“I was working on my second-degree black belt when I left Texas. I haven’t found a new dojo here in Colorado yet.”
“Whoa! That’s cool,” said Teddy, and I think he may have transferred his crush to Mel in that moment. “Can you show me some of your moves tonight?”
“Maybe some other time, Sport,” I said, standing up to help clear the table. “My friends and I are going to watch a movie tonight.”
“Can I watch with you?” he begged. “I’ll be quiet.”
“Me too?” Colin asked, apparently not wanting to be left out.
“Sorry. It’s rated NC-17,” I said, even though we hadn’t yet decided on a movie.
“Oh come on. I can watch rated NC-17 movies now, can’t I, Mom?” Teddy sounded more than a little whiney.
“No, you can’t, young man. Leave your sister and her friends alone tonight,” said my mom. Then she turned to me. “You kids go on upstairs. I’ll take care of the dishes.”
“Are you sure I can’t help, Mrs. Dresden?” asked Mel.
“Thanks, but no need. I’ve got them.” Mom shooed us out of the kitchen. “You girls go have your fun.”
Amelia, Mel, and I didn’t need to be told twice. We raced each other up the stairs, and we all fell onto my queen-sized bed laughing. Our arms and legs were all tangled up, and we snuggled together for a minute. All I could think about in that moment was how much I wanted to kiss them both.
“Should we change into our pajamas?” asked Amelia.
“Sure,” I said and reluctantly got up.
This was the first time Mel had spent the night, but I’d spent the night with Amelia a million times before. Normally, we’d change in front of each other, but suddenly I felt shy. I was relieved when Mel took her pajamas to the bathroom and shut the door. Amelia and I waited our turns for the bathroom.
I was the last to go, and when I got back, Mel and Amelia had picked out a movie on Netflix, so we all got up on the bed, and I started the movie. I was in the middle with Mel and Amelia snuggled against my sides, so I wrapped my arms around them and relished the feel of having them so close to me. Amelia played with my fingers that rested on her side, and Mel gently stroked my stomach through the fabric of my T-shirt. Both of them had their legs thrown over mine. I felt possessed and I liked it. I wasn’t paying attention to the movie and was certain they weren’t either.
Amelia lifted her head first and kissed me. I held her close and kissed her back. The kiss grew deeper, and I felt Mel’s lips against my neck and her hand reach under my shirt. The warmth of her hand on the bare skin of my belly made goose bumps rise all over my body. When she moved up her hand slowly and Amelia’s kiss grew even deeper, I knew we were about to take our relationship to a new level. It terrified me, but I was powerless to stop it. I don’t think I’d ever wanted something so much before in my life.
Chapter Fourteen
Amelia
I WAS sure my mom would know something was different about me the next morning as we walked through the flea market to look at dolls. Raine and Mel were with us, and I kept second-guessing myself. I’d always been quick to hug Raine or hold her hand, even when my mom was around, but this morning I kept pulling back whenever we got close to touching. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to touch them both. I did. But I didn’t want my mom to find out about us. She would freak out on us, I was sure of it. I was stuck between wanting to be perfect for her and wanting to be close to my friends. Actually, they weren’t just my friends, not anymore. They were both so much more to me than that. They were my girlfriends. I had girlfriends, and I wasn’t weirding out about it. Well, maybe a little, but for the most part, I was okay. I just wanted to be able to touch them more.
My mom stopped to look at a booth, and I nearly ran into her since I was so distracted. She gave me a look, then tsked at me. “It was rude of you to spring your friends on me this morning. Going to these markets has always been our thing. I didn’t expect to have to bring them along.”
I glanced back to find Mel and Raine looking at some painted flowerpots in the next booth, so I don’t think they heard my mom. “Sorry. I thought maybe they’d like it too.”
“There’s something wrong about those two.” She put down the doll she’d been studying and turned to leave the booth.
