Did she?
Vish came in and threw her phone on her bed. "I'm going shopping."
"Any reason?"
"I'm going to buy the sweetest bikini known to man and parade myself in front of him and his wife as they wear their stuffy clothes and make small talk with their ilk."
Lavender didn't want to know. "I don't have a swimsuit."
"Flower," Vish sat on her bed. "You don't wear a swimsuit."
"But Diego's never been to a beach with warm water, and if I had a swimsuit, I could take him this morning."
Vish grinned. "Get dressed. I'll wake the others and see if they want to come."
As Lavender left the bathroom, Alana leaned against the wall. "Miss Magnolia's mad at you."
"All the more reason to leave before she wakes up." Vish stripped and stepped into the shower.
"I'm not going."
"I am." Ariel set her makeup bag beside the sink and opened it. "Whoever stays has to explain to Miss Magnolia where we went. Besides, she can't punish all of us."
"It's not like she's our mother or anything." Caiside claimed a space at the other side of the sink.
"But without her…" Alana looked at the floor.
"I love her, I do." Vish stuck her head out of the shower. "But sometimes she tries to keep us in our place. My place is Queen of Heaven."
"Hush!" said Ariel. "Don't wake her. Lavender, have him meet us at the beach."
"No." Caiside closed her compact. "I don't want to waste time on the bus. He can pick us up outside a mall or something. Then he won't know where we got our swimsuits."
Lavender went back to her room and counted out the money she had left. She opened her notebook and noted the mood swing two nights ago and how elated she felt yesterday when he'd come for her. If the hormone patches evened out the lows, would they even out the highs, too? Were these good moods even about the estrogen?
Maybe they were because of Diego. She could live in his highs forever.
*~*~*
Diego pulled into the parking lot between a realtor and a doughnut shop. What was around here that the girls didn't want him to know about? Mysterious.
Lavender had her old purse over her arm and her smaller one in her hand. Hopefully, one was an overnight bag.
He got out and opened the trunk, so the girls could put their bags inside. He pulled Lavender against him. "I missed you."
"It's only been," she looked at her phone, "ten hours."
"Ten hours is eternity without you." He opened the front door for her. The other four managed to cram into the backseat. Renting this expensive car had been a good idea.
He belted himself in. "Where to?"
The girls in the backseat argued. Lavender gave instructions to the beach they'd been to before. He'd listen to Lavender any day.
The sky was blue with fluffy, white clouds, and the air was warm, despite it being before noon. They pulled into the last empty spot in the lot. The girls piled out and took over the ladies’ changing room. He made his way more slowly and waited by the water fountain.
The girls came out wearing skimpy, sexy swimsuits. All except his girl. Lavender was sexy, all right; every inch of her was, but the one piece and the ruffles at her hips left something to the imagination, and Diego was imagining. She stepped right up to him. "You like?"
"The swimsuit?" He eyed her. "Or you?" He circled his hands around her waist.
"Both? Either?"
He skimmed his hands up her torso. "Yes, very."
Her long, wavy hair was up in a ponytail. The nape of her neck was lovely. It tasted good, too.
He stepped back and opened his trunk again. The girls put their day clothes inside. Then he pulled off his shirt and grabbed the blanket and sunscreen.
When the girls found the perfect spot, he laid the blanket down for Lavender and passed her the bottle. "Slick me up?"
She gave him her sexy smile.
"Do you burn?" asked Vishva.
"I turn as red as a lobster and am in a lot of pain, then my skin comes off in sheets and I wake up white again. It's a family trait."
"Poor boy." She stretched out her golden arms. She'd probably never been sunburned in her life.
Lavender coated him thoroughly, getting her hands under the edge of his swim shorts. He stole a few kisses in return, then talked her into letting him coat her. She might not need it as much as he did, but it wasn't just an excuse.
