path quickly. After a few moments of tense silence, she slowed to a more reasonable speed, her body relaxing.

  “I’m sorry, boo.” My face scrunched in confusion as to why she was apologizing. She must have understood where my thoughts had gone because she answered my unspoken question. “I just couldn’t control myself at the thought of that bastard. I can’t believe she fucking threatened you with him, that’s just...” She trailed off with a growl.

  “Charlotte Ava Hauser,” I said sternly, “never apologize for standing up for someone. It could mean the world to them. And by them, I mean me.” I chuckled at the glare she gave me at the mention of her full name. She opened her mouth to lecture me when I heard my name being shouted. Whipping my head around to find the source, I spotted Elijah running down the walkway towards us, Gabe following at a more mellow pace.

  “Hey, Elijah,” I greeted when he finally reached us, his panting broke up his response.

  “That… was fucking… awesome,” he huffed out. After a few more labored breaths, he got himself under control. “I just had to come say that was one of the best things I’ve ever seen. I’m Elijah.” A playboy smirk on his face as his hand came out for Char to shake. Gabe finally made
his way over and stood next to us.

  “Hey, Lucie.” He nodded politely at me before introducing himself to Char. “Hi, I’m Gabe.”

  “Charlotte. I mean Charlie. I mean, hi, I’m Char. Lucie’s best friend. It’s nice to meet you.” She shook their outstretched hands, a rosy tint rising in her cheeks. I couldn’t help but gape at the usually calm and collected badass that stood before me quivering like a schoolgirl. Interesting.

  “I just wanted to tell you how amazing that was.” Elijah’s eyes were solely on Char, a small, genuine smile pulled at his lips. Initially, I thought the red flush on his face was from exertion. Now, as he rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the ground, I was second guessing myself. Gabe had been quiet, but he was merely smiling at Char as well.

  “It was nothing, really, I just hate bullies. And I don’t let people push my family around.” She nudged me, her eyes pleading. Seemingly willing the conversation to end.

  “Sorry, guys, but I only have her for so long, she has to get back to UW. So, we’ve got to be going.” I steered her away from them. When we were a safe distance away, I leaned into her. “What was that about?”

  “I don’t know! I panicked,” she frantically whispered, afraid to be overheard. “They were cute and talking to me. I wasn’t expecting to have a conversation with any hot guys this weekend.” My nose scrunched at the statement. I didn’t find either of them very attractive, mainly because I had my eye on six other guys. Opening my mouth, she cut me off. “Don’t. I know what you’re going to say. You’re going to tell me I deserve to be happy and some other hippy-dippy shit, but it’s girls’ weekend. We can focus on guys another time.” I smirked, because she was right, I was about to say that. The rest of the walk passed quickly, and Char headed out after piling her arms full of empty cookie tins.