Everything (17 page)

“Okay,” I gave in as I closed my door and locked it. We ran into Kelly on the way out the door as she was coming in.

“Hey, Dacey, pizza boy. You guys headed out?” she said bubbly.

“Yeah, we are, actually. Want to join us?”

I looked at Trevor as if he’d lost his mind. There was only so much bubbly I could take from someone who was not my sister. I hoped she would take his offer as him just being polite and wouldn’t really take him up on it, but she did.

“Thanks. I was just going to veg out tonight, but I’d love to hang!”

I squeezed Trevor’s hand tighter to let him know how much I would not love to hang with Kelly, but he leaned over and whispered in my ear.

“Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“Yeah, fun,” I muttered.

“So where are going?” Kelly asked.

“It’s a surprise.” Trevor opened the door of his truck for us both.

I groaned. If there was one thing I hated more than change, it was surprise. And this was supposed to be my island getaway?

Chapter 7

We pulled up to Spinner’s, a roller-skating rink near the college where most of the college kids and a few high schoolers hung out. I hadn’t hung out there since I was actually in high school and had started looking in on Opal full-time. The place still looked the same and held a nostalgic feel to it for me. It was where Trevor had asked me out. No one but the high schoolers actually roller-skated. The older crowed usually hung out and talked, and we were no exception. Skates and I had a love-hate relationship; I loved to hate them. I never got the hang of them, even when Mom had tried to teach me. I think I was past the point of learning, so I gave up.

“Oh, fun! I love to skate,” exclaimed Kelly from the back seat.

“Really, babe? This is my getaway?” I asked, skeptical.

“You haven’t been here since high school, and you used to have fun here.
We
used to have fun here,” he reminded me.

“You’re right. Okay, let’s go.” He was right. I did used to have fun with him. I pushed all my worries to the side and got out of the truck. Grabbing his hand, I let him lead me inside as Kelly followed beside us.

Inside, music was blaring and people were scattered around everywhere. I saw a few people from around school whom I knew, and Trevor saw a few people from high school he knew. Kelly waved to several people she knew, but never went over to their table. We found a table near the back of the rink, and a waitress rolled up on skates to take our order and get our sizes.

“Oh, I’m not skat—” I started, but Trevor interrupted me.

“She’ll need a size 9, and I’ll need a size 12, plus two Cokes to start.”

“I’ll need a size 7½, and a Diet Coke,” added Kelly.

I looked at him as the waitress rolled away, and he winked at me.
 

“Fun, remember? Let me show you how to skate.”

“Mom already tried, and it didn’t work.”

“Let me show you the Trevor way,” he smirked.

“That is so cu-uuute.” Kelly looked at us, head tilted to the side. I was happy that our waitress returned with our drinks and skates at that moment so I didn’t have to reply.

We ordered a large pizza to split among the three of us and laced up our skates to start skating while our pizza cooked. Kelly was the first one out, saying she would see us out there. I was not so fast to make it. Standing up on shaking legs, I had to balance check myself fifty times before actually getting to the rink.

As I was holding onto Trevor’s outstretched arms, he led me onto the skating floor, and I half-walked, half-stumbled with my arms stretched out like a newborn learning to walk. He smiled and shook his head, then came to place his arms around my waist from behind and pulled me close, his front to my back, and we made our way around the rink.

“I think I like the Trevor way,” I said as he leaned down to kiss the side of my neck.

“I do too,” he said into my hair.

We would have been fine if some high school kid hadn’t been speeding past us like it was Roller Derby and clipped Trevor’s shoulder, making me pivot forward and lose my balance, taking Trevor with me. He turned sideways at the last minute and landed on my side instead of on top of me, laughing. I started laughing too, as I had no idea how I was going to get up off this slippery floor with skates on. We were both laughing when Kelly rolled over to us.

“Um, are you guys okay? You went down pretty hard.”

“Yeah, we are good,” I said between laughs. Trevor had pulled me up into a sitting position now.

“Are you sure you didn’t bump your head? You’re so giggly.”

