Chapter 16 #2
“Let’s get you settled.” Lois walked up the stairs to the second floor. The wooden railing wrapped around the third floor staircase. All the bedroom doors had glass knobs.
They entered a bright room that faced the front yard. “I call this the yellow room.”
The yellow wallpaper and curtains made Arielle smile.
“It has the most magnificent sunrise you will ever see.” Lois peered out the window as if the sunrise was happening right then.
“I love the yellow room,” Nora said.
“I thought you loved the plaid room?” Lois looked concerned that she had made a mistake.
“Oh, I love all the rooms, really,” Nora said, plopping onto the bed, the quilt of all different kinds of calico yellow prints.
Even though the room had a lot of yellow and was brighter than Arielle had ever wanted, its view out its windows was magnificent.
They were all halfway open, and a slight breeze billowed out the bottoms of the curtains.
On the other side of the room, two other windows faced the apple orchard.
The rows of trees wound through the valley, with a dirt path of two tire rivets.
A bird soared high in the sky, its wings expanding out as if it were showing off its magnificence.
“Will this be okay?” Lois asked Arielle.
She stood in the middle of the room, unable to catch her emotions. She cleared her throat, swallowing down the growing lump, and said, “It’s perfect.”
She stood, silent as Lois and Nora caught up with each other.
Nora didn’t seem at all fazed that she had been dragged away from the island the day before her mother’s wedding rehearsal, and Lois didn’t seem at all bothered that an unannounced visitor would be staying in her house while she was away.
“Goats?” Nora walked over to the window and looked at them. “Will Arielle have to do anything with them?”
Lois shook her head. “Nope, just take care of the house pets. That’s all I ask of her.” She clasped her hands together and placed them in front of her, resting on the apple pie embroidered on her apron. “You’re doing me a huge favor by staying here.”
Arielle was almost certain Lois didn’t need a huge favor from some teenage girl, but she smiled and tried to act as polite as possible. “Thank you so much for allowing me to stay in such a beautiful room.”
She really couldn’t believe where she was.
Yes, she had lived in a large house built on the edge of the ocean, but her father was the typical nouveau riche.
Spent a lot to be flashy and showy but bought a house that had been built cheap and quick.
Most of the money had gone to items that could be seen, like the big chandelier in the front hall, or the large picture windows that showcased the pricey lot, or the handcrafted stone fireplace that climbed the two-and-a-half story living room.
But if one looked closely, they’d find cheap plastic and knock-off brands that her father had somehow gotten through a friend. The fact that her mother had never noticed this had bothered her. Had her mother just turned a blind eye or had she really been that naive? She hoped it was the latter.
And so had Arielle.
She’d been your typical spoiled mean girl.
And Nora had been one of the many female victims Arielle had tortured in high school by spreading rumors, gossiping about them, or just icing them out.
She didn’t need a reason to not like someone; it didn’t matter if Nora had been super nice and never did anything to Arielle.
That kind of perfect had been Arielle’s problem with her.
In high school, she’d started calling her Nothing Nora, then Bland Nora, and by the time her father had been arrested, she was pretty sure she’d called her Beige—to…
her…face. If someone had dared to question why she’d said such a mean thing to the class president and valedictorian whose father had died, she wouldn’t tell them it was because Arielle thought Nora was prettier than her or felt inferior of how much smarter Nora was than her, or kinder.
She was the girl every guy on Isabel Island had wanted to ask out since kindergarten.
It was none of those things but, rather, something much more stupid and inconsequential.
She had hated Nora because of how everyone treated her like she could do no wrong.
No one would say anything bad about her.
Never. Not even when she deserved it. Every kid in high school did something stupid or wore something stupid or looked stupid at some point.
That’s how bullies like her got away with finding something wrong with everyone—everyone except Nora.
Teachers gave her top scores even though she was late on almost every project.
They’d let her come in late, and Arielle never saw her on the detention list. She’d make every team even though she couldn’t run in a straight line or got scared when a ball came at her.
It was one thing to feel sorry for someone for losing a father, but in Arielle’s jealous pea brain, she couldn’t let it go. In her mind, if she got detention for being late, then so should Nora.