The comment raised my hackles. I didn’t like her talking about my friends like that. But I tried not to let it show. I definitely didn’t want to get her into a bad mood around them. She could be so embarrassing sometimes because she didn’t even try to be civil. I don’t know what had happened in the last few years with my mom. She used to be nice. But these days she was always so negative. It was all I could do to walk on eggshells around her. It was exhausting. I wished I hadn’t begged Raine and Mel to come with us this morning. I simply didn’t want to leave them after our night together. A tingle ran down my spine.
“What do you mean by wrong, Mom?” I asked her. Was she picking up on something? I had to know.
“Raine acts differently when she’s with that new girl, and you do too, if I’m honest. You spend all that time texting them when you’re not together too. You spend too much time with them these days, period. They have no drive for anything. All you do is hang out. You need to be more productive, think about your future. You should spend more time with the girls on your cheerleading squad. But I know how you teenagers are. If I tell you not to do something, you’ll just want to do it so much more.”
I kept glancing at Raine and Mel at the next booth hoping they wouldn’t come over and hear what my mom was saying. I bit my lip to keep from saying what I really wanted to while I took a few seconds to calm down and say something better that wouldn’t end up in complete disaster. “I like my friends. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them.” There. I’d managed not to yell at her. I’d take that as a win. There wasn’t much that I was protective over, but Raine definitely fell in that category. And apparently Mel did too. I was still getting used to the whole having one girlfriend thing, much less two, but I couldn’t stand for my mom talking crap about either of them. She’d never said much against Raine before. It made me wonder if she knew about my changes and was reacting to them.
My mom hmphed. I hated that noise. It was her way of saying she didn’t agree with me and probably also thought I was being stupid.
“They’re fine,” I persisted.
“They’re trouble,” she argued.
She moved on to the next booth, and I walked with her. Once she’d stopped, I looked back for Mel and Raine, but I didn’t see them. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to go look for them. They might be getting food or something.” I needed a break from her.
“Sure. Fine. Go be with your friends and abandon your mom. Next time I won’t even bother inviting you since you don’t seem to care about this anymore. If you didn’t want to come, I wish you would have just said something in the first place.”
I cringed at the heavy guilt trip she was sending my way, but the truth of it was I hadn’t wanted to come. I didn’t enjoy going shopping for creepy dolls with my mom. I liked seeing the cool stuff like the art people made out of recycled items others would have thrown out, but for the most part, I would have rather stayed in bed than come out at seven in the morning to look at old dolls. Especially that morning, when I’d woken up with Raine and Mel around me, and I’d felt warm and comfortable and loved. “I’ll be right back,” I mumbled. Then I turned and took off toward the flowerpots where I’d seen them last.
It didn’t take me long to find them at all because they hadn’t actually gone far. There was someone selling rugs, and they’d hidden in a little corner there. I found them kissing, and I wasn’t sure if it was intruding to interrupt them or if I should join them. I mean, I was a part of this too, and I wanted to kiss them both again.
“Hey,” I said quietly. I didn’t want anyone to catch us if I spoke too loud.
Raine had her back to me, but she quickly turned around. “Thank God you got awa
y from her for a second.” She offered me her hand, and I took it quickly. We didn’t have long to be together, and I definitely didn’t want my mom finding us like that. But those few quick kisses that we shared in the corner of the rug booth were perfect. They made the rest of the morning bearable.
I HATED having to say goodbye to Mel and Raine that afternoon. It felt so unfair not to be able to spend as much time with them as I possibly could, but I could tell my mom was over having them around. She’d been over it all morning. Hopefully Mel and Raine hadn’t heard any of her snide comments. If they had, they hadn’t said anything. And I hoped my mom didn’t know I’d been kissing them, or how much I’d enjoyed it either.
