Chapter Twenty-Six:

Make Connections

The following morning, Natasha woke me up by tapping my nose, and interupting my sleep. She was laughing, and I crinkled my nose.

"Oh gross, your breath stinks."

"Shut up, you love it." She said, then blowing air on my face on purpose. I made gagging sounds and threw a pillow at her, so shield me away from her hellish breath. "It's not like you don't have one before."

"I don't get morning breath." I told her, and laughing. "I brush my teeth and tongue thoroughly. So, no microbes pile up in my mouth and make disgusting smells."

"Yeah, yeah." She said. "Oh god, please tell me it's the weekend. I don't wanna go to school, my head hurts."

"It's Saturday." I reminded her. "You don't have to worry about a thing. Now come on, get up, I'll get you some Tylenol."

"Ugh, my mom is going to kill me." She said, as she sat up and holding her head for dear life.

"I told her you slept over, so you're fine."

"You lied for me?"

"Yeah." I nodded and hit her with the pillow again, which she groaned from pain. I got out of bed and placed my hands on my hips, and imitated a dramatic superhero pose. "I also carried you last night, and changed you in comfortable clothes, and now you're gonna have breakfast with me downstairs. I don't know about you, but I think I'm the very best friend ever."

"God, I love you so much." She said, getting up and hugging me.

"I love you too. But you got a lot of explaining to do." I said sternly as I hugged her back. "Like... Making out with James. Which by the way, I do not, I repeat, I do not fancy at all."

"You do not fancy James, or you do not fancy me kissing him?" She asked jokingly. I scoffed and waved a hand in dismissal.

"Ha, ha. Both." I replied. "Nat! You could do better than that toad!"

"True." She said and followed me downstairs. "I was gonna say that I'm the princess and he could be my frog prince, but that's irrelevant because he's such a douche."

"A fuck boy."

Nat laughed and when we entered the dining room, my mom and dad were having breakfast and they gave us questioning looks, the same look that we got last night.

"G'morning Mama and Papa Bridge." Nat greeted cheerfully, and waved a hand. I snickered and immediately got her Tylenol and a glass of water.

"You looked pretty wasted last night." Said my mom, who was sitting down across from my dad. She was staring at us with an amused expression, and she looked like she was about to burst out laughing at any moment. My dad on the other hand was already laughing, and he said,

"Don't worry Natasha, we won't tell your parents."

"Thanks." She said, as she sat down to my right, and together we ate breakfast that my mom made.

"So, you guys went partying?" My mom asked, and the question was directed to me.

"No. Just her." I said.

"You know, you ought to get out more." She said. "I'm getting a little worried about you."

"Same." Said Natasha, who gave me a sheepish smile.

I stabbed a canteloupe in my fruit bowl with a fork and ate it.

"I get out there." I defended myself. "Sometimes."

"Oh really? Remind me, when?"

"Okay hold up. Are you telling me that you want me to go to parties where I can get drunk and get high?" I asked spontaneously.

Nat choked on her orange juice because she had laughed.

"Let's not get carried away." My dad said, shaking his head in disbelief, but a grin was plastered on his face.

"Well I did all that at your age, so yes." My mom told me, hiding her smirk behind her coffee mug.

I gaped at her, and so did Natasha.

"I cannot believe what I'm hearing from you." I said. "Oh my god."

"I mean, what?" My mom joked, and flipping her hit dramatically. "I didn't say that... Or did I?" And she laughed.

"Your mom is just saying," Dad intervened. "That we would like you to just... get out there, socialize. Make connections. You never know, you might actually date a boy and get a boyfriend."

Natasha lost it. She was finding this whole conversation hilarious and even high-fived my parents. They were ganging up on me, and I just ate my fruit bowl grumpily.

"Tell you what." Mom started, her eyes twinkling with excitement. "Winter break is coming up, right?"

Nat and I nodded.

"Well, your dad and I are visiting your grandparents in Calgary for three days, why don't you throw a party?"

Nat and I stared at each other. I looked at my parents, feeling horrified, but they were just smiling.

"And you trust me with this because...?" I said in confusion, but Nat nudged me in protest. "I'm just saying, I don't know how to handle drunk teenagers. And, aren't you concerned about my safety? What if they thrashed the whole house?"

"If they did, then we let them cover the charges. Oh honey, don't worry, too much, you're going to be fine." My mom comforted.

