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Hailey had put together what amounted to a bar crawl in a surprisingly short amount of time. After a quick shower and some dinner, I was heading out for a night on the town with Allie, Hailey, and the rest of their group.

Normally, I’d have been nervous about attending a party like that, but I’d gotten to know Hailey so well the past few days that I wasn’t too worried. The theme of the event was “Allie and Levi’s early days.” Essentially, we were going to all the bars the two of them had hung out at when they first started dating, but this time Allie was going to do it wearing a veil.

We made a stop at the Maple Leaf, where Hailey embarrassed Allie by having the band dedicate a song to her. Allie wasn’t the type of girl to blush, but she turned bright red. You’d think that being a queen would make you used to attention, but it was obviously not her comfort zone. She’d much rather just be enjoying the atmosphere. I’m pretty sure that’s why Hailey did it. It was all about pushing Allie out of her usual element that night.

“Where to next?” Jess asked excitedly. She’d flown down from New York that afternoon and quickly signed up to be the designated driver. She said something about cutting down on her alcohol consumption when she wasn’t with her fiancé.

“Pat O’s on the River.” Hailey grinned. “Levi took Allie out there at least a few times last summer.”

Allie smiled. “I have some good memories. One involves Levi ignoring a waitress that was blatantly flirting with him.”

“Wait. You mean you’re admitting to being jealous?” Anne, one of Allie’s college friends, asked with mock surprise.

“I wasn’t jealous, just glad he was paying attention to me.”

“And you tried to pretend you didn’t like him…” Jess teased.

“Hey, sometimes we aren’t ready to accept we’ve fallen in love.”

“Aww.” Jess popped up on her toes. “I can’t believe my love cynic best friend is finally getting married.”

“Come on, leave her alone.” Tiffany, Anne’s blonde haired roommate, jumped in. She was much quieter than the openly boy crazy Anne.

“Aren’t we supposed to be on our way downtown?” Michelle, the last member of our little party, headed toward the door. I didn’t know what to make of her. She seemed uncomfortable, but also relieved to be invited. There was so much about The Society I didn’t know, but by the way she kissed up to me, she was power hungry, and from a few whispered words I caught between Allie and Hailey, she was also the Pteron Bryant had been in love with.

“We’re going.” Hailey winked at me. I wasn’t positive what the wink was for, but I think it was her way of making me feel included.

It was a beautiful night for drinks outside. The rooftop deck was the perfect place to kick back and relax. After an hour of dancing, sitting at a high top table to talk was a nice change of pace. I glanced around at the faces of the girls with me. Part of me wondered how I’d even ended up there. A few weeks earlier, I was the girl struggling to save up money for college. I hardly ever went out, and I spent almost every night working. Now I was down in New Orleans at a bachelorette party, hanging out with a bunch of girls I’d just met. I smiled, thinking about this more positive aspect of the change.

Hailey elbowed me. “Who are you daydreaming about?”

“No one.” I actually hadn’t been thinking about any guys.

“Likely story.”

“It’s true.” I sipped my cosmo. I normally would have already switched to water, but alcohol didn’t affect me in quite the same way anymore. “I was just thinking about how much my life has changed.”

“Oh, come on. Nothing’s changed for you.” Allie laughed.

“What do you mean?” Jess stared at me blankly. She was the only one in the group with no clue about Pterons. Hailey had warned me to be quiet about it.

“It’s just that I never expected to be down in New Orleans.” That didn’t cover half of it, but everyone else would know what I meant.

“Oh, cool.” Jess glanced at her phone. “I’m going to use the restroom real quick.”

“Don’t you mean you’re going to call Emmett?” Allie raised an eyebrow.

Jess laughed. “Maybe.” She walked away.

“Have you talked to Jared?” Tiffany asked quietly.

“Oh. You heard about that?” I wanted to hide my face.

“I’m sorry. I was just on a tirade about how much I wanted to kick him in the nuts and it slipped out.” Allie gave me an apologetic smile.

“It’s fine. I just wish I had better judgment.” I looked into my glass. My tryst with Jared wasn’t something I was particularly proud of.

“Your judgment is just fine.” Hailey patted my arm. “And you did well facing him. I’m proud.”

I laughed. “If I made you proud, then nothing else matters.”

That got everyone laughing just as Jess walked back.

“I know where our next stop should be.” She grinned.

“Oh no.” Panic was clear on Allie’s face.

“Wait. Where are we going?” If Allie was nervous about it, it couldn’t be good.

“The Cat’s Meow. It’s where Allie and Levi first met. Well, unless you count them checking each other out at the hotel.” Jess was so bubbly. I guess being newly engaged herself, she liked talking about people falling in love.

“I didn’t check him out!” Allie glared at her.

“Oh, come on. You don’t have to defend your ogling now. You’re marrying the guy.” Anne laughed.

Allie took the final sip of her drink. “Good point.”

“We’ll have to sing Girl’s Just Want to Have Fun, like we did last time.” Jess beamed.

Allie groaned. “No way. Once was enough to last a lifetime.”

“Wait. It’s a karaoke bar?” There wasn’t a chance I was getting in on that activity.

“A tourist’s dream.” Hailey laughed. “But it’s on our list. It’s an important place in Allie and Levi’s history.”

“I’m totally fine with us going, I’m just not singing.” Allie set aside her glass. “Is everyone ready?”

“Sure.” I stood up. “Let’s continue this adventure.”

Allie suddenly teared up.

“Did I say something wrong?” I could have sworn the tears started right after my joke.