by Debbie Civil
Chapter 8
“Hello.” There is no reason for someone to be calling me this early. Its 5:32 in the morning and last night, the girls and I stayed up watching movies and munching on buttery popcorn. I’ve only been asleep for three hours.
“Chelsea, I need to talk to you,” Adam says. For a moment, I'm tempted to see what he wants. That wouldn’t make Ivy happy. I bet if she saw my number on his call log, she would flip. But, then, I remember what Adam told me. “Ivy is cool. She really is. But she isn’t you. And you aren’t her.” He can’t make up his mind. Neither of us are enough for him on our own. I can't bear it, so I hang up the phone. I don’t want to share a boyfriend with Ivy. I want Adam to choose me over her. Maybe because no one has ever done that.
Thanks to Adam, sleep is out of the question. Every time I close my eyes, images of Adam and Ivy embracing fills my subconscious. A half an hour after I avoided Adam's call, I’m restless. It occurs to me that I live in a huge mansion. Why not get a work out by walking through the whole thing? After slipping on a pair of black flip flops, I leave my room and go down the hallway. The third floor has three long hallways. I can either go left or right. I go left, and end up at a stairwell. I bypass the second floor. That’s where the Grinch sleeps. Referring to her as the Grinch after everything feels wrong. A disapproving image of Peter flickers through my mind. He wouldn’t have referred to anyone with a bad name no matter the circumstances. Knowing him, he would have forgiven Grandmother by now. I immediately push that thought out of my mind and focus on the present. Instead, an idea hits. I'm craving snacks. After we had arrived home, grandma had demanded that we give our snacks to the kitchen. Apparently, she is a huge proponent of sharing. It’s selfish, but that bugs me. It may sound ridiculous, but the snacks that Peter baked should have been in my room. Touching the basket that the food came in made me feel closer to him. Maybe, I could steal the basket back from the kitchen.
I have apparently gone down too far. Instead of finding the exit to the first floor, I’m standing in front of a door that requires a key. So this is where the swimming pool is. I rush back to my room, change into a one piece, and head back to the pool.
The water is cold. I haven’t gotten used to it yet. It takes a minute. When everything is settled, I begin to swim. I pause when I hear voices coming from the other side of the door.
“Dean, I need you to be quiet,” Tia whines. Who’s Dean? Is he the mystery thief? Tia had probably accused me of something she had done herself. My pulse begins speeding up. Fear begins to take hold of me until I remind myself that these are preppy rich kids I’m afraid of. For goodness sakes, I have been attacked by a career criminal and survived. They will pose no danger to me.
“Do we have enough,” a guy’s voice asks.
“Most likely,” Tia says as the door to the room opens. I don’t care that Tia can see me as I swim to the steps and climb out. Tia is eying me with a grin. Dean stands beside her, his eyes both wide and appreciative all at once.
“I thought I saw you come in here, Chelsea,” Tia says as she lays a blanket on the ground and sits. Dean, a tall guy with skin the color of peanut butter and the warmest brown eyes I’ve ever seen sits beside Tia. He is holding a bag of popcorn in one hand, and a brown paper bag in another.
“Who is he?” I ask Tia suspiciously. She looks at me, her blue eyes wide and innocent.
“Carmen’s cousin. He’s visiting for a week.” So this isn’t the robber. It can’t be. If Tia’s telling the truth, Dean hasn’t been here long enough.
“What are you two up to?” Dean smirks.
“I saw you running to the pool and texted Dean. We were both having a hard time sleeping and decided to join you!” Tia explains this as if we are best friends who hang out all the time.
“I wanted to raid the kitchen at first. Then, I saw the door to the pool and couldn’t resist. After all, I am meeting Adam so that we can make out,” I snap.
“Tia swallows then straightens.
“Chelsea, I was mistaken. I’m sorry. Can you just let it go?” Her apology causes me to stare at her. People have done wrong to me, but their apologies seem forced. The remorse in Tia’s blue eyes say something different. But I’m not ready yet. It isn’t easy for me to forgive her.
“Fine. I…” The words can’t come out of my mouth. So I do what I always do. I change the subject. “When did you get in, Dean?”
