36
I almost pee the bed when my eyes creak open to find a shadowed figure standing over me.
“Wake up, sleepyhead,” she says.
“GRETCHEN!” I’m out of the covers and wrapping myself around her and we’re dancing and she’s shushing me or else the hippies are gonna knock on the ceiling because it’s 6:30 in the morning. “I’m so glad you’re here! Wait—why are you here?”
“Because. It’s January tenth. Which means it’s your birthday weekend, and there was no way I was going to let my best friend start her new year off without a righteous celebration.” She plops down on my bed and pulls me with.
“Really? You came all the way from Milan for my birthday?”
“Of course not. I came all the way from Milan because those people are insane and I was desperately homesick and no matter what they say about I
