Archive of Our Own

Max threw another candy wrapper at me, spread out in the middle of my bed.

“Next!” she yelled. I huffed and put my hands on my hips, turning away from the mirror to face her.

“What’s wrong with this one?” I asked.

“Too childish,” she complained. I rolled my eyes and glanced back in the mirror. The dress was dark green with puffy sleeves and a skirt that ended at my knees. There was nothing about it that screamed childish to me, but who was I to argue with Max?

I sighed. “This is the fourth dress I’ve tried on. Can’t we be done?”

Max unwrapped another piece of candy, popped it into her mouth, and sat up. “Avery, this is your birthday party! You’ve got to look the part.”

“You know I hate all of this attention,” I said, fiddling with the hem of my skirt. “It’s not even a special birthday.” I was turning seventeen—a year since I’ve legally been able to drive, but a year too young to vote.

“Every birthday is special,” Max said, sliding off of my bed and skipping over to my closet. She dug through it, throwing tops and dresses over her shoulder in an outlandish fashion, looking like she was filming a bit in a movie. Eventually, she pulled out a silky light pink dress with spaghetti straps. I made a face.

“This one’s perfect,” Max declared.

“Isn’t it a little… risqué?” I asked, poking at it nervously.

“It goes to your knees,” she said dismissively. “Put it on.” She thrust the fabric at me, and I sighed, grabbing it. I pulled off the green dress and put on the pink one. It flowed over my body like water and felt softer than most things I’d ever worn. When had I even gotten this dress?

“Take off your bra,” Max ordered.

“What?” Instinctively, I covered my chest with my arms. Max wrestled with me for a moment, pulling them away.

“You can see the straps,” she said. “Take it off.”

“No way!” The fabric was so flimsy, everything was sure to be shown off.

Max sighed. “Fine, then at least put on a strapless one.”

I glared at my best friend but acquiesced, going over to my dresser and pulling out the one strapless bra I owned. Quickly, I switched them out, and then Max took me by the shoulders and pulled me over to the mirror.

“See? Perfect,” she whispered at my reflection. I didn’t know about perfect, but the dress was beautiful and flattering on me. It complimented my dark hair, which Max had already curled and pinned half back. All I needed was shoes. Max seemed to read my mind, dragging me back to the closet. I crossed my fingers and hoped for flats, or at least a low heel.

Max surprised me by bringing out a pair of white ballet flats, the sides open and lacy. She laid them down, and I stepped in, glad that I wouldn’t have to toddle around in heels all night.

“Now, we have to get you ready,” I told her.

Max waved a hand. “Already have everything picked out. I’ve just got to change.” She grabbed her bag and ran into the bathroom before I could say anything. The secretiveness had me a little apprehensive, but I wasn’t going to argue with her.

I went over to my nightstand to grab my phone. It was almost six o’clock, and the party started at seven. I didn’t have any messages aside from the birthday texts I’d received this morning. My thumb hesitated over the message from Grayson, debating if I wanted to ask if he was coming back for my party or not. It was a silly question; he was across the country at Harvard—why would he come back for my seventeenth birthday? It wasn’t even a big one.

I sighed and resisted the urge to throw my phone. I’d hoped in the few months since Grayson had left that my feelings would dissipate, but they hadn’t. Instead, I looked forward to every call, every text. I tried to nonchalantly ask Xander if he’d heard from his brother every other day, but usually, he just grinned, definitely having caught on to my crush. It was fine as long as he didn’t tell Jameson.

Almost as if he knew I was thinking about him, Jameson’s name lit up my phone. I pressed answer and held the phone to my ear. “Hello?”

“Mystery Girl,” he greeted, voice a little breathless. “I have a riddle for you.”

“Is this to find my present?” I asked, smiling a little. Jameson could never just give me my present.

“That’s part of the riddle,” he said. “When sixteen turns to seventeen, meet me at the place where blue turns to green.” He hung up before I could say anything else. I knew what he meant almost immediately—in the new wing Tobias Hawthorne had built, there was a door that was blue on one side and green on the other. It wasn’t a very difficult riddle, or a particularly clever one. Either Jameson had a bigger clue for me to solve, or he was going soft.

“Max, are you almost ready?” I asked.

“No!” she called back cheerily.

I sighed. “I have to go meet Jameson. See you outside?”

“Yeah, yeah! You have to show me what he got you this year!”

