Chapter 16 #2
Fighting the sigh her words elicited, I turned back to the window and stared out at the clouded sky.
Asha meant well, but she didn’t understand.
Her family was perfect—tight knit, passionate, and most importantly, whole.
When it came to her sister, the worst Asha had to worry about was whether or not Riya had stolen her favorite sweater and shrunk it in the wash.
“The most difficult part about these past four years wasn’t that Rose left,” I said, trying to explain in a way that would resonate with Asha.
“It was the uncertainty: Is she okay? Will I ever see her again? Is she even alive? The not knowing kept me up at night. I’d rather have heard the truth, even if it hurt, than to always wonder what happened. ”
Asha considered this. “Yeah, I guess I’d rather know too,” she agreed. “Your mom give you any kind of explanation?”
“No,” I said. “She wanted me to come home so we could talk.”
“And what did you say?”
“I…ah…kinda hung up on her.” I didn’t feel bad about this exactly—I was still too upset to feel guilty—but I felt weird admitting what I’d done. We both knew how out of character it was for me to be disrespectful to my mom.
Asha leaned toward me, hair spilling over her shoulder like liquid midnight. “You did not!” she gasped, her eyes widening.
“I know, I know.” My mouth curved into a shadow of a grin. “First I leave on a cross-state road trip without telling her, and now this? Perhaps Rose and I are more alike than I thought.”
“Oh yeah,” Asha said, her gaze flicking heavenward. “You’re turning into a regular rebel. Soon you’ll be committing grand theft auto and planning diamond heists.”
“Well, at least then I’d be able to afford Stanford.”
I flopped backward onto my pillow. I knew I sounded bitter. I could taste the acid of my words on my tongue, and I didn’t want Asha to think it was directed at her. “Hey,” I said, twisting my head so I could catch her eye. “Thank you. For being here and for not saying I told you so.”
“I would never,” she said, biting back amusement, but we both knew that under normal circumstances, like if my heart hadn’t been ripped from my chest, she most definitely would.
She enjoyed being right. “So…you and Alec,” she continued, changing the subject and letting go of the rein on her smile.
Her eyebrows wiggled up and down. “Nothing happened between you guys? Last I saw, you were looking pretty cozy.”
A flush crept up my neck. “Like I said. Nothing happened after everyone went to bed.”
Asha raised a single brow. “And before that?”
More warmth flooded my face, and since my own pale complexion had betrayed me, I knew there was no point in lying. “We, um, may have made out once or twice.”
I expected her usual over-the-top reaction—a shocked shut up to start off, maybe a few oh my Gods, and definitely some excited squealing.
Instead, her lips parted to speak, but no sound came out for several seconds.
“I can’t believe you actually kissed him,” she finally murmured, like he was some kind of mythical being we hadn’t spent the past two days with.
“Not this again.” I groaned. “I thought you’d gotten all the fangirling out of your system?” I wanted to talk with my best friend about the guy I’d kissed, not a fan of the Heartbreakers who couldn’t look past the fact that he was part of the band.
Yesterday, after Alec showed me the library, I kept what happened between us a secret from Asha, convincing myself it was because there were too many people around to have a private conversation.
I wasn’t ready to deal with Boomer’s protectiveness or, heaven forbid, JJ’s teasing.
Now, as a smile spread over her face, I realized that maybe I’d kept quiet for a different reason.
Ignoring my question, Asha asked, “Do you know how many girls would give a kidney to trade places with you right now? This is an entirely new level of awesome!” She pressed a hand to her chest as if she were trying to hold back her excitement.
“Yeah, because having an estranged dad, a missing sister, and a traitorous mom is cause for jealousy.”
“That’s not what I meant,” she said with a pointed look. “Regular girls like us don’t date celebrities, Felicity. You’re living every fangirl’s dream.”
This wasn’t the first time I’d heard how I was lucky, that Heartbreakers devotees around the world would do anything to be in my position.
But I couldn’t let myself think like that.
I didn’t want Alec’s fame to affect my view of who he was.
“First of all, we’re not dating,” I said, repeating myself for the millionth time.
“And second, please don’t make a big deal out of whatever this is.
I get that to everyone else he’s this super-famous musician, but to me… I don’t know. He’s just Alec.”
