Chapter 11 #2
She simply smiled. “Don’t be silly; you love me too.”
After we finished breakfast, we went to check on Mom in the kitchen. We cautiously offered to help, but she predictably refused, insisting I show the girls around Rapid Bay and not return until it was time for lunch.
She didn’t seem to have the same problem with my dad being in the kitchen.
Norma was right; she had made an exception for him.
He’d been assigned to peeling potatoes, and he looked so awkward I had to wonder if he’d ever even chopped a vegetable himself.
Probably not, at least in recent years. He caught my eye and waved nervously with the peeler in his hand, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
I did as Mom suggested and took the girls for a tour of Rapid Bay.
Most of the shops were closed because of the holiday, so we couldn’t do any shopping, much to Anna’s disappointment.
Instead, I took them to the beach. It was a cool day but pleasant enough when the sun broke out from behind the clouds.
When we reached the sand, they gasped at the glistening turquoise water stretched out before them.
It was strange being here with them and having them in my home.
I’d worried they wouldn’t like it here, that perhaps they’d secretly judge me for the way I’d been brought up once they saw the stark differences between their world and mine.
If anything, I actually felt even closer to my friends.
They knew all of me now and had never treated me any different.
As I peered up at the large houses that lined the foreshore, I wondered if perhaps I was the one who no longer fit in here.
At least, not the way I used to. Once upon a time, I’d looked up at the grand holiday homes owned by the rich and elite visitors who vacationed here in the summer—and they’d made me feel so small.
They’d reminded me of all the things I would never have. The things that felt out of my reach.
These days, it felt like I could achieve almost anything.
Rapid Bay was what felt small. I’d grown so much in the short time I’d been away.
I’d moved to a new school, made new friends, overcome heartache, and met my father for the first time.
This place was always going to be my home, and I was still the same girl, but for the first time, I felt okay with the fact my life would take me beyond Rapid Bay and deliver unexpected twists.
But I also wondered if that was part of reason why I had been struggling so much with my college applications lately.
My future was so much broader now. I had options.
It was easier when college was just a dream—a fantasy in my head that would never come true.
Now that it could, I worried I might screw it up.
“I can’t believe you grew up here,” Cress said, drawing my attention back to the beach. “That you got to see this view every day.”
“And your mom’s so great,” Anna added. “I wish I was as close with my parents as you are with her.”
I smiled and nodded as I looked out at the water. “Yeah, I feel pretty lucky.” I’d always appreciated my mom, but it was only once I started at Weybridge Academy that I realized just how special the relationship we had truly was.
“My parents haven’t even sent me a text to wish me a happy Thanksgiving,” Cress said. “Knowing them, they’ve probably forgotten what day it is.”
“Yeah, I haven’t heard from mine either,” Anna said. “But they don’t celebrate it in England, so I guess it’s not that big of a surprise.”
“When do you guys think you’ll see your families again?” I asked.
“My parents will be back in New York in a week or so and then back again at Christmas,” Cress replied. “At least, that’s the plan. They’re always changing their minds.”
“I’ll be heading back home for Christmas,” Anna said.
“Though I’m going to try and spend as little time there as possible.
My mom is completely overbearing, and my dad takes way too much interest in trying to dictate my life.
If you ever meet them, you’ll see why I was happy to go to school on the other side of the world. ”
“What about your brother?” Cress said. “It’ll be nice to see him, right?”
Anna rolled her eyes. “Dev’s a little punk. He recently decided he wants to be a rapper, so he’ll be even more unbearable than both my parents combined.” From the slight smile on her lips though, I got the feeling she was more excited about a reunion with her brother than she let on.
Eventually, we reached a small, secluded section of the beach that could only be accessed when the tide was out or by a hidden path none of the tourists knew about.
My stomach twisted as I realized I’d brought the girls to the place Noah and I had shared our first kiss.
My trip to Rapid Bay with him had been so perfect, and even now, I still struggled to believe he’d gone to so much effort for our first date.
I tried my best not to think about that day, that moment. How it had felt like the world stopped when Noah looked in my eyes, and how I’d wanted our kiss to last forever. The feel of the sand under my feet and the light breeze against my face caused the memories to flow through me.
I didn’t want to miss Noah. I didn’t want to think about him at all. But standing in the place where I’d first accepted my feelings for him, just weeks ago, made it so much harder to pretend they were truly gone.
I wasn’t listening as the girls kept happily chatting.
Both were completely oblivious to the inner turmoil I felt.
I continued walking alongside them, listening to the ocean crashing against the beach, and tried my best to erase the memories of Noah like the waves washed away the footprints we left behind us.
I was finally beginning to put him from my mind when I saw a figure jogging toward us.
The girl must have been running from the other end of the beach, but I had only just noticed her.
As she neared us, she came to a sudden stop, and my gaze instinctively drifted to look at her.
When I saw her face, I too became frozen in place.
Recognition flared in her eyes, and my insides began to churn.
“Nina.” Her name tumbled from my lips unbidden, but she was standing far enough away she couldn’t have heard.
She looked so shocked to see me, but there was clear sadness in her eyes that couldn’t be faked. She was the last person I wanted to see while I was in town, and I could think of nothing worse than having to talk with her.
“Did you say something, Isobel?” Anna asked. She and Cress had stopped a couple of steps in front of me and were looking back.
I tore my gaze from the girl who was once my best friend. The girl who had betrayed me and stolen my boyfriend. The girl who had made the thought of running away from Rapid Bay so appealing.
“We should head back for lunch,” I said.
Anna and Cress looked slightly confused, so I stepped forward and took them both by the arm, steering them back the way we’d come before they could ask any questions.
“Come on, let’s go,” I said. “I don’t want to be late. I told you something crazy always seems to happen during my mom’s Thanksgiving lunches. You won’t want to miss a moment.”
The girls followed without protest, but I was sure they were surprised by my sudden urgency to get home.
I was worried Nina might come after me. She might want to talk.
I had no idea what I’d say to her or what she’d say to me.
But either way, I couldn’t imagine it would be a pleasant experience.
Thankfully, she let me walk away without saying a word.
I just hoped seeing Nina wasn’t a sign I was going to be the center of this year’s Thanksgiving drama.