He did her top half first and almost wished more of her skin showed so he could touch it. Almost. Then he started with her feet. She let him get much higher up her thigh than he'd thought she would. Her friends teased her, but Diego let her do the top part herself. If he'd touched the tender flesh he hadn't been allowed to before, he'd be embarrassingly hard and painfully, too. He walked back to the car and took out the purple swim cover-up that Mrs. Raleigh had given him for Lavender. It had been left at her house by a friend of Jessica's years ago.
He held it out to her. "You're beautiful."
Somehow the glimpse of her through the holes had a harder effect on him than the swimming suit had. He closed his eyes. "You're gorgeous. I think I need a quick dip."
The girls laughed and some came along.
The water was even warmer than it had been the other night. He played around, splashing Vishva and Ariel, then went back to Lavender. Ignored the boys talking to her and her friends, he laid his wet body on top of hers. She turned her head and gave him a look, but since she didn't tell him to move, he didn't.
The boys moved their focus onto the other girls. One helped Caiside put sunscreen on her back. Who were these kids, anyway, out of school on a Tuesday morning?
Vishva and Ariel had their own share of admirers. Diego was happy for them. As long as those boys recognized which girl was his.
*~*~*
Lavender's friends piled out of Diego's car a few blocks from Miss Magnolia's. Could she risk sneaking home and rinsing the grit off if Miss Magnolia was out? Would the other girls let her be first? Miss Magnolia had never punished any of them before, but she'd threatened to several times. What if today was the day she followed through?
Lavender couldn't risk it, but she still needed a shower after the beach. Eating out hadn't been bad, because everyone had been in swimsuits and sandals, but if she changed, her new clothes would get as gritty as Diego's car seat was with her in it.
"Where to next?"
Lavender bit her lip.
"I was thinking of Mrs. Raleigh's. I need a shower."
She shot him a glance. "Not with me, you aren't."
Diego laughed. "Hope springs eternal."
She'd get a nicer shower if she only had to fight for hot water with one other person. "Would Mrs. Raleigh mind? If I took a shower, too?"
Diego touched his phone. "She'll even let you use her bathroom. Nicer soaps."
She put her hand on his thigh. "Is this place we're going fancy?"
"I believe so."
She chewed her lip. But maybe she could be Cinderella for one evening.
*~*~*
Diego glanced up as Lavender appeared. She was gorgeous, as always. She was wearing the dress he had bought for her to wear when she met his mother. If they lasted long enough. They had to. He wanted her at his side when he got together with his friends and celebrated holidays with his family. When he woke up in the morning and went to bed at night. Maybe she'd eat breakfast while wearing that ruffly nightgown and kiss him goodbye before she changed. Of course, if she insisted on getting dressed for the day before leaving the bedroom, he was fine with that, too.
"How do I look?"
"Wonderful."
"I don't think I got the makeup right."
"We'll stop by Patrick's and Jessica can set you right. You look perfect to me." He wrapped his arms around her. "But I know some people are more judgmental that I am. Tonight, you're a princess."
"Eliza Doolittle."
He kissed her ear. "Her. I'm going take better care of you than that professor di
d. I can get my own slippers."
She laughed and kissed him. He felt like he'd loved her forever. Maybe he had.
*~*~*
The dinner at a nice restaurant was really a party Patrick didn't tell them about until they arrived. The affair was swanky, but the outfit Diego had picked for her fit right in. The tights were also a smart idea. She should have let him buy an extra pair. What if she got a run in these?
The venue was beautiful and the view was breathtaking, but the swan ice sculptures were a bit much, although they did keep the tables nice and cool despite the warm night air. Patrick and Jessica were pretending to fit in as much as she was. Diego, on the other hand, looked perfectly at home. He acted like he and Lavender had been together for years and every time someone asked something personal or awkward, he'd turn the conversation to what that person was writing or producing or what they planned to do in the future. People let the conversation turn easily to the subject of themselves.
