It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

It feels like a decade later when I’m finally free to join them. Atlas leans
in and greets me with a kiss on the cheek when I reach him. His fingers graze
my elbow for several seconds after our greeting before he pulls his hand
away. That simple physical gesture sends a current through me, making it
hard to focus without being too obvious that I get giddy around him.
Allysa smiles at me knowingly. “Adam Brody, huh?”
I have no idea what she’s referring to until I look at Atlas and he’s
grinning. I had a poster of Adam Brody on my bedroom wall the first time
Atlas came to my house.
I shove Atlas’s arm. “I was fifteen!”
He laughs, and I love that Allysa is being nice to him. I know she has
every right to give complete loyalty to her brother, but it’s not in her to be
rude to people simply because other people don’t like them.
She’s not a ride-or-die friend, nor is she a ride-or-die sister. That’s what I
love the most about her, because I’m not ride-or-die, either. If you do
something stupid, I’m going to be the friend who tells you you’re doing
something stupid. I’m not going to join you in your stupidity.
I want my friends to treat me the same way. I prefer honesty over loyalty
any day, because with honesty comes loyalty.
“Thank you for lunch,” I say. “Did you get Josh’s school situation
settled?”
Atlas has been working to enroll him in a school more local to where he
lives, rather than the school Josh was in all the way across town.
“I did. Fingers crossed they don’t look too hard into the enrollment forms I
had to fill out. I lied a little.”
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I say. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
“How old is he?” Allysa asks.
“He just turned twelve,” Atlas says.
“Whoa,” Allysa says. “Worst age ever. But at least you don’t have to pay
for day care. Silver lining.” Allysa snaps her fingers. “Speaking of children,
Lily won’t have Emerson next Saturday because she’s going to a wedding. A
night out all by herself as a single adult.”
I roll my head and look at her. “I was about to invite him. I didn’t need
your help.”
Atlas perks up. “A wedding, huh?” A sly smile plays on his lips. “You
plan on sleeping through it?”