Paper Flowers (Pretty Plastic People) ★

047. Party Crashers

"And a three-course meal you will get. Just as soon as Brynn gets this salmon in the oven." He hip-checks Brynn, grinning, and she rolls her eyes in return.

"Sounds like Brynn's doing the cooking and not you." But Allison's laughing, and she tugs Liam in for a quick kiss. Then she pulls the box of pasta towards her and says, "How can I help?"

It's perfectly peaceful in the kitchen, the four of us working. When I finish the salad I hop up onto the counter and watch everyone else, swinging my legs back and forth. We bicker pointlessly and make stupid jokes and feign catching the kitchen on fire. It's perfect, exactly how I imagined this vacation.

Then Allison opens the cupboard to find some bowls and I catch a glimpse of Celia's champagne. Just like that, ugly thoughts creep towards me again. Like I can't have peace of mind for more than a few minutes at a time, like my daily quota of fun has expired.

Half an hour later, everyone else begins to trek in for dinner. Spencer, Nathan, and Cassidy are soaking wet, like they went for a swim in the ocean. Celia comes inside toting a beach bag with magazines, her enormous sunglasses still perched on her nose.

"This smells absolutely delicious," she exclaims, dropping her bag in the living room. "Liam, I had no clue you could cook! Good job, hun."

Liam takes off his oven mitt, slapping it onto the counter. "You can show your appreciation by helping carry the food to the table."

Surprisingly, she obeys. Once the table's set we all sit down around it. The eight of us fit perfectly, but the way we sit doesn't quite add up. Brynn sits between Cassidy and Nathan, like she's a buffer. I sit beside Cassidy with Liam on my other side—Spencer's diagonal to me, so we don't have to talk too much. Unfortunately, that leaves Celia sitting across from me, and I get to see her glinting baby-blue eyes every time I look up.

"Did you want to get your champagne, Celia?" I ask politely, just to get her away from the table.

She folds her napkin on her lap. "Not now. Don't worry, I think there'll be an after-show."

I don't have time to process her weird phrasing because Liam begins passing around the salad. I scoop some onto my plate, careful to avoid the tomatoes, and then send it around to Cassidy.

"So how was everyone's day?" asks Allison, stabbing into her lettuce. "Super relaxing? I think we should do some more crazy stuff. Go hiking. Maybe find a bar."

"I've enjoyed relaxing so far," says Cassidy.

Nathan grabs a dinner roll from the plate in the middle of the table. "Gives you plenty of time to think, I'm sure."

The silence is heavy. I cling my fork onto my plate just to make some noise and focus extra hard on chewing. My eyes are still watery from chopping up the onions, and I swipe at them with the back of my hand.

"Everything okay, Erika?" asks Celia concernedly.

I nod. "Couldn't be better."

"Oh. I was just wondering because Spencer seemed a little cranky at the beach earlier."

"I think we're all a little snippy today," cuts in Spencer.

Liam drops his fork with a clang and rakes his hand through his hair. Clearly, his family dinner isn't going at all like he expected.

"You did really well with the veggies, Liam," pipes up Brynn. "Did you sauté them in olive oil?"

"I cooked them in a frying pan, if that's what you mean," he says. But he seems grateful for the distraction because he smiles. "Thanks."