Lavender pretended that the people around her were customers at Abuelito's shop. She smiled and nodded and feigned interest. Several times someone gave her business cards thinking she was an actress or model, which was just crazy. The dress and Jessica's makeup tips made all the difference.
*~*~*
Diego pulled up outside Lavender's place. "I don't want to let you go."
She slipped her fingers between his. "I don't want to go, either."
"If I was in a hotel…" He'd already extended the evening by taking her by Mrs. Raleigh's to change back into her clothes from this morning. She didn't know a good dry cleaners, and the dress wouldn't get cleaned if she brought it home. Jessica promised to get it cleaned with hers.
Mrs. Raleigh had been very nice about Lavender being over and even spending the night, but the door didn't have a lock and Travis's bedroom was next door. Diego wanted a little privacy when he was with his girl.
Lavender smiled and kissed him. He craved her so much. Maybe he could wait to touch her until the house fell asleep.
Lavender leaned back with a sigh. "I had a wonderful time."
"So did I." He put her hand against his chest. "An amusement park tomorrow?"
She smiled at him, sadly. She knew something he didn't. Was this one of those mysterious 'woman things' that men weren't supposed to ask about? This time he had to know.
She slipped from him as if she'd never been, but he sat in his car and watched the house until the lights in the front room went out.
Chapter Fourteen
Lavender leaned against the door. She was falling for him. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Her dream week would become a nightmare when her heart broke. Would a cooling-off day set her on the sensible path? None of this was sensible.
A sensible girl would never have gone out with Diego in the first place. A sensible girl wouldn't want to spend all her waking hours with him. Diego would only be here a week. A cooling-off day would mean one less day of memories. Memories were all a girl like her could hope for.
She picked up her bags and trudged up the stairs. If she were normal, or even brave, she would have asked to spend the night. His hands were paradise.
The door to her room was open. Was Vish home? Something purple lay in the doorway. Her purple shirt. Her favorite purple shirt made of real silk. The thick kind, not the gauzy stuff that bras showed through. She was always careful with it, hand washing it right after she wore it every time.
What was it doing off its special hanger? Her room. Her room was a mess. Much more of a mess than she'd left it this morning. The dresser only had one drawer left. The rest were on top of piles of clothes. Someone had searched her things and hadn't tried to hide it.
Her journal.
She kept it under her pillow, but her bedding, including the under-sheet, was a now great big lump on the middle of her bed. She dug through it. Her pillow was inside a dresser drawer inside the lump. No journal. That drawer…
That drawer was where she kept the box with her hormones and needles. The box had to be here. Without her hormones, her voice would finish dropping and hair would grow all over her body and she might shoot up several more inches. She would cease to be a girl.
She took a deep breath. Where to start? The emptiest place? The closet, then. Vish's side was perfect, but all Lavender's clothes were on the floor, most not even close to the closet. No books or boxes in here. The floor by the door? She picked up the clothes that littered the floor and tossed them on her bed. Nothing. She turned each drawer right side up and tossed in what was under it, one thing at a time. Where could they be?
It had to be here somewhere. Her meds might be worth something, but her journal was only important to her. This was the journal her mother gave her the very first time she'd bought Lavender hormones. Her mother had been very careful about where she bought the hormones and in what condition she bought them. She insisted Lavender do the same. She was always to get a new bottle before the old one was empty. She was never to be desperate for a dose. The journal was for keeping very precise records of brand and dosage and effect. And Lavender had done just that every day of these last seven years.
Now, her last link to her mother was gone.
Lavender rubbed her eyes and wiped her fingers on her skirt. Tears wouldn't help her search. Neither would a runny nose. But her journal… Even without the sentimental value, it held all her records. How could that ever be replaced?
"Lavender!"
Miss Magnolia. She was coming up the stairs. She had never come upstairs in all the time Lavender had lived here. Why was she coming up now? Lavender couldn't clean up this mess before Miss Magnolia arrived.
Miss Magnolia's steps came down the hall. "Lavender!"
