Oh God, I wasn’t ready.

“Natalie?” Dustin was the first to approach me. His eyes that reminded me so much of Mason’s were almost as wide as his mouth. “Wow. You look—”

“Amazing? Incredible? Sexy as hell?” Willow had popped out from the kitchen and was bellowing toward me, her voice much louder than I preferred, calling even more attention to us. “All of thee above?”

She pulled me in for a tight hug when she reached me and I squeezed her in return, trying to ignore the eyes I had from practically every person in the room. When Willow pulled back, she gave me a reassuring wink and I smiled in return.

“Pretty much all of that,” Dustin said, chuckling.

“Thank you,” I murmured. I tucked a strand of my curled hair behind my ear and cleared my throat, looking to Willow as if she would have the answer for what I needed to do next in this situation.

“Let’s get my best friend a drink.”

“Let’s.”

There were still a lot of eyes on our backs as we retreated to the kitchen, but the noise of the party gradually increased until it was back to normal. I downed the first fruity drink Willow mixed up for me, which just made her laugh and mix a new one along with a straight shot of the rum she’d used to make it. She poured one for herself, too, and we clinked our shot glasses together before throwing them back. My limbs warmed and I smiled.

“Do you feel weird?” Willow asked, sipping from her own bright pink solo cup. Of course she couldn’t go with regular red ones at her going away party. Pink wasn’t really her favorite color, but she did love all things girly. Plus, the cups matched her outfit — bright pink shorts that showed off her long dark legs paired with a crisp white crop top. She was the brightest thing in the house. In my opinion, she was the brightest thing no matter where she was.

“I should be asking you the same thing.”

She shrugged. “I don’t feel it yet. I mean, I know I’m leaving on Monday, but I guess I just know I’ll be back on weekends sometimes and for holidays. It just feels like a temporary goodbye, nothing serious.”

“At least it’s an excuse to throw a party, right?”

Willow pointed at me. “Exactly.” Giggling, she laced her arm through mine and dragged me out to her back patio area where they’d just lit her fire pit.

The energy Willow exuded was infectious. She was so bubbly and confident, and I soaked it up like a sponge. We were laughing loudly, making jokes, dancing and playing drinking games I’d only ever watched from the sidelines before. Mason and Shay showed up about a half hour after I did, but I barely noticed them. I was too busy letting loose to care if they were there.

They, however, definitely seemed to notice me.

After finally losing a game of flip cup after a three game winning streak, Willow and I stumbled into the kitchen to grab some water. We wanted to last all night, so it was time to rehydrate a little. We were sipping from our cups, still laughing, when Shay and her friend from the fair walked in.

I tensed immediately.

“Interesting outfit choice, Natalie,” she mocked. “For a girl of your size, I mean.” Her friend, who I remembered to be named Tawnya, placed a hand on her hip and giggled. I was waiting for them to high five themselves for their awesomeness. How was I ever afraid of these two? How did these self-centered bullies ever intimidate me?

“Bitch, I will cut—”

I held up my hand, stopping Willow’s sentence. She eyed them manically before turning to me with a more questioning stare. I just smiled and shook my head.

“Oh, are you actually going to try to defend that hideous skirt? This ought to be good.” Shay nudged Tawnya, flipping her long brown locks over her shoulder.

I flinched at her insult, fingering the hem of my skirt, but the insecurity only lasted for a moment. The more I watched her lips curl, the stronger my urge to kick her in the face became. Since I wasn’t sure I’d still be standing if I tried to balance my weight on one of the heels I was wearing, I chose to use my words carefully instead of my foot.

“You know what, Shay? This is my town. These are my friends, this is my best friend’s party, and you’re only here because you took the sloppy seconds of my ex-boyfriend and thought that made you one of us. Well guess what? It doesn’t.” I could feel the same quietness that surrounded me when I first entered the party creeping up again. Everyone was watching us. “I’m still trying to figure out where Mason’s lapse in judgement came from when he decided it’d be a good idea to date you, but since you have to be here until he wises up and realizes he can do better, maybe you could stop obsessing over how I look and what I wear and worry about your own damn self?”

Shay’s mouth popped open and Tawnya’s followed. Adrenaline was coursing through my veins at the speed of a freight train. Inside I was shaking, but I didn’t let it show.

“Come on, Willow.” I laced my arm through hers and strutted toward the back door. “We have a game to win. Oh, and since I know you’re watching,” I added, throwing one last glance over my shoulder at Shay’s white face. “How’s my ass look, Shay?”

The kitchen and living room both broke out into a mixture of laughter and oooh’s. Willow was cracking up and I bit against my urge to do the same. When we finally made it outside, I let it out.

“Oh my God! I cannot believe that just happened. I fucking love you.” Willow wrapped me in a crushing hug before turning to the party that was outside. “My best friend is the sexiest bitch alive!” Everyone laughed and a few of the guys whistled. I only blushed in return.

I didn’t see Shay or Mason at all in the next hour. They either left or stayed inside, either option worked for me. It felt good to stand up for myself, even if I did have to stoop to her level to do so, but after the adrenaline crashed, I made my way up to Willow’s bedroom to gather myself. I thought I’d escaped alone, but Willow tailed me, closing the door softly behind us and falling down to sit on the bed with me.

“I’m fine, Lo,” I said with a sigh. “Go back to the party.”

“Listen, as much as I want to believe that, especially with your little show in the kitchen, I know there’s something bothering you.” She winked when she mentioned my showdown with Shay, but her smile fell quickly. “You’re thinking about Rhodes, aren’t you?”