I was a good girl. No… I was damn near perfect. I was a cheerleader, my weight was good, despite the strawberries and whipped cream I’d had for breakfast, and with the vitamins I was taking, maybe my hair would be better. My grades were great, and I never got into any trouble. But I was also dating two girls, and I didn’t think that made me any less of a good girl. I knew what other people would probably say. I could practically hear them in my head, especially whenever I looked at my mom. I was already trying so hard to be great, and she wouldn’t like knowing about Mel and Raine and how much they meant to me now. At the very least, she would probably say they were a distraction from the much more important things in my life—like cheerleading. At the worst I could absolutely imagine her throwing me out and that was terrifying. I was a teenager. I couldn’t be homeless. I couldn’t have my mom hate me for who I was dating. Who I loved.
But I couldn’t exactly hide this from her either. When I thought about Raine, I smiled. And knowing Mel, and experiencing so much with her, that made me blush. I pictured either of them, and then I pictured them together and then with me, and I remembered each kiss and every touch, and it was beautiful and wonderful, but there was no way in hell that I could ever share something like that with Mom. She wouldn’t understand, and I was sure she would end up hating me.
So I kept my mouth shut, and I tried not to think about my girlfriends while I helped wash the dolls she’d bought so she could get them ready to be restored.
“Lift up your shirt for me a little,” she said while I was leaning over the table with one of her new dolls in my hands.
It wasn’t that weird of a request. She wanted to see my stomach. I lifted up my tee.
“Just as I suspected. You have rolls. I’m going to pick you up some new diet pills in the morning. You know, I thought you took this seriously. Don’t you want to be head cheerleader? Don’t you want to go to a good college and be a cheerleader there and have your life set? But apparently I was all wrong about that because there you are with your fat hanging out for all the world to see.”
I flinched at her words and my face flamed. “Sometimes people have a little bit of a tummy when they lean forward.” I was mumbling. I didn’t want to start a fight.
But apparently that wasn’t going to happen since she slammed her hand down on the table. “Fat people have rolls. Do you want to be a fat person?”
I shook my head. She knew I didn’t want to be. Tears stung my eyes, and I wiped roughly at my cheeks to brush them away before they really started falling.
“Go upstairs and get rid of it. I don’t care how. I won’t have a fat daughter living in my house.”
I was doing so much and trying so hard, and I couldn’t keep the tears back as I pushed away from the table and ran upstairs to my bathroom. I grabbed the ipecac, but I wasn’t sure how much to take. I sat there on the floor next to my toilet and no matter how I sat, there were rolls. Maybe she was right. Maybe I was fat, and I didn’t know it. I took some, but I didn’t think it would be enough. Not to get rid of those rolls anyway. So I took some more.
I puked and my whole body was shaking. But they were still there. I was out of the syrup so I went for the pills I had. Anything to get rid of this fat. I couldn’t have my mom hate me, and I didn’t want to be homeless. I took a handful of the pills and drank some water, and my whole body hurt. My stomach felt like I’d been run over, but I needed them to work. The pain would be worth it. All of this would be worth it in the end. I needed to hang on to that and believe that it was going to happen.
By the time the pills started to work, I was so weak I could barely lift my head. I slumped down on the floor, and then I closed my eyes.
Chapter Fifteen
Mel
I STRETCHED as I woke up. I never understood those kids who didn’t sleep in on Sunday. Except when there was something exciting to do, I always slept in, and by now my dad probably expected it and looked forward to a little quiet time to himself. Lying there, I thought back to the previous morning when I’d woken up at an obscene hour, but that had been with Raine and Amelia, so it had been okay. It had been nice to be there with the two of them. I couldn’t remember ever having been so happy about waking up before, but with Raine’s soft kisses on my neck and Amelia kissing my mouth, everything was as close to perfect as it could get. Even when we had to hurry out of the house to go spend the morning helping Amelia’s mother find creepy dolls to resell on eBay, things had been good because we were all together.
Lunch had been more than a little surreal ’cause Amelia’s mother would only go to the salad bar, and then only let all of us make one trip. She’d stood over Amelia during her pass through, making disapproving noises when Amelia went to get anything she didn’t think she should have. Afterward Raine needed to go take her brothers somewhere, and Amelia had to go help her mother clean the dolls. I’d come home and taken a nap that had been filled with happy dreams of my girlfriends. I still couldn’t believe I’d been in Colorado less than a month and already had not one, but two girlfriends. It was awesome, even if Amelia did have some problems. We were together and could find a way to get through it.
