“Well, you’re the one who refused to stop.”
Right as we’re about to trip over ourselves, my phone vibrates from inside my pocket again. Dammit!
Unable to stand not knowing any longer, I fumble my phone out of my pocket.
I sigh in relief when I see the message is from Kai, but then tense when I notice I have a few unopened texts from the unknown caller, too.
Ignoring those, I open Kai’s message.
Kai: I’m still waiting on that photo. And don’t say u don’t have any good ones again because I’m not buying it. You’ve been gone for over two months, and there’s no way u haven’t taken any good photos yet.
Me: What’s up with the pressure? It’s starting to stress me out.
Kai: You’re stressed out??? Think about how stressed I’ve been. I mean, I haven’t heard anything from u except for a few messages here and there, and for all I know, this might not even be u. Maybe some British dude stole your phone and is texting me, pretending to be u.
Me: Wow, that’s quite the story u came up with.
Kai. Thanks. I’m pretty proud of it myself.
Me: Well, sorry to burst your awesome story bubble, but I’m not a British dude. I’m just plain old Isa.
Kai: Prove it. Send me the most awesome pic you’ve taken so far. That’s the only way I’ll believe u.
“I think he just wants to have a picture of you,” Indigo mutters as she reads the messages from over my shoulder.
“Doubtful.”
Me: Can’t right now. Sorry.
Kai: I’m seriously disappointed. I was holding on to the hope that you’d finally send me one so I could be entertained at this lame-ass party.
Me: First of all, why on earth would a photo of me entertain u? And second, if you’re at a party, why r u bored? Isn’t that why people go to parties? So they can be unbored?
Kai: Unbored? Hmmm … I’m not sure what that means.
Me: Hey, don’t mock my awesome made up words. I work hard on them.
Kai: I actually remember that about u. U always tried to convince me that things could be unglittery and unzombie-like. I thought it was funny.
Me: That’s because I’m a funny girl. Duh. I thought u knew that already.
Kai: I did … Still do. Now, please, send me something fun to look at so I can be unbored.
Me: Only if u say pretty please.
Indigo giggles. “Holy shit, Isa, you’re totally flirting with him.”
My cheeks flush. “I am not.”
“You so are.”
“So am not … I’m just a little tipsy.”
“So? You were a little tipsy toward the end of that night we hung out with Nyle and Peter, and I didn’t see you flirting with them.” She gives me an accusing look.
My cheeks blaze with heat as I put the phone away without sending Kai another message. “Well, I know Kai.”
She examines my face intently, and I wonder what the hell she sees.
“You should ask him for a pic so I can see what he looks like.”
I shake my head. “No way. Then you’d try to push me to flirt with him even more.”
“Why? Is he hot?”
I shrug. “Sure. I mean, a lot of girls at my school think so.”
“Do you think so?” she presses.
I sigh. “Yeah, but so what? It’s not like he’d ever think the same way about me.”
Indigo targets me with a don’t be silly, Isa look, something she does a lot. “No guy is that obsessed with getting a picture from a girl unless he likes her.”
“Kai doesn’t like me.” I grind my teeth, thinking about how embarrassed he looked when we were spotted walking home together. “Trust me.”
“It seems like he does to me. I think you might just be in denial. You don’t think there’s any way a guy could ever like you.”
“I don’t think that anymore.” I glance down at my red and black dress and my long, hairless legs. “But Kai hasn’t seen me like this. He only knows the awkward, hairy-legged beast Isa.”
“Just because you shaved your legs and do your hair doesn’t make you a different person,” she says as we near our room. “You’re still the same Isa who came on this trip. You just have a little more confidence now.”
“Okay, so that might be true, but Kai still doesn’t like me.”
When she gives me a doubtful look, I give her a brief recap of mine and Kai’s history.
“Maybe he feels bad about blowing you off now. People do change a lot from when they were thirteen,” she says after I’m finished. She uses the key card to open the door then pauses before she walks in. “And it does kinda sound like he’s been trying to be friends with you over the last year or so.”
