The Forever of Ella and Micha by Jessica Sorensen

a swig. “I already got fitted for my bridesmaid’s dress, which is
so
weird.”
    Her face contorts with confusion. “Why’s that weird?”
    I screw the cap back on the bottle. “Because Caroline hardly knows me, so I don’t understand why she wants me as one of her bridesmaids.”
    “You’re going to be her sister-in-law, Ella.” Lila scoops up a handful of petals and sprinkles them back onto the tablecloth. “And she seems really nice.”
    I glance over at Caroline talking to the wedding planner. Her black hair grew out a little since the last time I saw her and she’s wearing a long black dress with a jean jacket over it. Dean’s at work and I’ve barely seen him since we showed up yesterday morning.
    “We could go back to the hotel and order room service,” I suggest, returning my attention back to her. “And charge everything to the room so Dean has to pay for it.”
    She giggles, winding a strand of her blonde hair around her finger. “As fun as that sounds—since I’m not really a fan of your brother—I think we should go out and have some fun.”
    I rotate the bottle of soda between the palms of my hands. “Lila, I can’t drink while I’m on this medication.”
    “We don’t have to drink. We can go out and have some sober fun.” Her eyes suddenly light up and she claps her hands animatedly. “Oh, we can go find a really fancy restaurant and charge it to the credit card my dad hasn’t canceled yet.”
    A small smile curves at my lips. “I think we’re both feeling a little scandalous tonight.”
    She laughs, throwing her head back dramatically. “Or maybe we both have family members who are total douche bags.”
    I laugh too and it feels weightless, like breathing in the fresh air. “Alright, let’s do it. But no sushi. I hate that crap.”
    We hike across the grass toward the paved driveway where the car is parked. It’s chilly in Chicago compared to Vegas and when we get in the car, I crank up the heat. “You want to look something up on the GPS?”
    She scrolls through her phone. “We have to go back to the hotel first.”
    I back out of the driveway, maneuvering between the cars blocking the way. “Why? You look fine.”
    She looks down at her pink skinny jeans and her floral shirt. “I know I do, but I left the credit card on the nightstand last night when we ordered pizza.”
    “Okay then, to the hotel it is.” I drive like a lunatic out onto the main road, skidding the tires in a pile of gravel, and Lila shoots me a dirty look.
    I shrug innocently. “I’m hungry.”
    She rolls her eyes and plays with her phone during the five-minute drive to the hotel. I park out front underneath the canopy and leave the engine running. “Do you want to just run in?”
    She shakes her head and drops the phone into the middle console. “Come in with me, please. That front desk guy is such a creeper. He kept looking down my shirt the entire time we were checking in.”
    “Wasn’t he, like, really old?”
    “He had to be at least in his forties.”
    “Ew,” we both say and cringe.
    I roll the car forward into a spot, shut it off, and get out, meeting her around the back of the car. When we reach the sliding-glass doors, Lila catches my arm and stops me before I step foot over the threshold.
    “Okay, so whatever happens, I just want you to know that I did this for your own good,” she says and frees my arm.
    My eyebrows furrow. “Lila, what did you do…”
    She struts into the lobby toward two guys standing near the seating area across from the front desk. It takes my mind a second to process that it’s Ethan and Micha.
    “Damn it, Lila.” I’m not ready for this. What I said to Micha… it’s unforgivable, even if it wasn’t true. I’ll never be able to forget the look on his face, like he was child who just learned that his dog died.
    Like always, his aqua eyes immediately magnetize to mine and I force my legs to move toward them. He has on a really nice pair of jeans and