Finding Laila: Some Changes are Necessary (24 page)

“You’re
joking. Right?” I ask when I see the small tent with ‘Madame Rae’ scrawled on a
dry erase board.

“Part
of the experience,” he laughs and hands the woman a ten-dollar bill.

She
takes it from him and flips the bill around to make sure that it’s real, which
makes me laugh because there’s no way I can flip her around to check the same.
She raises a brow as if reading my mind, and I sober because—she probably
is.

“Maybe
another time,” I whisper to Haden.

“No.
No other time,” she says with a terrible accent. “Now. Come in.”

The
middle-aged woman walks into the tent and I look at Haden in disbelief.

“Oh
yeah, and when you’re done, I’ll have your humiliation all picked out.”

“This
isn’t it?” I ask, my eyes wide with fear.

“I’ll
think about it,” he smiles.

“Hurry
up, I don’t have all day,” the woman yells, and I glare at Haden before
following after.

She
shuts the tent flap behind us, walks to a small table that looks like a TV
tray, and sits on one side of it. Madame Rae is not what I’ve thought a
fortuneteller to look like, with her long brown hair and peasant top. Nothing
about her jumps out as odd, except that accent.

Timidly,
I take the empty seat and exhale an annoyed breath.

“What
is your name?” she asks, tucking the money into a pouch on a table behind her.

“Laila,”
I say, trying to hold back a laugh.

“Give
me your hand,” she demands, holding her own out expectantly.

“As
long as you drop that ridiculous accent,” I answer when I stretch my hand out
to her.

“Fine,”
she drawls in a normal tone. “I do it for show, anyway. It’s what people
expect.”

“No
offense, but if you can’t do it well, just don’t do it at all,” I tell her with
sincerity, giving her my hand.

“Be
quiet so I can concentrate,” Madame Rae admonishes as she traces my palm with
her finger.

She
leans down and studies my hand closer while I look around at the odd
decorations.

“I
see you like adventure. Perhaps you have something big planned?”

All right, maybe she’s not
a crook.

“Your
heart line, right here—see these little lines that cross through it? It
tells me that you are open with your feelings with those you love, but this
little spot here…” She points out but I don’t see what she’s talking about.
“You’ve experienced sadness in your young life.”

Her
eyes lift to meet mine, but I give nothing away so she continues her reading.

“Why
are you so guarded?” she asks, pointing to my hand. “Your life line says that
you don’t allow many people into your life, but if your heart line is correct,
perhaps there is a correlation.”

She
doesn’t wait for, or expect, an answer because she carries on with the reading,
but I’m intrigued by her accuracy.

“You
surround yourself with family and friends, people you trust, but it’s a small
circle. And you are protective of these people. No?”

“Yeah,”
I breathe out and she looks at me.

“You’re
stubborn, but that’s not really a bad thing. People focus on the negative part
of that trait, but it means that you know what you want out of life. Just make
sure you have a balance so you know when to bend.”

“Can
you see anything about my friends there?” I ask, finally giving in to the
experience.

“Laila,
I can see that you are a very caring person, but it’s not your responsibility
to take care of everyone. You need to give yourself a break. You have your
walls so high that it’s almost impossible for anyone to get through, but once
you let
them
in, it’s forever. Isn’t it?”

“Pretty
much,” I agree. “What about Haden?” I ask as I look over my shoulder to check
that he can’t hear me. “Can you see anything there?”

She
traces a line on the side of my hand. “You are young, Laila. But when the time
comes for you to settle down, you’re going to have a happy life.”

“That’s
it?” I ask with a hint of shock, because I want more details—but she only
nods.

“See
this?” She points to a line on the lower outside of my palm. “This is your
travel line. And see here where it crosses this line, it’s your fate line.”

I
acknowledge what she’s pointing at and wait for her to continue.

“There’s
a trip planned. Maybe you’re visiting a place you’ve never been before?”

“I’m
going to find my mom,” I manage to tell her past the lump in my throat. “I just
found out I was adopted.”

“Then
this is an important journey. Don’t go alone, because this tells me it will be
emotional, so you need people who love and support you. Perhaps your parents?”

“I’m
actually going with my friends,” I smile weakly.

“Good.
Remember, things are not always what they seem, so keep an open mind and
remember that whatever happens, lean on those who are always there for you.”

Madame
Rae releases my hand and I take leave from the tent, where I find Haden
reclining on the bench outside. He hops to his feet but takes his time
approaching me, probably trying to gauge my mood since he tricked me. When he’s
close enough, I rise on my toes so I can wrap my arms around his neck and place
a soft kiss to his lips. He wraps his arms around me and lifts me off the
ground, connecting his lips with mine again.