“Yesterday. I was helping Uncle Vincent with a few things. That’s why you haven’t seen me around,” Dean explains.
“Oh. So, you two know that you can’t eat before a swim. Right?” Both of them nod at me.
“I’m hungry,” Tia whines and grabs a handful of popcorn and begins stuffing her face. Dean looks at Tia with disbelief.
“I can’t believe this. A girl who is always worried about calorie intake is eating the most buttery popcorn imaginable.”
“What’s in the paper bag?” I ask. Dean smirks and pulls out two chocolate cookies. He breaks one in half and hands it to me. I snack on the cookie and can appreciate the rich chocolate taste.
“Oh, this is paradise,” I say between bites. The door opens again and Eliza, Carmen, and Danny enter. They are also in swim suits. They look at me with relief.
“I wanted to go for an early morning swim,” Eliza explains.
“I couldn’t sleep. Adam decided to call me,” I say and everyone including Dean gives me a “how dare he” look. After kissing her cousin on the cheek, Carmen jumps in the pool. Danny follows and the pair begins to swim with abandon. Eliza eyes Tia.
“Hi Tia.” Tia glares at her. The pair doesn’t like one another. That’s over.
“What do you want, Eliza?” Tia asks with a whine. She asks the question as if Eliza is a pesky fly that can’t seem to leave her alone.
“Nothing. I’m just being friendly. Are you going for a swim?” Eliza asks Tia.
“No.”
“Your loss,” Eliza says before jumping into the pool, sending water everywhere. Since I hardly know Dean and Tia is my least favorite person, I jump back into the pool. Eliza is splashing everyone. She gets me in the face. The chlorine laced water fills my mouth and nose. I splutter and curse. Eliza laughs, as if all of this is funny.
“Eliza, stop splashing me,” Danny snaps. The girl doesn’t listen. She fires round after round of water at us, while we all try to scurry away. At one point, I’m in the deep end. No one follows me, probably because I’m the best swimmer. It’s quiet over here. Thoughts of Adam and what he is doing fills my mind. They are replaced with Malcolm and how weird he was toward me on the night of the charity event. Usually, people hate me once we meet. But Malcolm despised me before he laid eyes on my face. I asked Danny why Malcolm couldn’t stand the air I breathed. She said, “That’s between you and Malcolm. I’m not getting involved.” Her words irked me. So much for being my friend. Now Danny became one of my least favorite friends. I know that she probably wanted to avoid conflict, but how could she be crazy about someone who had been so rude to me?
“Tia!” Dean’s frantic voice calls as I hear a splash followed by horrified screams. The sound comes from behind me. I turn around and shoot across the pool, expecting something bad. I stop when I see air bubbles. Someone is drowning. Taking a huge gulp of air, I dunk. It’s difficult to find the drowning person at first. Something hits me hard in the back. Someone’s flailing arms. The pain doesn’t register. I'm just relieved that I found her. I reach and latch on to a foot. That’s no good. I want a hand. But it seems like life doesn’t always work that way. With my other hand, I reach forward and finally find the drowning victim’s waist. With all my might, I push for the surface. When my face touches air, I open my eyes and suck in air. I look down at the girl I’m holding and see that it’s Tia.
“Tia,” I hear Carmen screech. Danny and Eliza’s voices join the chorus. Dean stands by the pool, looking helpless. He can’t swim.
“I’ve got her,” I yell. Suddenly, all of
the girls notice me. Carmen swims over to us and helps me swim a coughing Tia to the stairs. Dean climbs down the steps and lifts Tia out of the water. He runs out of the pool, as if the devil is chasing him and places her on the blanket. I suck in a deep breath, suddenly tired from the effort. Saving her had been a work out.
“Are you okay?” Carmen asks.
“Fine,” I breathlessly say. “What happened?”
“Eliza got out of the pool and stole some popcorn. Tia made some comment about Eliza’s weight. Eliza told her to stuff it. Tia got in her face and Eliza shoved her into the pool. Tia isn’t a good swimmer so she began drowning.” Carmen has an expression of irritation on her face as she’s recounting the story. I don’t fault her for being irritated. Like her or not, Tia almost died. Had I not been there, she may have not been rescued in time.
