by D. K Lake
"Maybe it would be a good idea to put it in the cupboard?" I suggest.
"No. Just make sure Blue doesn't run around."
"She's a toddler," I remind. "What do you want me to do, tie her to a chair?"
Mom gives me a look and lets out a sigh, "Just make sure she doesn't break anything, or touch anything she shouldn't."
"Okay. I won't." I smile to myself and watch as she leaves the room, her heels clicking on the floor tiles.
I hope Blue breaks the vase into a million pieces and smears dirty fingers all over the walls. Maybe there's some chocolate around here. Kids love chocolate, right?
The hours tick by. It’s nearly three o'clock and Kelsey still hasn't arrived. Something tells me she isn't coming. I find her number on the notepad in the hallway and use the house phone to call her.
There's no answer so I reluctantly leave a message. I hate leaving messages. I always clam up and forget what to say.
"Hey, Kelsey...it's Paige. I'm just wondering if we're still on for today. I thought you were coming over to Mom's and we were gonna go out for the day?"
I think that's all I want to say. I'm about to hang up when Kelsey picks up the phone.
"Paige, hey, it's me!" she says out of breath.
"Oh, you are there," I frown, wondering if I got the wrong day. Was it today we arranged to hang out together? Or tomorrow? Tomorrow's Sunday, though. Are the stores even open on Sunday? I have no idea. I've never left the house on a Sunday before to go out shopping.
"Look, something has come up," Kelsey starts.
Right day. She's just bailing on me. I wonder what her excuse is. She could have at least told me earlier and I wouldn't have sat around all day waiting for her.
"Like what?" I try to sound not bothered, but I am.
I wanted to see her today, anything to take my mind off Maverick. She doesn't sound upset or anything. So maybe Mitchel didn't drive to Nebraska after all. Maybe he came to his senses and turned around. He's probably at home right now with his brother and Dario, but I have no idea because I have no signal to ask. I'm not about to use the house phone to call Dario's garage or anyone's cellphone, Mom will no doubt check the phone log and I'll never hear the end of it. We're not allowed to call cellphones because of the plan we're on and it costs more, and it would look a little suspicious if I phoned a car garage in Colorado randomly. I don't have Mitchel's house phone, not that I'd call there anyway.
I'm still waiting for Kelsey to tell me why she's not coming. She's taking her time to answer.
"Uh...well, Colt and I got in a fight, and I need to be here today in case he comes back."
Fight?
"What were you fighting over?" I ask, genuinely concerned. Is this because I put my foot in it yesterday? Maybe I was wrong. Maybe Colt didn't know Blue isn't his child, and I just blurted it out yesterday about them having their own kid.
I'm so stupid.
"I really can't talk about it. I'm sorry. But uh...maybe next time you're in town we can hang out?" she says, hedging.
I can't deal with this. If she's fighting with Colt because she lied to him, then that's on her. I can't be bothered with this today. I just want to curl up in bed with a good book and mentally check out for a few hours.
"Sure. Whatever." I say and end the call before she can say goodbye.
I take myself upstairs and curl up under the covers and get lost in one of the many books I keep on my bookshelves. Mom returns home and calls me down for dinner and Ned joins us. I don't know where he's been all day. What does he do all day? He doesn't usually work on the weekends. So, I assume he’s been in his office all day. Hiding from Mom.
While I eat, I listen to Mom going on about Kelsey's wedding. That is if there's even a wedding now. I want to tell her they're fighting just to shut her up, but then Kelsey would be pissed at me for blabbing. She assumes I live with my head up Mom's ass and do everything I'm told, but that's not true. My sister doesn't know me, and I don't know her. Not really. We were never in each other's pockets growing up. We had our own friends and we liked different things. I did my homework, went to chess club, and loved math, whereas Kelsey liked to get drunk at the weekends, and sneak out of her bedroom window with Mitchel. We're just two strangers that share the same parents and happen to see each other now and then and exchange pleasantries. I don't know why she even suggested we hang out together. I think it's too late to salvage our relationship. She's got her own life and it's so complicated I don't know where to begin. I guess mine is complicated as well, but no one knows that. Everyone thinks I just go to college and that's my life. I’m boring old Paige. Studious. Hard-working. No drama. I wish.
