Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
My phone was silent, and I was still in bed. I didn’t have the energy to go to work on Thursday. I mean, how could I when my eyes were puffy from all the crying I had been doing?
I tried to be quiet at night because I didn’t want my parents to see me, but after one look at me this morning, they knew.
“Oh, honey,” my mom said as she put her lunch box down. “What happened? Did you and Ty have another fight?”
“I saw Collin Rivers yesterday,” I confessed.
My mom came to hug me.
“Sweetheart,” she said apologetically. “That must’ve been hard.”
I leaned into her hug, basking in her warmth. She began to stroke my hair, and that made some of the tension I carried melt away.
“Teenage kids are dumb, June bug,” my dad finally spoke. “I bet if you went out more, you’d see how much things have changed.” My dad kissed my forehead, and then he left for work.
Since it was too early for me to bother Rachel, I grabbed a blanket and lay on the couch while I browsed Netflix.
Pulling out my phone, I sent a quick email to Ronnie, letting him know I would take a sick day, but that my article was almost done and I would be submitting it tomorrow.
We had a work app that let us send messages faster, but on some occasions I preferred e-mail.
I wasn’t planning on going back to work tomorrow either, but I didn’t say that to him.
I might as well make it a long weekend—I mean, who took Thursday off and then went to work on a Friday?
That did not sit right with me. At least this way gave me time to wallow, and I could see Lupe tomorrow morning when people were at work. That sounded like a win in my book.
My phone pinged, and my heart accelerated.
Ronnie: Is there anything I can do for you?
What the hell? Why couldn’t he have answered my email? I had his number as well as some others at work, but I never felt the need to use them instead of emailing.
Me: I’m okay. Thank you. I’ll be better next week.
Ronnie: Awesome! We have our trip in one month. :)
Ronnie: If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.
Shit.
I forgot all about that. I didn’t bother with a reply since I didn’t need anything, and I was not looking forward to our trip—better silence than a lie.
Once the sun was up, I got up and groaned as I reached the door. Rachel informed me she’d be spending the night with her man in Sunny Pines, so she wouldn’t be home, and in my emotional state, that almost made me cry.
Fuck it.
If there was ever a pan dulce moment , it was today.
And I could go ahead and get my story out of the way now and wallow more tomorrow.
I was a hot mess, but I didn’t give a fuck.
I almost welcomed Sam or anyone else to cross me today because I was feeling bitchy.
If she wanted to antagonize me, I would welcome it today.
When I got to the town square, I found parking near the crystal shop, which reminded me I still had that stupid aphrodisiac stone in my purse.
I dug around until I found it.
“You are responsible for everything,” I hissed while I held it up toward my face.
“And here I thought I had anger issues,” someone said behind me.
My face instantly heated, but I was still brave enough to crane my neck to see who was talking to me.
“Heeey, girl,” I greeted Luna lamely.
She was rocking a pair of kitten scrubs this time. Her hair was in two Dutch braids, which made me envy her hair. It was thick and lush, and the braids looked beautiful. My thin hair could never.
“I love your hair, you look beautiful,” I blurted.
Her brows just rose a bit higher.
“You’re one of those girls, aren’t you?” Her question was rhetorical, so I waited for her to elaborate. “The ones who get drunk and are telling everyone how much they love them in the girls’ bathroom.”
“I won’t confirm nor deny that,” I simply stated.
She shook her head but did it with a smile. “You going to my mami’s store?”
“Yes,” I told her as we began to head that way. “I brought my tablet so we can do the interview, and it can go out in the paper this weekend.”
“That fast?” She sounded more amused than questioning.
“I got the layout, and the article is mostly written. My editor already okayed it. I just need to add the interview and have a quick edit, then it will be all set for printing on Saturday.”
“Wow, that’s awesome,” she said. “I can’t wait for it.”
“Oh no, I don’t want to see what it says on the window,” I lamented.
“Divine Corner?” she asked.
Huh?
I stepped off the sidewalk and into the street so I could have better access to the front of the stores where the shop signs were located. It was right there in bright neon letters. I had never let myself pay that much attention before.
“Cool name,” I mumbled.
Then, without fail, my eyes made their way down to the little board that held today’s card on display.
The image on the card had two snakes intertwined with cups on either side of them.
Two of Cups, the card read. On the board there wasn’t much of an explanation this time.
It just said: it’s time to put your heart on the line.
“Don’t look, Luna, we do not need to put our hearts on any line,” I told her as I dragged her into her mom’s shop.
“From your mouth to God’s ears,” she mumbled.
As soon as we walked into Delicia’s, Luna let us into the back of the store. If I was going to report on it, I might as well get the whole vibe of this place right. It was cool seeing the shop from another point of view.
I think Luna could sense I was upset. I mean, my eyes were probably puffy as fuck, there was no denying I had been crying. Luckily, other than looking at me to make sure I didn’t burst out crying while they told me their story, she pretty much left me alone.
The interview portion went by fast, and Lupe was a hoot. She was charismatic and you could tell she cared about her business. The passion as she spoke moved me and made me want to fight for things I cherished like she had.
When a customer came, Lupe went to the front, leaving me alone with Luna.
“Do you work today?” I asked before she could question me.
“Yeah, in the afternoon.”
“Do you live with your mom?”
Luna looked horrified.
“God, no.”
It must have shown on my face that I lived with my parents because she immediately explained her statement.
“I bet your parents gave you freedom once you turned eighteen, right?”
I nodded because it was more or less how it went.