I start to protest, but my jaw snaps shut as I hear the sound of moaning coming from inside our room. Indigo’s eyes pop wide as the mattress squeaks, and we hear Grandma Stephy groan, “Oh, Harry.”
“Oh. My. God.” Indigo rapidly shuts the door, and then we both sprint off toward the elevators.
Only when the elevators slide shut, does Indigo finally speak again.
“I don’t know what’s worse”—she punches the main floor button—“what we just heard, or the fact Grandma Stephy is getting more action on this trip than either of us.”
Laughter bursts from my lips and Indigo quickly joins in. It’s the silliest moment ever, and I’ll cherish it forever. It’s because of moments like these that I’ve made it through this trip without sinking into a pit of despair over what I learned about my mother.
Yeah, I know that soon I’ll be back home and I’ll have to finally deal with the truth, but I’ll always have these memories, even if some of these moments are really awkward. Through the good, bad, and painfully embarrassing, this trip changed me. It made me stronger, more confident, and hopefully that’ll help me when I get home.
I’m laughing so hard by the time we arrive on the main floor that my ribs actually hurt.
“So what do we do now?” I ask as we stumble out into the vacant lobby.
Indigo’s gaze skims the front desk, which the receptionist has abandoned, then her eyes land on the pool sign just to our right.
“I have an idea,” she says, dragging me toward the doors with a wicked glint in her eyes.
“But it’s after hours,” I protest, digging my heels into the floor.
“So what?” She swipes the key card through the slot then tugs open the door. “There’s no one here to stop us, is there?”
She’s right. There’s not a single person around. Why would there be when it’s four o’clock in the morning?
The door bangs shut behind us as we step into the faintly lit room that smells like chlorine. The pool gently ripples in front of us, begging to be dipped in.
“What about swimsuits?” I tentatively inch up to the edge, slip off my heels, and dip my toe into the lukewarm water.
“Swimsuits are for amateurs.” She shimmies out of her dress then kicks it off to the side. “Besides, you can’t cross skinny-dipping off your list if you’re wearing a swimsuit.”
“Skinny-dipping isn’t on my list,” I say as she cannonballs into the water, wearing nothing but her underwear and bra.
“The water feels so nice,” she remarks as she floats on top of the water, her hair spread out like a veil.
She looks so relaxed, and the water is so inviting.
“Oh, what the hell?” I peel off my dress then wade in.
She’s right. The water does feel fantastic. And while the moment is relaxing and not as heart-pumping as dancing in a club or kissing guys on Ferris wheels, it’s one I’m glad I lived.
And hour later, as I’m getting out, Indigo grabs my phone and snaps a photo of me.
“Dude, no!” I lunge for the phone, but she dodges out the way, laughing and pushing a few buttons.
“What are you doing?” I rush after her.
She stops by the lounge chairs and hands me my phone back. “What? It’s just a photo? And you
look really good.”
Taking the phone from her, I delete the photo. “No, I don’t. And besides, I don’t want a photo of me in my underwear.”
“Okay.” She shrugs, picks up her dress, and puts it on.
I dry off, and slip into my dress. We don’t go back into the room. Instead, we head out to the park across the street where we watch the sunrise.
“I can’t believe we have to go home in a few weeks,” Indigo says as we rest against each other on a bench near a section of trees.
“I know, but at least we got to experience it, right?” I squint as the sun peeks through the morning haze and lights up the sky.
“I’ve taught you very, very well, young grasshopper. I feel like such a proud mama right now.” She pats my head, and then we both giggle.
We settle against each other and simply watch the sky. I feel so at peace right now with myself, yet I’m afraid at the same time that I won’t have this feeling ever again.
Suddenly, I find myself digging out my phone and snapping a photo of me with wet hair and slightly smeared makeup, the sunrise as my background. I have a content smile on my face and actually look fairly decent.
This is who I was once, I type then hit send.
But as I hit send, I realize something else. Something awful. “Indigo, you didn’t.”
