Chapter 4 We'll Do Great Things

Ember

But I'd decided against it. I was who I was, and I was fine with it. Happy, even.

Gracie eyed me as she took another sip of her beer. She climbed up on my kitchen counter where her legs dangled while she contemplated whatever she wanted to say. I waited it out, knowing she would tell me when she was good and ready.

While I waited for her, I checked all the cabinets in the kitchen to make sure they were empty. Eventually, Gracie said, "Cambridge has been our home for three years. Do you honestly expect me to believe you're not in the least bit nervous about moving away?"

I shrugged, closing the last cabinet door and checking the kitchen off my mental to-do list. "I'm excited. I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous at all, but it's more nervous excitement than plain old nerves."

"How are you so calm about this?" she asked, frowning into her beer. "I wish I was more like that. You're so confident about everything. This move is looming ahead of me like a big, black hole, and you're all chipper about it."

"Chipper?" I smirked, lifting my shoulders. "Okay, I'll take it. You can be more confident if you want to be. It's all in the mind. Just don't put yourself down because of it."

She gave me a hopeful little smile. One of the things I loved most about Gracie was how she rallied. She didn't dwell on things. Despite what she thought, she was one of the strongest people I knew.

"All in the mind, huh? Maybe I should give it a try. New city, new me."

I lifted my beer in the air, tipping its neck at her. "To new beginnings."

"New beginnings," she repeated, mirroring my gesture. Taking a sip of her beer, her eyes wandered away from mine to the chaos that was my apartment.

To be fair, it did look like a bomb had gone off in there. Several bombs, actually. What could I say? It had been a busy week. "Don't squint your eyes like that. We graduated last week. I was too busy to get around to packing."

"Funny how I graduated too, but my stuff's basically all packed and in my car." She winked and jerked her head in the direction of my living room. "Let me help you. I'm a whiz at packing boxes. I used to love Tetris."

I stuck my tongue out at her quickly, but then I nodded. "Rub it in, why don't you? I tried packing, but with everything else going on, I kept getting sidetracked. But yes, please help, Oh Master Packer. I'll never get it done without your tutelage."

Rolling her gray eyes, she hopped down from the counter and went to survey the damage. "You know, if we're going to be living together, we probably should have coordinated what stuff we were taking and what we were leaving here."

"But what on earth would we have done without two toasters and two kettles?" I asked, my lips kicking up into a smile. "It's the new 'it' décor for lofts, having two of everything."

Gracie giggled before giving me a look. "It's not that big, you know?"

"It's big enough," I argued, excitement surging through me once again. I couldn't wait to see the loft Gracie and I were going to be sharing. We rented it off pictures we saw online and a virtual tour.

When I first found the listing, I couldn't believe we were actually able to afford a place like that. It cost double what both of our places in Cambridge together rented for, but with the signing bonuses we got for accepting our future jobs, we could easily afford it without having to worry.

It was the most freeing feeling I'd ever experienced, being able to pick out a loft I wanted and signing on the dotted line, knowing I was doing it with my own money. Gracie and I had cracked open a bottle of champagne after we signed it, getting tipsy on my living room floor, wearing our fanciest heels with our pajamas.

We packed in silence for a while before I could see Gracie overthinking things again. The tension coming off her was almost palpable. "What's up?"

She sealed another box with the loud ripping of packing tape. "It's just that I started thinking about our loft. Then I started thinking about how we could afford it, which got me thinking about our jobs."

Great minds think alike. "Yeah? What about them?"

"It's a Fortune 250 company, Em." She chewed on her lower lip as she moved the packed box aside and started folding another one closed. "That's a huge responsibility on every single one of the employees. What if I mess up?"

"We're not going to mess up," I said firmly. "We're going to help this company. They're lucky to be getting us."

"You really believe that?" Doubt darkened her eyes, and her fingers tapped nervously against her leg.

I walked up to her and put my hands on her shoulders, looking right into her eyes. "I really believe that."

And I did. I planned on taking that company by storm. Being a little bigger than the average girl growing up, I'd been teased relentlessly and called every bad name in the book. I dealt with it by toughening up and becoming funny and friendly instead of skinny.

Eventually, I became friends with most of the people who used to tease me, but that wasn't enough. As much as they loved me now and I loved them, I was out to prove to everyone who I really was.

Those who became my friends and those who had always just ignored me alike. Size didn't dictate our worth, but there had always been dicks who tried to convince me otherwise. I wanted to show them all exactly how much I was worth, and it was sure as hell more than I weighed.