“I’m Mexican. We don’t view eighteen as some magical number that represents adulthood.
It doesn’t matter if I’m five, eighteen, or thirty.
As long as I live at my parents’ house, I live by their rules.
” Luna sighed. “It’s easier to live on my own.
Not that I am doing anything crazy, but at least I don’t have to ask my mom for permission to stay past midnight. ”
When she explained it that way, I could see where she was coming from.
I would go crazy if my parents expected me to ask for permission every time I went out. Look at how they acted when they found out I spent the night at Ty’s. I was old enough to make my own decisions.
“Soooo, you bring lots of guys over?” I wiggled my eyebrows at her.
This time, it was her face that was red. “No. No. Nooo. I have more than enough sleepless nights from my neighbor. I swear he doesn’t know the meaning of sleeping alone.”
That piqued my interest. It was the kind of info that would be cool for the gossip column. As if reading my mind, Luna said something along the same lines.
“You know, you should give that tip to whoever writes that gossipy column. If they expose him maybe I could sleep better.”
I scratched my head because the last thing I wanted was to reveal I was the owner of the column.
“They have an email you can send your tips to, you know.”
“I just might. I like that column. I don’t read the paper often, but it’s nice seeing shitty people get exposed.”
Her comment made me feel validated. It was the main reason I had suggested it.
“Can I ask you something, Luna?”
My tone was serious, and Luna took notice because she instantly became more alert.
“You said you heard about what happened to me at prom…” I began to say tentatively. When she tilted her head, I kept going. “Do you think I’m being petty for not making up with Ty?”
She bit her lip as she thought it over.
“What happened was kind of fucked up. Not that you did anything wrong. You saved Collin’s life that day.
Yes, it sucked prom was ruined, but that skank blaming you and everyone else being little fucking sheep didn’t make things easier for you.
Teenagers are petty, and for a lot of people, that night was going to be the highlight of their lives, and instead of blaming themselves for allowing things to get that far, they blamed you. ”
All I could do was nod since I had gotten to the same conclusion. High school was peak for a lot of people, especially in small towns, and to those people I was an easy villain.
“As for Tyler…” She hesitated, but her eye contact with me didn’t waver, and I knew what she would say was going to hurt.
“He was stuck between his girlfriend and his best friend. With a friendship like yours, I imagine lines might have blurred. He was a teenager, babe, and he was fucking Sam and not you. That was his girl.”
My throat got tight at her words, and my eyes stung.
Sam was his girlfriend, and I was just his friend.
“But I think the aftermath of that night is what you should take into consideration. Tyler choked that night, but he did drop Sam right after, and if the rumor is true, he gave Collin a beating as soon as he got out of the hospital.”
My eyes almost bugged out because Collin was not the fighter type. All of this was news to me, mostly because I refused to let my parents tell me anything that had to do with the Kanes after I left.
“Shit,” I mumbled.
I might not know where we stood in all of this, but if that was true, then I owed him an apology for what I said yesterday.
Since I was already out, I decided to head toward the auto shop. Even if Tyler wasn’t at work, he would be home.
Damn, Rachel, for getting her shit sorted. It left me without caffeine when I could have used some after the shitty night I had.
Once I had everything written down, I said bye to Lupe.
Luna followed me, because she had to go to work soon.
That’s when I realized I had spent most of the morning with her, and it was nice.
By the time I left the store, I noticed quite a few people were out and about in the town square.
I didn’t rush to my car like I usually would, instead I took in the rest of the shops and decided it was time I integrated myself back into this town.
If I was here, it was for good, and if people still didn’t like me because I saved someone from dying, then that was their prerogative.
When I got in my car, a bittersweet feeling washed over me.
I remember getting my car after graduation.
Before our fight, I used to be excited that I would have my own set of wheels, so I could drive over to the Kanes’ whenever I wanted and not depend on my parents or Mr. Kane’s truck.
The only time I passed by Tyler’s house was once—on my way out of town.
What seemed like a camera flash had my head snapping up, but it must’ve been the sun caught on a shiny reflection because I couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. At this point, I was probably looking for excuses not to drive over to the Kanes’.
Here went nothing.
When I pulled up, I took a deep breath before getting out of the car. My hands gripped the steering wheel as if stopping me from letting go and getting out. I knew walking through those doors would mean change—a change I had not been ready to embrace.
Change was scary, but staying stagnant would be disastrous in the long run. I didn’t want to look back once I was older and regret being too cowardly to have one conversation—a conversation that was a defining moment in my life.
Ezekiel was at the front, which was usually odd because he preferred not being around people.
“Hey.” I waved shyly.
He didn’t say much, but then his lip twitched, and his eyes did a once-over of my outfit. As he did that, I looked down at myself, and then I remembered I was a hot mess, but I was already here, so there was no turning back.
“Go easy on him,” he said instead of greeting me. “For Ty, it’s always been you.”
My throat constricted, and I felt a bit nauseous at his words. To be honest, it wasn’t something I wanted to hear. Why did he pick other girls over me if it was always me?
The answer was just on the other side of the door, and I needed to be brave enough to ask it. I waved at Ezekiel and kept pushing through.
I didn’t see Tyler at first, but I did recognize his truck. After a once-over, I saw his legs peeking out from under the vehicle.
Slowly, I made my way over, then used my foot to tap his leg. He slid out from under the truck, and we stared at one another. My pain was mirrored in his own eyes.
“Beautiful,” he said hoarsely as he quickly got up.
“I’m ready to talk.”