She chuckles. “Relax. You’re underwear looks more modest than a bikini.”
My heart nearly shoots out of my chest as I stare in disbelief at the photo on the screen sent through a thread to Kai.
And I don’t know what’s more embarrassing. That she sent the photo to him or that he didn’t reply back.
I’m about two seconds away from flipping out on Indigo when I get a text message from the unknown caller. And just like that, any of my other problems go poof.
Unknown: Almost time for you to come home, and then the real fun begins.
WTF does that mean?
I show Indigo the message, and anger storms in her eyes as she lets out a colorful sequence of nicknames for Hannah.
“Don’t worry, Isa; I got your back.” She drapes an arm around my shoulder. “Hannah can’t do anything to you. Grandma Stephy and I won’t let her.”
I force a smile, grateful for her trying to protect me. But after eighteen years of being tormented by Hannah, I don’t really think it’s going to be that easy.
And truthfully, I’m not fully convinced Hannah is the sender.
Chapter 10
“Oh. My. God,” Indigo groans as she stuffs her face with a double cheeseburger. “I missed you, my dear, sweet hamburger, even though you treat me poorly and go straight to my thighs.”
I giggle in the backseat of Grandma Stephy’s car then pop a fry into my mouth.
“The food wasn’t that bad over there,” I say.
She narrows her eyes at me with a drizzle of grease dripping down her chin. “Dude, are you fucking crazy? It was terrible. Everything was either burnt or topped with some weird sauce.” She sets the burger down on her lap and dunks a fry into a cup of ranch. “Good God, I’ve missed ranch on my fries. I’m seriously about to have a foodgasm.”
“No foodgasms in the car,” Grandma Stephy says as she turns the car off the main road.
I set the fry that I was about to eat down as I suddenly lose my appetite. We’re getting closer to my house.
We’ve been back in Sunnyvale for a couple of nights now, but this will be the first time I’ve been home in three months. And it’ll be the first time I’ve seen my family since I discovered the secret about my mother.
Time to get some answers.
“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me for a little bit longer?” Grandma Stephy asks for the millionth time.
“I wish I could,” I say truthfully. “But school starts in a couple of weeks, and I need to go buy books and other stuff. And look for a job.”
“What do you mean by ‘other stuff’ ?” Indigo stares at me while she chews on a huge mouthful of hamburger. “We already have your wardrobe fully taken care of. You’re seriously going to look edgy hot.”
I smile. She’s been calling my style edgy hot ever since London when I started wearing boots and leather jackets with dresses and knee-high socks.
“I’m not talking about needing to get clothes. I’m talking about getting supplies. You know, pencils and notebooks and books. I also need to make sure I have transportation to and from school. And I want to get started on my blog again. I haven’t done anything with it all summer, and I want to get it going again.” I tuck a few strands of my long, brown hair with reddish highlights behind my ear. “I actually think I’m going to blog about our trip.” The truth is that’s not the only reason I want to return home—well, want might be a bit of a stretch. But honestly, I’m hoping that I can dig around through the house and maybe find some info about who my mom is, get my hands on my birth certificate and whatnot.
“Good. It was an awesome trip full of tell-all adventures.” She grins at me, and I smile back. “Although, not all of them are tell-all.” She points a finger at me, warning me to keep my mouth shut about some of the more interesting stuff we did on our little trip, like our skinny-dipping adventure in the pool.
I draw my fingers over my lips, silently telling her I’ll keep my trap shut.
“What are you two girls yammering about?” Grandma Stephy asks as she makes a right into my neighborhood.
“Nothing,” Indigo and I say at the same time.
Grandma Stephy shakes her head. “Fine. Keep your secrets. Just know that I have mine, too.”
“Oh, we know you do,” Indigo says then moans through a giggle. “Oh, Harry.”
Grandma Stephy’s eyes widen. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You don’t know?” Indigo questions with doubt.
Grandma Stephy rolls her eyes. “How on earth would I know what the hell you’re giggling about? You two think everything’s funny.”