“Tia, Calm down,” Dean shouts. Tia begins crying hysterically. She’s trying to stand. But, Danny and Dean are trying to get her to keep on lying down on the blanket. Tia’s crying turns into blood curdling shrieks.
“Let me go,” she screams. Carmen rushes to her side. I’m frozen. Seriously, what am I supposed to do? It isn’t like my presence would comfort Tia.
“Tia, be quiet. You’ll wake up Grandma,” Carmen pleads. I glance at the door and see that it’s already too late. Grandmother Betty and Otis stand in the doorway, their eyes studying the situation.
“You don’t understand. I’m pregnant. What if my baby is dead?” Tia’s worry causes us all to be silent. Someone behind me gasps. I slowly turn around and see Eliza with tears in her eyes.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her,” Eliza whispers. She looks so vulnerable. And I feel bad for her.
“She will be fine,” I lie. Honestly, a fall like that couldn’t be good for a fetus.
“No need to panic,” Carmen says gently. “We can go to a hospital. A doctor can check you out.” The old woman steps forward and Eliza notices her and curses.
“Dean, what’s going on?” grandmother demands. Dean explains what had happened and when he gets to the part about me rescuing Tia, the woman stares at me with frost in her eyes.
“Tia, get up, get dressed, and meet me in the kitchen,” my grandmother snaps before spinning on her heels and walking out of the room.
No one says a word. Dean helps Tia up and escorts her out of the room. Carmen stands there, staring at the door as if it has all of the answers. Danny looks shocked beyond belief. Eliza has made her way out of the pool and is pacing back and forth. She doesn’t know how to handle this. Clearly, no one expected Tia to be pregnant. I’m not so shocked. She’s a seventeen year old girl with hormones. That doesn’t make her being pregnant okay. In fact, she has just given herself a huge disadvantage. If her parents disinherit her, she will be on her own. It seems like this family would shun someone for sneezing at a fancy dinner. So the girl will probably be out of all of her riches. Since swimming has no appeal for me at the moment, I get out of the pool and get a fresh towel from the well stock shelves and wrap it around myself.
“What next?” Eliza asks. Danny glares at her.
“This is all your fault, Eliza. Someone is going to lose their baby and it’s your fault. Do you ever think before you do something?” Danny demands. Eliza pales. She doesn’t know how to handle Danny. That’s more than obvious. “If we would have stayed in bed, none of this would have happened.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. You make it seem like I did this on purpose,” Eliza fires back. Danny laughs sarcastically.
“Oh, please. So you accidentally shoved her in the pool?” Danny hisses.
“She called me fat. There was no way Tia was going to get away with that. She…”
“Eliza, save it. I don’t want to hear it. Let’s go, Carmen,” Danny says, before looping her arm through Carmen’s and taking off. Now, it’s just me and Eliza here. I stare at her.
“Want to hang in my room for a while? We can order breakfast and watch funny YouTube videos.” Eliza nods and follows me out.
Eliza grabs clothes from her room and we get to mine and take turns showering. We both change into sweat pants and t-shirts. We sit on my bed. I don’t bother turning on the Mac. Eliza doesn’t look like she is capable of watching anything. She is acting downright depressed. In that moment, my dislike for Danny grows. Why does she have to make this situation worse? It isn’t like Tia lost her baby. We don’t know what the future holds. She should have held the lecture until we got the results. Now, Eliza is beating herself up for an honest mistake.
“It isn’t your fault,” I say, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. Eliza begins to cry. She can’t hold the tears in anymore.
“I… Didn’t… Mean… It… I… Feel… So… Bad…” Her words come out choppy. It seems like it takes her effort to speak through the sobs. Amy walks in carrying an oversized tray. While Eliza was in the shower, I asked Amy if she could order a fruity breakfast for Eliza. She’s a big fan of fruit salad, blueberry pancakes and loves raspberry tea. Amy sets the items on the table and hands me a box of tissues and kicks the waste basket toward me. I hand Eliza tissues and she uses them and then dumps them in the trash can.
“Eliza, it’s all right. You didn’t know Tia was pregnant. And besides, some of this is her fault. Why would she provoke you by calling you fat? She had to know you would push her in a pool. In my opinion, she wasn’t thinking about her baby when she started making fun of you,” I plead.