"Would it make you feel better if I say that I'll ask our sheriff to check on you guys? Just so everything's safe?"

"But that's-" Nat nudged me again.

"We're not forcing you." Mom said, smiling. "It's just a suggestion."

"No, no." I said, waving my hands. "Um. Is it really okay? Do you guys really trust me with that?"

"Yes. Besides, we also trust Dennis, and Thomas. I'm sure they're willing to help, right?"

Natasha went still, and gave a small smile. I nodded my head at my parents.

"Mave, don't worry. I'll help you with everything too. Sure I was wasted last night, but I promise not to let that happen in your party. Come on, we'll have fun." Nat said.

"Fine." I said finally agreeing. "But no drugs. Dad, you better make sure that sheriff brings a dog or something, I don't want anything illegal happening in here."

"Sure, but all of you guys will be drinking and are all under nineteen so that's illegal." My dad said, raising his eyebrows at me. "Kidding, I'll make sure they supervise you, okay?"

"Thanks." I said.

*

I dropped Natasha off at her house, and I decided that I might as well hang out with her. Her parents greeted me, and I greeted them back politely, like I always do since we were little.

"So, what do you wanna do today?" She asked, when we entered her room, and sitting down on her piano stool.

"You should apologize."

"I'm pretty sure I did that a lot last night." She said, and played classical tunes in her piano.

"Not to me, you dumbo." I said, sitting down beside her and messing up her tune by pressing random keys. "To Dennis, Thomas, and Dani."

"Ugh. Fine." She said.

"Do you want to maybe... Call them?" I suggested.

"Apologizing by phone? Where's the dignity in that?" Nat complained. "If I'm going to apologize, I might as well do it heart-to-heart. We'll have a squad meeting."

"Where?" I asked, feeling suddenly scared because that 'meeting' could end up badly. My face was probably an open book, because Nat immediately hugged me.

"Awe Mave, don't worry. This time, there won't be fights, or yelling."

"Well, okay." I said.

"The weather's good today, so wanna go tobogganing at Little Red River Park today?" She asked.

"You wanna go tobogganing?" I asked in bewilderment. "You're hungover."

"So? I feel better, and besides, we haven't done that in forever. Might as well enjoy winter before it ends, right?"

"You're crazy." I said.

"I'm crazy awesome." She said. "Come on Mave, remember what your parents said? You need to get out more."

I snorted a laugh. "Make connections, they said." I added. "Okay, fine. We better get hot chocolate after, okay?"

"Yaaaas~" Nat cheered.

She made phone calls, which were a bit awkward at first because she talked to both her exes, Dennis and Thomas, but both boys agreed to come. Then Nat told me to call Dani, and I did but she wasn't answering.

"Call again." Nat instructed.

I did, and Dani picked up in the second ring.

"Hi Mave."

"Hey." I greeted nervously. "Are you free today?"

"Um, well I was gonna hang out with Margo again, but I could cancel if you want?"

"No, no, don't do that." I quickly told her, and bit my lip.

"We're just gonna go hang out with her band later, I might be free after that."

I rolled my eyes in annoyance. Of course Margo is in a band.

"Actually, if you and Margo want... Would you like to go to Little Red Park with us this afternoon? We're going tobogganing."

"Tobogganing. That sounds fun." Dani said, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "Who's all coming?"

"Me, Dennis and Thomas, and... Nat." I said. "Nat planned the whole thing, and she wants to apologize to you in person. So it'll be great if you would come... And Margo, of course."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Hot chocolate after, as well."

"Hold on, lemme ask Margo."

There were giggling in the background, and I frowned in disgust. Nat was staring at me intently and I gave her a what look.

"Okay, we're in. What time are we meeting you guys there?" Dani asked excitedly.

"Around two-ish." I said. "I'll text you when we get there."

"Okay. We'll see you there, I guess."

"See you." I said, and pressed the end button. "Dani and Margo are coming." I told Nat.

"Geez, you sound dissapointed." Nat noticed. "And who's Margo?"

"Dani's... gi- friend." I said quickly. I didn't wanna out Dani to Natasha, Dani should do that herself. "She works at the café downtown, and apparently they hit it off."

"Huh." Nat said, and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, the more the merrier. Now come on, pulling these ski pants on."

Unedited