During dinner, we get a call from my mom's sister, Aunt Jane. I pick it up and talk to her and Mom just waves her hand at me because she doesn’t want to talk to her sister. Aunt Jane asks if we want to go strawberry picking with them tomorrow as they have Blue for the weekend, and she makes it sound as though Colt is staying the night with them. Maybe things between him and Kelsey are worse than I thought if he's sleeping at his dad's house. His dad is married to my auntie Jane. I know, we’re a complicated family. Mom isn't too keen on the idea of picking strawberries in a field, but I want to go. My auntie is a cool lady and Uncle Jon's all right. It will be fun, and it will get me out of the house for a few hours.
I excuse myself to go to bed early so I can be alone, and I find myself listening to Maverick's playlist. The one labeled P. I need my frigging head tested. Why do I keep doing this to myself? Why can't I just forget about him and move on? I fall asleep listening to 13 Beaches by Lana Del Rey. My tears soak the pillow and I cuddle up, using Maverick's hoodie as a comforter.
Chapter 8
What feels like literally five minutes later, my mom is shaking me awake. How is it morning already?
"Get up!" she urges, turning down my bedsheets to let the bed air.
"What's wrong?" I grumble.
"Nothing. You need to get up and dressed. And take off that hoodie. I don't want you coming out in gang clothes."
"Going out where?" I shield my eyes as she opens the curtains and lets the sunlight in. "Strawberry picking?" I ask, confused, it’s too early for my brain to make sense of anything.
"Wedding dress shopping."
"Huh?" I search the bed for my phone and find the battery is dead.
"We're going to the bridal store."
"When was this decided?"
"Just now."
"Are they even open on a Sunday?"
"I already phoned ahead to make sure, and they said they’re open until four." Mom replies, rounding the bed and looking at the nightstand where there are a bunch of snotty tissues from last night.
"Are you getting a cold?"
"Maybe." I lie.
"Go and get showered, the steam will help clear your nose."
I sit up and reach over to my nightstand and turn the clock around and see it's 7.20 am. Is she mad? Who gets up this early on a Sunday?
Mom leaves my room and I search my duffel bag for my phone charger, but I don't think I even packed it. With a sigh, I climb into the shower and turn it up extra hot to wake myself up. I towel off and get dressed and fix my patchy face for the second day in a row. I then head downstairs in search of a phone charger. I know Mom's is a different model and Ned uses something that looks like it came from the nineties. I ask a few of the maids, but no one has a charger I can borrow. How did I forget to pack my charger? That's so unlike me. I remember I was just about to add it to my bag when Dario knocked on the door with Chinese and distracted me. Oh well, I'm sure I'll survive without it for a while.
I join Mom and Ned for breakfast, and the table is covered in bridal magazines. I don't even know when Mom had the time to go out and buy them. Something tells me she didn't just get them yesterday. She's already talking about flowers and the food. I don't know what Kelsey will make of all this. Mom already has the whole thing planned out and they only decided on a date yesterday.
; I ask nicely to use Ned's laptop to check my emails and he slides it across the table. I quickly log onto Facebook first but there's nothing new. I'm not friends with Dario on there, so I didn't expect there to be anything, but I was just checking in case Em had sent me anything. I check my emails anyway for the sake of it and see a new message from the college administration saying there is a severe stomach bug going around and that most of my classes have been canceled. I only have one class on Tuesday. Is it even worth going back for one class? I don't have a return ticket or anything, so it doesn't matter what day I travel back on. Maybe I could stay a few more days. Anything to keep me out of the dorms for a little while longer. I don't know what I'll do when I get back and Dario shows up again. We both know what will happen - one thing will lead to another and we'll end up in bed again, and it's not helping my state of mind. I notice there's an attachment to the email with extra coursework to keep us busy until we're back in classes.