Asha heaved one of her long, dramatic sighs. “That’s possibly the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.”
I snorted. “You think everything is the most romantic thing you’ve ever heard.”
The smile on her face went stiff before slowly fading, and she collapsed beside me on the second pillow. “Not everything.”
Her abrupt mood change left me feeling whiplash, and I pushed myself up so I could see her properly. “What do you mean?”
She pulled a blanket over her face. “Nothing. Never mind.”
“Asha, you’re literally the worst liar in the world.” I yanked the blanket away, and she peeked up at me. “Tell me what’s going on.”
At first she didn’t respond, but then Asha bit her lip and mumbled, “Boomer and I, we kinda… We did it last night.”
Whoa. That was the last thing I’d expected to come out of her mouth.
“You mean…you haven’t before now?” I asked. When I caught them in bed together at Kelsey’s, I’d gotten the impression they’d moved well beyond the kissing stage in their relationship.
She shook her head. “We’ve done stuff before, but never it, and now I’m sorta freaked out. What if this changes things between us? What if Boomer…” She let her fear go unfinished, but I flinched regardless.
“For the sake of my sanity, can we please pretend this isn’t Boomer we’re talking about?” I compelled myself to think about something ridiculous, like babies riding rainbows or purple elephants wearing top hats, anything other than my two best friends having sex. “Let’s call him Chad or Ryan.”
Asha wrinkled her nose. “I would never sleep with a Chad.”
That’s beside the point, I thought, but I disregarded her response. “I’m guessing things didn’t go the way you thought they would?”
“God, no.” Her cheeks burned as red as mine had moments before. “It was awkward and uncomfortable and not at all sexy.”
“I’m sorry, Asha.” I didn’t know what else to say. My lack of experience in this particular department made it impossible for me to give her any helpful advice. “Did it hurt?”
She nodded her head. “Yeah, a little. But Ryan was really sweet about it. Kept asking if I was okay. It kinda got annoying.”
Purple elephant. Purple elephant. Purple elephant.
“Then why are you so worried? That boy is over the moon about you.”
Now that I knew they were together, it was impossible not to notice how in love Boomer was with her.
I could see it in the way he watched her with parted lips, or how he’d gently brush his hand against her arm.
Every Friday, he drove to Bombay Grille to get Asha’s favorite Indian cuisine, even though the restaurant was forty minutes away, and one time he sat through an IN marathon because he knew how obsessed she was with the show.
Asha tugged on a strand of her hair. “But what if he wakes up and realizes it was a mistake?”
I blanched. “Are you saying you regret it?”
“No,” she whispered, and from the tone of her voice, I could tell how much he meant to her. “But what if he does?”
“He won’t. You’re not a mistake, Asha. You’re the endgame girl.” I reached out and clutched her hand, trying to squeeze some confidence into her. “You got that?”
She was unresponsive for a few seconds, but then she squeezed my hand back and nodded.
“Good,” I said, throwing my feet over the side of the bed. “Let’s go see if we can make some coffee. I think we both need it.”
***
The rest of the morning passed in a blur.
Despite our late night, Alec was the first to join Asha and me in the kitchen.
His headphones were in, but when he saw us at the table, he turned off whatever he was listening to, draping the cord around his neck like an accessory.
Everyone else trickled in over the course of several pots of coffee, until the only person still sleeping was Boomer.
It took multiple wake-up attempts, a plate of Oliver’s scrambled eggs, and an offer to drive JJ’s car to get him out of bed.
Once he was finally alive and moving, we said our good-byes to Alec’s friends and headed out within the hour.
From Safe House, the drive to Seattle took less than three hours.
The closer we got to the city, the straighter I sat in my seat, watching the exit signs and landscape fly by.
I tried to relax and listen to Alec’s music, but I was too anxious.
Each mile we drove was another closer to finding my sister.
By the time we pulled off the highway, nerves were hula-hooping inside my stomach.
The sun had come out in the early afternoon, streaking through the clouds to warm the day.
When I glanced at Alec for a boost of confidence, I caught a glimpse of the shimmering inlet out the driver’s side window.
The Space Needle towered ahead of us, its slender legs rising up to support the flying-saucer-esque observation deck.
The design was a stark contrast to the remaining skyline, like it was stolen from a futuristic metropolis or a science fiction movie.