Lavender hurried to the door. If they could talk in the hall, she wouldn't have to expose the horrible mess on top of the open wound of having been robbed until she was ready. Maybe Miss Magnolia had heard something. Maybe that was why she was coming up.
"Lavender." Miss Magnolia pushed open the door and strode past Lavender. "I've felt for some time that we've needed to talk."
So this wasn't about the theft.
Miss Magnolia looked around the room, but didn't seem surprised by the disaster. Did she think Lavender lived with her dresser drawers scattered about the room?
Or had she made this mess herself?
*~*~*
Diego couldn't sleep. Had he done something wrong? Or was she only tired after the long day? Nine more hours until he could hold her in his arms again. Then he'd know things were all right between them. He checked the time. Eight and a half. He closed his eyes. He was worried over nothing. She might be lying in bed, in her ruffly nightgown, dreaming about him right now.
*~*~*
Lavender pushed the mess off her bed and flopped down. She was too upset to cry, to feel. She couldn't even think.
Her door opened. Vish screamed. The others came running. Lavender sat up. Vish pulled her into a hug. "What happened, Blossom? Were we robbed?"
"My stuff!" Ariel ran down the hall.
Lavender flopped back down, but she'd pushed her pillow off the bed with the rest of it, so her head hit the mattress hard. "My meds are gone."
"Flower. Blossom." Vish sank onto Lavender's bed. "Let me help you put things right."
Nothing would ever be right again.
"She called me a whore."
"Who did?" Vish hung up one of Lavender's skirts.
"Miss Magnolia. Just because I want to be happy." Pretending to be something she wasn't for a week as Diego flirted with her wasn't the same as a girl falling for her john.
"Besides, she's sold herself a time or two. She's said so. How does she get off calling me a whore?" Lavender had attempted to get her money the 'easy' way once, back before she'd come to Miss Magnolia's. But she hadn't found it easy to be looked at the way those men had looked at her. She'd hopped on a passing bus and never tried it again.
"Now don't be judgmental."
Lavender rolled over. "Now that you have a man
to take care of you, you don't hit the streets."
"I don't need a man to take care of me. The jerk I'm with now pays me not to be with other men because he thinks I would, which is a jerky thing to think, so it comes naturally to him. But I don't tell him I won't, because extra money is always nice. I know a couple of girls, though, who never want to be tied down."
Was having a little house and a family being tied down? Lavender would sign up this very minute.
"If you had a nice, dependable job, like as a backup singer or a soloist in a nightclub and not need a man, would you want one anyway?"
"Flower, if we are going to dream, make it big. Make me a pop star with songs in the top ten all year long. What do those girls have that I don't? Besides what never shows. But as long as my ID says 'Husayn', I need to be careful: only take informal jobs and the like. A singer can go far on word of mouth alone. But Blossom, you can't be an ice cream girl forever."
Lavender sank back. Too bad she'd fallen in with Miss Magnolia. Some girls got fake IDs bearing their name of choice and that holy F, while the ones Miss Magnolia insisted they get had their birth names and the evil M.
"I don't know if I can live here any longer." Miss Magnolia had all but said she'd taken Lavender's stuff. Why would she even want them? And why wreck the room? To punish Lavender? For any and all of Lavender's faults that she'd gone on and on about?
But wanting to be happy wasn't a fault.
"Flower, don't say that. Where would you go? We'll clean up and get some sleep, and we'll think about it in the morning. When is your next dose?"
"Thursday." Lavender found her pillow on the floor and buried her face in it.
"Then we have a little time."
Not enough. She could never earn enough to buy two unopened bottles of hormones in two days.
Chapter Fifteen
Diego wiped grit from his eyes. His phone was going off. He blinked a few times and opened it.
"Hey," Patrick said as cheerful as anyone who had gotten… ten hours of sleep. "Where are you now? Are you coming over or do you want to meet for breakfast?"
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