Jameson was known for giving lavish presents, no matter how much I asked him not to. It made me uncomfortable, the money he could throw at me, when I couldn’t return the favor. Nevertheless, I grabbed a purse to slip my phone into and stepped out of my room. The new wing was on the opposite side of the house, but I didn’t feel the need to hurry. Jameson knew I could guess the clue easily, so I would take my time to get there.

I meandered through the wings, careful to take the correct turns and not get lost in the House like I used to. It was as I turned the corner that I ran into something hard. I stumbled back but warm hands landed on my shoulders, steadying me. I blinked and looked up. Grayson stared back at me, his mouth slightly open.

“Grayson?” I asked.

“Avery,” he said, straightening up. His hands dropped back to his sides, one coming up to fiddle with the tie of his suit. “Happy birthday.”

“Thanks,” I said, slightly dazed. “What are you doing here?”

His brows furrowed. “I’m here for your birthday.”

“You came back for my birthday?” I asked.

Grayson’s eyes softened, ever so slightly. “Of course. I wouldn’t miss it.”

I had to look away at that, looking down at my shoes. I tucked the toe of one into the floor.

“You look beautiful,” Grayson said quietly.

I looked back up at that. “Thanks.”

“I, um, I got you a gift.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small gift-wrapped box.

“Oh, you didn’t have to.” I hoped I wasn’t blushing.

“I wanted to. Here.” He pressed the gift into my hand, and I stared at it. After a moment, I tore the paper off to find a jewelry box. I opened it slowly to find a beautiful chain-link bracelet, a little charm dangling off of one end. I picked it up carefully and examined it: a ferris wheel.

“That’s the London Eye,” Grayson told me.

“A charm bracelet?” I asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I thought… well, maybe it’s kind of silly, but I thought you could get a charm from each place you visit and add it to your bracelet. I got that one for you to start it, since we went to London back in June.”

That had been an incredible trip, the four Hawthorne brothers and Libby and I. Nash had had to bully Libby into taking a week off of caring for Nan, no matter how much we all insisted she deserved a break. But she’d been convinced, and we’d flown in a private jet to London and stayed in one of Mr. Hawthorne’s hotels. We’d visited all of the tourist traps, and Grayson had taken us to his favorite spots from his previous trips. It had been incredible.

“Oh, wow.” I didn’t know what else to say. I couldn’t speak, my throat just a little too tight.

“You’ve just… you’ve always said you wanted to travel, and I thought this would be a different kind of reminder and—”

“Grayson,” I cut him off. “Thank you. I love it.” I pulled the bracelet out and laid it across my left wrist, struggling to clasp it. Grayson took my hand and pulled me closer, turning my wrist over so he could fasten the clasp over my pulse point. I hoped he couldn’t tell how fast it was beating. But when he was done, I didn’t move away, and neither did he.

“You really like it?” he whispered, almost like he couldn’t believe it.

“It might be my favorite gift I’ve ever been given,” I said honestly. Everything from my mom was cherished, of course, but this… something about this made my soul light. I couldn’t wait to fill the chain and see all of the places and do all of the things. I wanted to laugh. I wanted to cry. Instead, I wrapped my arms around Grayson’s neck and stood on my toes to hug him tightly. He didn’t hesitate before he wrapped his arms around my waist. I stood there for a moment, letting him hold me, pretending that he felt more than he did.

And then, I pulled back, letting my arms slip from his neck and standing flat on my feet. His arms fell from my waist.

“Sorry,” I said, a little sheepishly.

He didn’t say anything, just reached up to brush a stray lock of hair from my face. His hand stayed there, running the strands of my hair through his forefinger and thumb. And then, he leaned down and brushed his lips against my cheek. My breath caught.

“Happy birthday, Avery,” he whispered in my ear. He pulled back slowly, and I stared at him. Finally, I managed to find my voice.

“Thank you,” I whispered back. I coughed, and the spell was broken. He straightened up, and I rubbed a hand up and down my arm. “I have to go meet Jameson. Something about a riddle and my present.”

Grayson smiled tightly. “It’ll probably be something grand. Show up my gift for sure.”

“It won’t,” I told him.

We stared at each other for a moment longer, and he opened his mouth as if to say something. But my phone let out a ding, signaling I’d gotten a text message, most likely from Jameson, wondering where I was at, and the moment was broken.

“I’ll see you later,” Grayson said.

“See you,” I agreed. Awkwardly, we passed around each other. I hurried down the hallway, deciding to no longer take my time, worried that if I lingered, I’d look back at Grayson. And I was starting to wonder if he might be looking back, too.