Pocket Full of Posies

Chapter Four

“Hey, sleepy head, wake up,” a voice demanded, coaxing me from my pleasant dreams.

  I groaned in response, shoving my face further into my pillow. Apparently the person sitting on the edge of my bed didn’t take the hint. A second later, I felt a shocking sting on my arm that came with a harsh slap. Sitting up hurriedly, I was fully prepared to strangle someone.

  Deviant blue-green eyes stared back at me. Channeling my inner Disney-star, I squealed in delight, throwing my arms around my cousin. “Oh my God, you’re early!” I shrieked directly in her ear.

  Felicity didn’t seem to mind, though. She hugged me back in earnest. “Surprise!”

  I finally released her. Man, she looked different. I hadn’t seen her since she left for California in August, only weeks before the whole Isaac fiasco. College life looked great on her. Lissie had always been the kind of girl who was wise beyond her years, but there was a certain gleam in her eyes that suggested she was beginning to loosen up some. Blonde highlights had been added to her long copper hair, making her appear…flirty and beachy. The cousin who had been a nerd all her life just to reach her dream college was…well, she was hot.

  I gestured to her person in slight shock. “What the hell happened to you?”

  A pink blush dotted each side of Lissie’s face and she answered sheepishly, “I gotta makeover.”

  I almost sighed in relief that her accent was still strong. She may look like a beach bum, but deep down she was still a country girl. For a while I’d been worried she’d completely adopt California. But, then again, this was Lissie. She loved who she was.

  “You look amazing,” I admitted with a laugh. Man, I’d missed her.

  “And what happened to you?” Her hand reached up to touch the short ends of my choppy haircut. “I feel like crying! You always swore you’d never cut it. Had I realized you broke our deal, I would’ve cut mine, too!”

  Growing up, Liss and I had always promised never to cut our hair. Girls with long and flowy hair always had boyfriends, after all. I shrugged my shoulders. “I needed a change.”

  The smile left Lissie’s lips, instantly replaced with a sympathetic frown. Normally it annoyed the hell out of me when people gave me that look, but this was Lissie. She wasn’t here when that all went down and I’d really needed her. We’d talked on the phone for hours and she’d helped me through it as much as she could, but it wasn’t the same.

  “How’re you doing?” she asked tentatively.

  I lifted my shoulders in another shrug. “Okay, I guess. I think I’m just kinda stuck in the pissed off stage, you know?”

  Her eyes flickered down my body. “You lost a lotta weight.”

  I let out a short laugh. “It’s not what you think. I’ve been workin’ my ass off at work and been runnin’ a lot. Believe me, girl, I haven’t stopped eating any. You know Aunt Nelly. She’d wring my neck for sure!”