Arielle sat on the bed and grabbed the quilt that covered the bed. Its fabric held every shade under the rainbow within its threads.
“What’s wrong?” Nora asked once Lois left the room.
“I’m a horrible, horrible person.” She couldn’t go back to the island. “I was so mean to everyone. To you.”
She bit her lip. After this week, she needed to figure out where she could go.
Would college really be the best place for her?
Would she just be with the same kind of people?
Would she stay an insecure and jealous person with anyone who might present better in some way?
Why did other girls who had something going for them make her feel so inferior?
“You are not that person anymore,” Nora said, probably thinking this stemmed from their earlier conversation, but it was a much bigger conversation. One she worried Nora would suddenly realize and reflect on their friendship. “You know I love you.”
Arielle tossed her phone aside. “Nora, if I tell you something, you promise you won’t be mad at me?”
But she doubted it. Should she confess?
“What is it?” Nora asked.
Arielle couldn’t look at her when she said the words. “I think I only chased after Jason because you liked him.”
Nora’s eyebrows twisted together as if she were confused, but when they pulled back and her mouth dropped as she realized what Arielle meant, she had a totally different face. One that Arielle had never seen before.
“You chased him because I liked him?” Nora paused and Arielle’s stomach twisted. She could have denied what she’d said, taken it back, blurted something out so that it could be pretended to be forgotten, but Nora deserved to know what kind of horrible friend Arielle Gagnon was. “On purpose?”
Because she took after her father.
“Yes.” Arielle waited for her words to sink in. She braced herself for Nora to yell or scream or walk away and ignore her like her family had.
“Why?” Nora, unfortunately, did what Arielle feared most. She was making her confront her own shame.
“Because I’m a horrible, miserable human being!” Arielle screamed back as her bottom lip quivered.
“But I thought you really liked him?” Nora called her bluff.
Arielle had really liked Jason—loved him, even—but that didn’t matter. It was how things had started. It’s why things had ended so badly. She’d started with the wrong intentions. She may not have thought she was purposefully going after Jason at the time, but now, it was clear as day.
“It’s why you shouldn’t be my friend.” Arielle wanted nothing more than to beg her to stay her best friend forever, to keep Jason and say yes to his proposal, but Arielle didn’t get to have nice things in life.
Her father hadn’t died a hero. No, her dad would probably die in prison. If someone didn’t kill him first.
“Arielle, is there more to this than you’re telling me?” Nora was her father’s daughter.
“No.” Arielle was resolute. “You need to not be my friend, because friends don’t steal guys from each other.”
Nora plopped down on the bed and exhaled loudly, which meant exactly what Arielle had dreaded.
She had thought about it. Or had Jason on her mind still.
It was hard to let him go. After all, Arielle was certain she’d never find a guy like him again.
Those dizzying blue eyes, the way he took extra care of her above himself, and how they seemed to perfectly fit together.
“Like jelly and jam,” she whispered to herself.
“What?” Nora asked, looking up from her own thoughts about Jason.
She shook her head. “You two have a connection.”
“First of all, ew.” Nora said. “He’s, like, going to be my brother in a couple of days.”
“From another mother,” Arielle didn’t see a problem. Patrick and Sophia wouldn’t see a problem, either. They loved the two being siblings, hanging out, depending on each other for everything. They might as well be partners.
“What’s really going on with you?” Nora wasn’t going to let this go, even with all her confessions.
“Nora, will you just leave it alone?” Arielle clenched her jaw. Through her teeth she said, “Jason’s always had a thing for you, anyway. Just date each other already.”
“You are acting crazy.”
“I just want to know that you guys will end up together now so I don’t have to wait for it to happen.”
Nora’s jaw fell. “Do you hear yourself?”
Arielle felt she was loud and clear. She wasn’t going to wait around for the day they came out and told everyone they were together. They loved the island. They loved their family. They loved their community. “You guys get giddy about shrimp and tidal pools. I just think it’s all weird.”
“You don’t have to like the ocean to date Jason.” Nora let out a laugh as though Arielle was being funny, but she was dead serious. “Stop it, Arielle. I don’t want to date Jason. He doesn’t want to date me. Nothing’s going to happen.” She scrunched her forehead. “Is this why you came to Vermont?”