“I
believe I owe you a ride on the Ferris wheel,” he says between kisses as he
carries me to the bench, where he sets me down.

I
tower over him from this spot, but I don’t mind because looking into his face,
illuminated by the carnival ride lights, I could stare at him all night. He
turns around, looks over his shoulder, and smiles.

“Hop
on.”

“You
are not giving me a piggyback ride,” I protest before attempting to step down,
but he won’t let me.

“Have
it your way,” he grins.

One
second he kisses me, the next he hoists me over his shoulder while I scream and
tug on the back of his shirt. Granted, I’m not exactly opposed to the view, but
I’d much prefer walking instead of being slung over my boyfriend’s shoulder
while total strangers are staring at me.

 
“Haden Searle, put me down,” I yell.

“Only
if you admit something,” he says. He stops walking, but I’m still hanging over
his back.

“Okay,”
I laugh. “What is it?”

“When
did it happen?”

“When
did what happen?” I ask, confused by his question. It drains what little energy
I have left to lift myself upright, so I end up back where I was.

He
finally puts me down but keeps me close to him with one arm wrapped around my
waist. His other hand is trailing from my cheek and stops at the base of my
neck while he looks lovingly into my eyes. “When did you become the only person
I ever want to imagine a future with?”

Thank
God breathing is an involuntary bodily function because he would have taken my
breath away if it weren’t.

“Tickets?”
a nasally male voice calls out, breaking the moment. Haden hands over the
tickets and we climb into the seat that’s still swinging from the people who
vacated before us. He pulls the latch across to lock it in place and we begin
making our first revolution on the Ferris wheel.

I
have yet to take my eyes off him and
he’s
looking at
the world disappear below our feet.

“Probably
around the same time it happened for me—the first time you held my hand,”
I say.

He
turns to look at me and gives me a knowing smile before kissing me at the top
of the ride.

“But
you thought I was gay,” he laughs.

“Didn’t
mean I didn’t still think about it. Besides, how could I not think about it?
You were my hero.”

“You
mean at your eighth birthday party when Cole teased you and you ran off into
the woods alone?”

“He
was mean,” I protest half-heartedly as I recall the memory. “I think Cole knew
how to get me worked up more than the rest of you. He said that I was turning
into a real girl and that I wouldn’t be able to play with y’all anymore.”

“I
know. And then you took off. Your parents were so worried, but my dad knew I
could find you, so I went to the quarry.”

“And
you found me sitting on the ground crying.”

“Your
clothes were covered in mud and I thought you were hurt.”

“Yeah,”
I laugh. “I wanted to prove I was still the same girl so I got as dirty as I
could.”

“And
you were still the prettiest girl I knew.”

“I
remember you sat down next to me and took my hand in yours and squeezed.”

“Do
you remember what else you said?” he asks, his face serious.

I
shake my head and wait for him to remind me. Instead, he wraps his arm around
my shoulder and I lean my head against his shoulder. It’s peaceful up here away
from everyone. I can still hear the rides and people screaming with excitement,
but the noises are distant. My eyes are heavy, the day taking a toll on me
despite my nap. Just as I feel myself starting to drift, he kisses the top of
my head and whispers in my ear.

“You
said ‘someday I’m going to marry you,’ and I hoped right then that you were
right.”

“You
mentioned public humiliation—would reminding me of the embarrassing things
I’ve said to you fall into that category?” I ask, unable to look at him.

His
hand traces up and down the side of my arm, relaxing me, but I look up into his
face and find him staring at me.

“I
can tell you every embarrassing thing you’ve ever told me, and all of them make
me love you more.”

“Good,”
I smile, “because I wouldn’t take any of them back.”

“Remember when I told you I hate
shopping?” I call out to Ree as I hand her another dress to try on.

“Be
a girl for five damn minutes,” Bailey calls out from the next dressing room.

“It’s
been two hours—and why are you even trying a dress on? You already have
one,” I remind her.

She
doesn’t answer and I don’t care to hear the logic behind her actions. I hated
trying on the ones I did—and shoe shopping? No thank you. Fortunately,
Mom isn’t a big shopper either. We made it as quick and painless as possible so
we could grab dinner.

“You
had no idea about the carnival?” Ree asks, changing the subject from clothes to
guys quicker than I can keep up.

I’ve
been so busy with swim team and class projects that we haven’t gotten to talk
very much. Sure, we see each other at lunch, but we’re there with the guys.
Besides, as much as I like these girls—and I do—the people I
confide in, the ones I always have, are my guys.

“None
at all. But we had a great time.” I smile to myself.

“I
would kill Joey if he tried to take me to a carnival for a date,” Bailey
whines. “I mean, no offense, but that’s pretty cheesy.”

“I
love cheesy,” I defend.