“No, no. I’m okay,” I said, still laughing as Trevor attempted to pull me up and failed as I slid back down on my butt.

“A little help here?” He gestured to Kelly to grab my other arm, and together they both got me to a standing position. Trevor guided me back over to our table. I finally calmed down when our pizza arrived, and we started talking and getting to know Kelly. She had moved here with her mom a few years ago and finished her senior year being home-schooled. No wonder she was so...Kelly.

After hearing her talk for an hour, Trevor and I opted to leave early while she stayed behind with some friend she met up with, which suited me just fine because three was completely a crowd when all I wanted was to be carefree and twenty-two, alone with Trevor.

* * *

I awoke the next day wrapped in my favorite blanket, Trevor. I
slid out from underneath him and slid on a T-shirt and shorts to go to the shower stalls and take a quick morning shower.

“Hey, where you going?” His voice was heavy with sleep.

“To take a quick shower before I head out.” I leaned over to kiss him.

“Hand me my boxers.”

I went to grab them off the floor from where they were thrown last night. The double feature had started the second we walked in the door, and the clothes went flying as I was determined to be young and carefree last night. I might have been a little too determined. I saw his jeans, socks, shirt, and belt but no boxers.

“Um, were you wearing any?”

“You don’t remember?” He cocked an eyebrow at me.

“No, I was a little distracted.” I looked back at him from the closet.

“I know. I barely made it inside before you attacked me.”

“You weren’t fighting it.” I continued to look.

“Baby, you can attack me like that anytime.” He winked at me.

“How attached are you to those boxers?” I asked, giving up my search.

“Don’t worry about it, babe. I have to go home and shower anyway, since I got a workout last night.” He got up and started putting on his clothes.

“I’ll find them later,” I said as I headed out to take my shower before he left.

When I got back, he was laying on the bed with his hands behind his head, waiting for me, but he sat right up when I came in.

“It’s about time...dammmn.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead and said he that would text me later and that he loved me on his way out.

“Bye, baby. Love you too!” I called behind him.

I took my time getting ready, since it wasn’t my day to check in on Opal. I texted Aria to find out when her audition was. Even though I knew it was going to be a closed audition, I still wanted to be there for her. She responded two minutes later, telling me it was before her class and to look outside. I hadn’t looked out my window since I’d gotten up, but I went to look then and saw that it was gloomy and rainy. It was normal in Florida for it to be sunny one day and then the next be rainy and gloomy.

It’s rainy

Yea Rain! I need sun for my audition!

U’ll do fine

What if I don’t

U will, did Riley help?

Yea a little

U got this

R U coming?

Stupid question, of course

U Can’t come in, but u can wait outside

OK

Meet me @ Auditorium @ 830

OK. Don’t worry, you’ll B great

Thx

I put my phone aside and finished getting ready, remembering to grab my umbrella on the way out. Then I went to find Riley to see what he and Aria covered last night. I found him in his usual spot behind the counter at the student bookstore.

“Hey, what time is the audition?” he asked, seeing me walking in.

“In twenty minutes,” I said, glancing at my phone.

“Cool. It shouldn’t be that long. I’m going to take my break and walk over with you.”

“Okay. So what did you guys do last night?”

“Mostly just go over relaxation techniques. Breathing and whatnot...She knew her lines by heart and delivered them splendidly.”

“Sometimes I wonder just how old you are. What person our age says ‘splendidly’?” I mocked.

“Says the girl who wears a muumuu,” he countered.

“Touché.”

“And just because of our age, that doesn’t mean we can’t use words like ‘splendidly.’ Would you rather I say ‘epically’?”

“Yes, yes, I would!” I laughed. “I get your point, Riley—I
am
a journalism major.”

“This semester,” he muttered.

“Hey, I heard that. Anyway, she should know it by memory. It’s our mom’s favorite.”

“And yours, she tells me.”

“Yes, I’m fond of it as well.”

“Fond?” He raised his eyebrow at my word choice.

“Okay, you got me.” I held my hand up in surrender.

He showed me some of the breathing he taught Aria and how it’s supposed to help in her delivery, and then it was time to go and meet her.
 