"Hurry up and finish your food. I need you to call your sister." Mom tells me, pushing her chair in.
"What's the rush?" I wonder.
"You need to tell Kelsey we're going to the bridal store. It will take her an hour to get here, so hurry up."
"She doesn't know?"
"No, that's why I need you to phone her and tell her."
I shake my head in disbelief. Kelsey's probably in bed still, where I would still be if Mom hadn't woken me up.
I take my time and leave it until at least after nine o'clock before I call my sister and ask her if she wants to go dress shopping on a Sunday. As if.
As I'm waiting for her to answer the phone, I open a few drawers in the hallway dresser to be nosy and low and behold, I find my old phone and charger that my mom confiscated after she found out I was pregnant. It's the same make as the one I'm using, and the charger will fit which is a bonus. I don't know why she didn't give it back to me after all the drama had subsided.
I remember there are photos on here of Dario and me messing around at the supermarket before we moved. I made sure the photos were passcode protected. My phone wasn't locked because Mom would have been suspicious if I had a passcode to start with. But I made sure the photos were protected. Good job Mom never got into them, she would have put two and two together and realized Dario was the baby's father and probably phoned him up and given him a lecture on birth control. Or better yet, she would have gotten his address and sent his mother a formal letter to let her know what a bad job she did of raising her son and how it's her fault he got me pregnant. I can just imagine it. She's unbelievable sometimes. I was quick enough to delete all our messages and blocked his number before she confiscated it.
I try turning the phone on, but it's dead too. I'm just about to hang up the house phone when Kelsey answers the phone.
"Hello?" she says in a croaky voice as though she just woke up.
I knew she'd still be in bed. Like most people are this morning.
"Kelsey, it's Paige." I feel like I need to remind her who I am as she's just woken up and I don't normally ring her anyway.
"Oh, hey. What's up?" she says breezily as though everything is great. I thought she was fighting with Colt the last time I talked to her?
"I know you said you were having problems with Colt...but Mom wants to know if you want to go dress shopping? She asked me to ring you." I explain.
"Dress shopping?" Kelsey says, confused.
"You know, for your wedding dress." I jog her memory.
Has she forgotten she's getting married already?
"What? But it's Sunday?!" Kelsey says in disbelief.
I know the feeling.
"On Sunday most of the stores are open here where Ned lives, and Mom already checked with the bridal store and they're open until four." I tell her.
"Really? It's nine in the morning and she's already thinking about my wedding." Kelsey groans. "It's been like, one day since we decided to get married in November."
"She's keen to see you walk down the aisle. I think she thinks you're gonna get pregnant again and she wants the two of you married before it happens again." I say having picked up on this vibe when Mom was talking to Ned at breakfast.
"Right." Kelsey snorts.
"So is that a yes to dress shopping?" I ask, leaning against the dresser.
"You know, today isn't really a good day for me either."
"Are you still having problems with Colt?" I wonder.
"You could say that."
"Have you tried talking to him about whatever it is that's causing the problem?" I say, trying to be of some help but I have no idea what they’re even fighting over.
"Well...I tried, but he's not even here at the minute." she says.
"Is he out on his bike already?" I ask, but I already know Colt is at my auntie’s house.
"Uh...yeah," Kelsey replies but she sounds unsure.
It's almost as if she's lying.
"So what are you doing today?" I ask to move the conversation along.
"I have a lot planned for the day, what with laundry and house chores, I won't be able to get away today. Sunday's my cleaning day." she says, making up excuses not to come over here. "And I want to sort things out with Colt." she adds onto the end.
Right. Of course.
I hear a toilet flush in the background.
"Were you on the toilet?" I ask.
"No, that was the dishwasher growling." she says quickly but I don't believe her.
