Nothing should come between best friends, not even boys. ESPECIALLY not boys.
Natalie and Brooke have had each other’s backs forever. Natalie is the quiet one, college bound and happy to stay home and watch old movies. Brooke is the movie—the life of every party, the girl everyone wants to be.
Then it happens—one crazy night that Natalie can’t remember and Brooke’s boyfriend, Aiden, can’t forget. Suddenly there’s a question mark in Natalie and Brooke’s friendship that tests everything they thought they knew about each other and has both girls discovering what true friendship really means.
I woke up the next morning with an awful throbbing headache, a sense that I was in a dream, and a couple of seriously questionable flashbacks. I lay in the dark room for about five minutes, my hands clasped over my eyes and forehead, trying to make the spinning and thudding stop. When I finally sat up, I almost threw up, then almost screamed. On the opposite side of the bed, luckily as far as possible from me, was Aiden.
I left the room quietly and went upstairs to the kitchen. Everyone was still asleep.
I went to the fridge and got some water. Then I sat on a stool at the counter…and tried to piece together the night before.
Praise for Paige Harbison
“New Girl reads like Rebecca, as done by the CW. I don’t know about you, but that spells awesome to me.”
—Leila Roy, Bookshelves of Doom
“Paige Harbison takes on mean girls with her debut novel about a queen bee stuck in limbo after a horrific accident. Following in the footsteps of her mom, Beth—author of Shoe Addicts Anonymous, which is being made into a movie starring Halle Berry—the twenty-one-year-old has already inked a deal to give her book the Hollywood treatment. For fans of Gossip Girl.”
—Tommy Wesely, Teen Vogue
“Compellingly written from Bridget’s point of view, Here Lies Bridget is an ideal read for victims of this abysmal behavior [bullying], offering keen and witty insight into the emotional motivations of privileged narcissists…. What’s so engaging about Here Lies Bridget is its honest insight into Bridget’s self-perception…. [A] solid and intriguing read.”
—Susan Carpenter, Los Angeles Times
“The novel unfolds with a certain sweetness and a lack of cynicism, which I found refreshing. This may be because author Paige is only twenty years old, so her connection with a young audience is natural and easy. I appreciate the book’s message and if I had kids, I’d feel comfortable allowing girls as young as twelve to read it.”
—New York Times bestselling author Jen Lancaster on Here Lies Bridget
Anything to Have You
Paige Harbison
To Emily, my best friend, and to all the others in the world who have had to really learn what friendship means and what it doesn’t.
Contents
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”
—William Blake
Part I
NATALIE
CHAPTER ONE
End of January, Senior Year
I HEARD HER before I saw her. Music blasted from inside her car despite the fact that she was in a quiet neighborhood. I climbed in, and she turned down the volume.
“So fucking cold outside,” Brooke said as I buckled my seat belt.
“It’s winter, it’s supposed to be cold outside.”