“Hey, Bill. I’m taking my break now. I’ll be back in thirty minutes,” Riley told another employee before he left.

We headed over to the auditorium, which was about two minutes from the bookstore, and I huddled under my umbrella, as it was still drizzling. We met up with Aria, who was already there.

“Hey, A.” I said.

“I’m so nervous,” she said, bypassing a “hello.” Her brown eyes were bigger than normal as she stared at me from under the hood of her pink raincoat, then at Riley, wringing her hands together.

“Stop. You’ll do fine.” Riley went over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder. “Remember the breathing exercises?”

She started making these heavy, in-and-out breathing sounds and then looked at me. “That’s not working, Dac. I can’t do it.”

“Yes, you can. Remember when you were starting middle school?” I took her hand. “You were nervous then because you thought no one would like you?”

“Yeah, but you said how could they not because I was awesome. Then you gave me your lucky hair tie.”

“Yeah, and you went and everyone did love you.”

“Dacey, I was thirteen.”

“But you were awesome at thirteen, and you’re still awesome. You can do this.”

“Aria Shaw, you’re up,” said an older man with a clipboard who came out the side door of the auditorium.

“Break a leg or some shit like that, right?” I asked, giving her a hug.

“Yeah, something like that.” She smiled meekly.

“Break a leg,” chimed in Riley. “You’ll do great.”

With that, she went through the door, leaving me and Riley huddled there under my umbrella waiting. We didn’t have to wait long. Ten minutes later, she came out looking relieved and was her bubbly self again.

 
“Well?” I asked nervously.

“I think I rocked it,” she smiled. “I won’t know for sure until two weeks when they put up the callback sheet, but they didn’t look disgusted when I finished.”

“That’s good,” said Riley.

“Yeah, ’cause you don’t want them to look disgusted,” I said sarcastically.

We headed back over to the bookstore so that we could get out of the rain. Riley finished his break and talked to Aria about the play and said that
when
she got the part, he was active in the stage managing part of the play and would be in the background and could help her out.

I looked at him. “I didn’t know you were a drama geek.”

“I’m a stagehand. I’m more behind the scenes.”

“Still, you’re so involved.”

“It’s fun.”

“It so is!” proclaimed Aria.

Riley finished his break, and it was time for Aria and I to go to class, so we set off across campus.

She stopped me before we parted ways. “Thanks for what you said to me before I went in to audition.”

“What do you mean?” I half-asked, knowing exactly what she meant.

“I was about to go into A-1 meltdown, and you calmed me down. You’re always there for me, Dac. Thank you.”

“Whenever you need—you would do it for me. That’s what sisters are for! I love you, kid. I know you killed that audition.”

“You’re right. I probably did.” She waved to me as she went the opposite direction.
 

I stared at her before I set off to my class. It was funny how, in the long past, I couldn’t imagine my life with a sister in it. Now, I didn’t know what I would do without her.

Chapter 8

I walked into my creative writing class and saw Kelly already sitting in her seat in the front. She gave me a friendly wave as I made my way to my regular seat in the back, and I waved back.

The professor handed back our timed writing, and I was pleased to see that I had gotten a B on it. Kelly turned around in her seat to give me a thumbs-up, asking if I did okay, and I gave her a nod and a smile letting her know I did. She smiled and turned back around, and when class let out, she caught me at the door.

“So you did okay on the timed writing then?”

“Yeah, I got a B.”

“Oh, yay! Maybe you could help me. I got a C.” She made a face.

I spotted Riley coming my way and started toward him. “Sure, you know where to find me. Catch you later.”

“Is that your new BFF?” He nodded in Kelly’s direction.

“Hardly, but she’s not so bad in small doses,” I admitted.

“Small doses,” he mused.

I was about to ask what he meant by that when my phone buzzed in my pocket with an incoming call.

“Hello?”

“Dacey Harper?” asked a voice I didn’t know.

“Yes?” I said cautiously, a knot forming in my stomach.

“This is Officer Parks of the Florida Highway Patrol. I’m afraid there has been an accident involving your parents.”