"So, what do you want me to tell Mom? I didn't tell her about you and Colt having problems because it would only cause drama." I say, doodling on the notepad and I find myself drawing Maverick's initials. Ugh. I scribble it out and turn it into a black hole, silently wishing I could fall into it.
"Tell her not this weekend."
"What about next weekend? She's gonna ask me."
"I-I don't know."
Kelsey says something in a muffled voice as though she's covering the phone, and I don't think she’s talking to me. Mom walks into the living room and looks around and sees me on the phone.
"Oh, here comes Mom. Do you want to speak to her?"
"No. I'll be on the phone for the next hour." Kelsey groans and I wave Mom away so she doesn't come over here.
I can hear Kelsey in the background, and I get the feeling she’s put me on loudspeaker. I try a different approach and decide to try and build bridges with my sister while I'm here. I feel like she's suddenly avoiding me, and I don't know why.
"Do you think you'll have time to hang out next week?" I ask, hoping we can catch up before I go back to Colorado.
"I thought you were traveling back on Monday?"
"I was but I just got an email saying there's a stomach bug going around, and most of the professors won't be there so a lot of my classes have been canceled."
"Oh...I can't see you this week. I won't be here." she tells me, slamming a door in the background. I figure she's doing laundry while she's on the phone.
"Where are you going?" I ask, genuinely interested. She doesn't normally go anywhere.
"Something came up in Radley and I have to travel back there for a while, maybe a week or two. Maybe we can meet up there when you get back?" she says vaguely.
Why is she going back to Colorado?
"What's happening in Radley?" I ask automatically.
Radley is the last place she needs to go to. Mitchel is there and he's all kinds of messed up right now.
"Uh..." she stalls. "Nessie is having a bad time. She's just really down at the moment, you know with her family all broken up and her dad in prison and all that." she says, but I don't believe her. "It's still getting her down."
"Nessie, huh?"
Nessie is her best friend, but I don’t think going back has anything to do with Nessie.
"It's complicated, Paige," she sighs as though I'm a child and it would be too hard to explain it to me.
"It always is." I mutter, hiding my old phone and charger from view as Mom walks past with a fresh vase of flowers
and sets them on the side table, she then takes a moment to organize them. Eavesdropping no doubt.
"Shit. Sorry." a familiar voice says in the background.
Mitchel?
"Paige?" Kelsey says in a panic.
Ohmigawd. Mitchel is in Nebraska with Kelsey. No wonder she's avoiding coming over.
"Who was that?" I ask. "That definitely wasn't Colt, and Silas is away so...who was that?" I probe.
She can't lie her way out of this one. I'm not deaf. That was Mitchel's voice. I would recognize it anywhere.
"No one," she says in a rush.
"I know you're lying. All you ever do is lie. I already know that Blue is with Aunt Jane and Colt's staying there for some reason because she phoned us last night and asked if we wanted to go strawberry picking with them today." I don't stop there. "I didn't tell Mom that Colt was staying there. I thought I'd ask you about it first. I thought you said you were having problems...I didn't know you were sneaking boys over."
Not just any boy - Mitchel Torres.
"I'm not sneaking boys over-" she says and then suddenly stops, and I hear a door opening and closing. "I'm not sneaking boys into the house. Colt knows Mitchel is here."
"What? Mitchel is there? What is going on, Kelsey?" I ask, trying to act as though I'm surprised.
If she knows I knew about any of this and didn't tell her Mitchel was in the hospital, she'd probably never speak to me again. But I did it for her own good. I wasn’t expecting him to drive all night to see her though.
"His mom just died. He showed up the other night in tears." she explains.
He's been there two nights? He must have turned up the same night we had dinner at the Bar and Grill together.
"So, why'd Colt leave? And why is he still there?" I ask, knowing Mitchel doesn't care about anyone other than himself. Doesn't he know what this will do to her? How this will affect her relationship with Colt.
"Colt was giving us some space, and he's still here because I couldn't just kick him out. But he's leaving today...and I'm going back with him to Radley for the funeral, that's why I can't see you this week."