“Mel, are you up yet?” Dad asked from outside my door. His voice was low enough that if I hadn’t been awake, it wouldn’t have bothered me.
I could’ve ignored him and lain there awhile longer, but figured if he was there, he wanted to go do something. “Just barely,” I called back.
He opened the door and came in with a big smile. “So, what do you say to a bit of hiking today, you and me?”
“Sure.” Since Mom had been killed, Dad and I kept doing the things we’d always done as a family. Sometimes it seemed like a way to keep her memory alive by doing the things she loved, and Mom had always loved being outside. Our garden in Texas had been huge. We knew all the best hiking trails and had gone camping as often as possible. She would’ve loved Colorado where outside was a way of life.
“Great. If you want to grab a shower, I’ll get you some brunch ready, and then we’ll go.”
“Brunch?” I stared at him. “Is it that late?”
“Nearly noon, sleepyhead. Do I need to ask how much sleep you got Friday night?”
I hadn’t realized it was that late. My face grew hot. “I’d rather you didn’t.”
He laughed. “Okay, then I won’t.”
“Thanks.” I slipped out of bed. “I’ll be down in a few minutes.” One thing I loved about the house in Colorado over the house we’d had in Texas was that I had my own bathroom connected to my room. No more using the hall bathroom. It made me feel even more adult.
Dad didn’t say anything, he just turned and left, closing the door quietly behind him.
I grabbed my phone as I headed to the bathroom. I sent a joint text to Amelia and Raine. Good morning, sexy ladies. Hope you both slept well. I think I died last night, only now getting up.
As I stepped into the shower, the phone beeped. I was tempted to see which one had responded but decided to finish my shower first. I didn’t want to get the phone wet. As my need to know what was waiting for me in my text grew, I washed faster. It might’ve ended up being the quickest shower I’d ever taken.
When I got my hand dry, I tapped the screen and looked at my response.
It was Raine. It’s almost afternoon,
silly. Slept well, but missed you two. What are you doing today?
Dad wants to go hiking, just the two of us, but I’ll call you later.
I’m taking the bros to a movie. Definitely later. Maybe we can three-way chat.
I liked the idea of lying on the bed while waiting for them to answer. Sure.
Good. Have fun with your dad.
Later.
As I set the phone down, I wondered if Amelia was still asleep or was having to do something with her mom and that’s why she hadn’t responded yet.
By the time I finished breakfast, scrambled eggs, toast, bacon, and OJ, she still hadn’t responded, and I started to worry I’d inadvertently done something wrong the previous day and pissed her off. Amelia was a bit high-strung at times, but I figured if my mom had been like hers, I probably would be too.
WE WERE halfway around Cherry Creek park when my phone rang. I started to answer it, but then I remembered Dad wanting this to be just the two of us. I opted to ignore it. It stopped ringing and was silent for a few seconds before it started ringing again.
When it started a third round, Dad frowned. “If they’re trying this hard, it might be important.”
“This is supposed to be father-daughter time,” I said as I pulled the phone out of my pocket.
“If it’s important, I’ll understand.”
I swiped to answer Raine’s call the second I saw her name on my screen. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Oh God.” Her voice broke. “Mel, have you heard?”
I was clueless. “Heard what?”
“I got the text while I was in the movie. I knew I shouldn’t answer, but I was hoping it was Amelia, so I looked. It was from Cass, one of the girls on the squad.”
Her babbling made my heart drop, but I didn’t want to interrupt her.
“She’d gotten a call from their coach, who’d gotten a call from Ms. Yarmer. Amelia’s in the hospital. Cass said she’s dying or something. Seriously, she was hysterical.”
Three Times the Charm Page 10