“Danny’s right. I’m stupid.” I shake my head at her and pat her back.
“Stop this. Your blueberry pancakes are getting cold.” Eliza perks up, just like I thought she would. We make our way to the table and we both devour breakfast. I’m eating chocolate chipped pancakes, ham, eggs, and hash browns. As I’m cutting my pancakes, there is a knock on the door.
“Come in,” I say. Peter enters, holding a brown paper bag. He’s just the person that I wanted to see. He’s followed by a more built version of Peter. He’s two inches taller and his dark hair touches the tops of his shoulders.
“Chelsea, hi. My uncle is still doing work. I came along with hopes that I could see you. This is my cousin Nathan. Nathan, this is Chelsea and her cousin Eliza.”
“Is Malcolm here?” I ask, suddenly worried. Peter’s face darkens for a moment before he nods. Eliza rubs her eyes and stairs at our visitor.
“Hi Nathan, I’m Eliza. Want to arm wrestle?” Eli is terrible at flirting. Amy comes in and ushers the two boys to the love seat. They sit and then are given trays to eat their take out. When Amy leaves, Nathan walks over to Eliza and ruffles her hair.
“Ma’am, I would beat you in two seconds,” Nathan teases, in an awful southern drawl. She giggles. I’m relieved to hear Eliza’s laughter.
“Hey, Chelsea, want to join me?” Peter shouts this question and Eliza nods as if she was the one being asked. I pick up my plate and cup and walk over to Peter. Thank goodness, Nathan has left his tray on the love seat. Peter moves the tray so I can sit. Then he gently places it on my lap and I put my food on it. He hands me an oversized chocolate chipped muffin and I take a bite and nod in thanks.
“Want some of my food?” I ask. He nods and we split breakfast. He feeds me a bite before feeding himself a bite. The whole episode causes my heart to beat faster. I can’t even hear what’s going on with Nathan and Eliza. It’s like I’m only aware of Peter. His scent, which is a mixture of laundry detergent, soap, cologne, and something male smells so wonderful. If I could, I would spend the whole day inhaling him.
“The muffin is tasty,” I say after we begin to take bites of it.
“Lilly bakes them nice and huge. I thought you would appreciate them,” he explains.
“How’s Hope?” I ask, remembering the gratitude in Lilly’s eyes. Peter smiles.
“She’s doing well! We raised twenty thousand dollars at the charity event. Most people donated in the donation box. Though, we made a good amount from the auction.” He winks. I can’t miss the pride in his
dark eyes.
“You were the one that organized it?”
“Malcolm was, though I helped. My father didn’t think that it would make much money. He didn’t get the point. When he found out about the twenty thousand dollars we raised… You should have seen the look on his face,” Peter laughs.
“Your father isn’t supportive?” I wonder.
“Yes, but he is practical where Malcolm is emotional. I love my brother, but his sensitivity has made him make dumb choices,” Peter admits.
“Does he still hate me?” That question makes him sigh.
“Malcolm doesn’t hate you. He just thinks that you’re selfish,” Peter explains right before he takes a healthy bite of the muffin.
“Why am I selfish?” Honestly, the thought pisses me off. Who is Malcolm to say if I’m selfish or not.
“Hey, I asked him that myself. I told him that he must have gotten it wrong. You can be a bit dramatic at times. But…” I playfully shove his shoulders before he could finish his sentence. Peter laughs and playfully yanks my hair out of its ponytail. I squeal as he holds the hair tie out of reach.
“Hey! Give it back,” I yell. He doesn’t listen. Instead, Peter places the hair tie in his pocket.
“You are most beautiful when your hair is down,” he says as his eyes begin to fill with heat. Wait! Peter Jacobs thinks I’m pretty? His words cause my heart to beat faster. Butterflies begin to perform aerobics in my stomach. Suddenly, I’m aware of him, sitting so close. The moment is broken when Amy comes in to collect the empty dishes. She smiles at us and then exits.
“So, what are you doing today?” I ask him after two minutes of us staring at one another.
“I’m not sure. I was hoping to hang out with you. But…”
“I would love that!” I exclaim enthusiastically.