“Only things that are funny,” Indigo says through choked laughter. “I know this might be past your time, but the customary rule for having roommates is to leave a tie on the door when you’re hooking up. That way, someone doesn’t accidentally walk in on something they don’t want to see.”
The two of them start bantering while I sit back in the seat and watch the homes as we pass them.
After my grandma parks the car, I get out, go around to the trunk, and start piling my bags on the ground.
“Here, let me help you.” Grandma Stephy shoos me out of the way, takes the last of my bags out, and sets them aside in the driveway. “You want me to help you carry them in?”
I shake my head. “I can do it.”
“Are you sure?” she asks, stealing a hesitant glance toward my house, probably afraid to leave me.
“I’m positive,” I tell her. “Would you stop worrying so much? Everything’s going to be fine.”
“You’re my granddaughter; it’s my job to worry about you.” She pulls me in for a hug. “If you need anything at all, you call me, you hear?”
“You’re still going to help me, right?” I ask. “You promised you would.”
“I told you I’d look into it, and I will, but I really think the best thing to do is talk to your father.” She pats my back. “Take a few days and let the trip wear off. Then call me, and we’ll figure something out.”
I nod, hugging her one last time before stepping away. “Thank you. Not just for the trip, but for everything.”
“I just want you to be happy, Isa.” She rounds the car and opens the driver’s side door, calling out, “And remember, I’m there for you whenever you need me.”
“Aye, aye, Captain,” I holler back.
Laughing, she gets inside the car.
I’m about to start up the driveway when the passenger window rolls down, and Indigo sticks her head out.
“You know I’m going to be visiting at least once a week to make sure you don’t go back to your baggy clothes, caterpillar eyebrow
s, and furry beast legs look,” she warns. “And if you’re not living up to your full potential, you’re in deep shit. I’m talking hours and hours of reading beauty magazines.”
My face twists in disgust, but I give her a salute. “Yes, boss.”
“And don’t you ever forget that.” She leans out to hug me. “I can also take care of your sister if you need me to. Seriously, I’m an expert in taking bitchy girls down from their pedestals.”
I smile to myself, thinking about how mafia her words sound, kind of like the last thing Kai said to me.
Kai.
I frown. He never did text me back after the whole underwear photo fiasco. I’m not sure why, but it really started to bug me. I mean, it’s not like I’m glad Indigo sent him the picture, but at the same time, isn’t it the kind of photo that receives a response, whether good or bad.
Maybe I’m that repulsive and he just didn’t want to say it.
After Grandma Stephy and Indigo pull out onto the street, I hike up the driveway, towing two of my four bags with me.
I can do this. I’m Super Confident Girl, who fears no evil, skinny-dips in the hotel pool late at night, dances in overcrowded clubs, and kisses guys on Ferris wheels. I’m eighteen years old, almost a college girl. I’m not Hannah’s dorky little sister.
By the time I reach the back door, though, Super Confident Girl has turned into Freak the Fuck Out Girl. I let go of the bags and stare at the door.
“You can do this, Isa. Just walk on in and tell them to go …” I bite down on my lip as fear pulsates through me.
“Tell them to go, what?” Kai’s amused voice sails over my shoulder.
My muscles lock up. Great. Just what I need right now. Intense, jokester guy-next-door who may or may not have seen a photo of me in my underwear.
Be cool, Isa. Be cool.
“I was going to say go fuck themselves,” I say as nonchalantly as I can. Then, with a deep breath, I turn around to face him.
He’s rocking his typical look: a pair of shorts with no shirt. His blond hair’s a hot mess, and an amused grin is playing at his lips. Then the smile vanishes as he presses his lips together.
His gaze skims across the boots, black floral dress, and leather jacket I’m wearing, lingering uncomfortably long on my bare legs. When his eyes land on my face, I feel like I’m standing in my underwear, completely exposed.
Isabella Anders (Sunnyvale NA Book 1) Page 8