She
opens her mouth to say something but Ree’s squeal distracts her.

“We
have a winner,” she declares and steps out with the perfect dress.

Bailey
and I both gush over her selection and I snap a picture of her with my phone
before she disappears in the dressing room to change. I told Cole I’d let him
know what he needed to get so he could match her.

In
front of the guys, Cole is all male. He likes to act as if things don’t affect
him like they do others. But then he’ll call me up and keep me on the phone for
thirty minutes trying to figure out what his next move is. When I brought up
tuxes for prom, he shrugged as if it was no big deal. An hour after I got home,
as expected, he was asking about Ree’s dress, if he needed a corsage, and if he
should get his hair trimmed a week before or the day before. The only way to
get him to relax was promise I’d get a picture of her dress.
This should make him happy.

“Are
you nervous about the meet this weekend?” Bailey asks, breaking me from my
thoughts.

“Not
yet, but I still have to pack everything up and I’m sure it’ll hit me then.
We’ll head out Friday since it starts early Saturday morning.”

“My
dad is taking time off work, and Mom says she has everything planned. I just
hope I can get them to take a little detour—and by ‘little,’ I mean
‘completely out of the way’—because I really want to see Baylor again.”

“Didn’t
you drive out there during Thanksgiving break?” she asks.

“And?”

“And
I’m sure it hasn’t changed since the last time you were there,” Ree calls out.

Changing
the subject, I decide to flip the conversation around on them.

“Do
you have plans this weekend?” I ask them both.

“My
parents will actually be around this weekend,” Bailey rolls her eyes, “so they
want to have a little getaway.”

“Sounds
like fun. Where are you going?” I ask.

“San
Antonio. Riverwalk. They started getting nostalgic when they realized I’m
graduating soon, so they want to go to the one place we used to go when I was
little.”

“That’s
sweet,” I say, even though she doesn’t seem happy about it. “At least they’re
making time for you.”

“It’s
probably a photo op or something for the Christmas card this year,” she scoffs.

“What
about you, Ree? Any plans?” I ask.

“Nothing
big. Might go catch a movie or veg at home. Haven’t really decided,” she
shrugs.

“I
get back Sunday afternoon, do y’all want to go out to eat or something?”

“Ree,
did you hear that?” Bailey asks with mocked shock.

“Yeah,
did Laila just ask us on a date?” Ree adds.

“Forget
I asked,” I laugh.

“Nope,
it’s a date.” Ree smiles.

“I
hate to do this, but I really need to go,” I announce to the sounds of annoyed
groans. “Hey, you don’t have to go, Haden’s here to pick me up.
But Sunday.
See you then?”

I
wave goodbye and head out, determined to get some rest—because I’m going
to be exhausted if I don’t.

* * *

Focus,
Laila.
You got this.

Swim fast and ignore
everything else.

It’s just the water and me.

It’s
what I tell myself before each heat that I’m in, but it does little to calm my
nerves. It’s my last time to swim as a high school athlete as well as my final
event of the day.

The
signal is given to step onto the diving block and I check my goggles one last
time before moving onto the podium. Every noise echoes in the natatorium as
people cheer their swimmer on, but I drown out the noises and focus.

“C’mon,
Laila,” they scream, and I point to my ear to let them know I heard.

“Swimmers.
Take your mark,” the judge calls over the speaker.

I
stare at the water and take a deep breath before breaking the surface to begin
my race. Noises are muffled in the water, but I focus on the sound of my
breathing and pushing my body to the limit as I make my way to the wall for the
flip turn. My arms are tired, but I swim harder and faster in order to finish
strong, as my legs offer the extra boost to aid in my speed. My body glides
through the water seamlessly as I attempt to increase my speed so I can reach
the wall.

I
raise my head out of the water and try to catch my breath while looking to the
scoreboard. Moments after my completion, I notice the final three reach the
wall, but I’m not sure where I placed in the overall lineup.

As
I climb out of the pool, there is a burst of excited screams coming from the
stands, but it’s not my family. Mom, Dad, and Luka are loud, but not that loud.
Walking toward the wall, I look up at the board and there it is, next to my
name—first place. I smile and grab my towel before making my way toward
my family, who’s waiting for me, but as I get closer I see that Luka isn’t with
my parents because her body is wrapped around the neck of Haden, who smiles
proudly as I reach him.

“What
are you doing here?” I ask when he sets her down.

She
mopes, but only for a second before he takes her hand in his.

“We
wouldn’t miss your last meet.” He smiles and kisses me. “You were great.”

“We?”

He
points in the direction of my parents, who are making their way down with the
rest of the guys.

“Y’all
are awesome,” I tell them as they get closer, and I walk over to hug each of
them. “When did you get here?”

“About
thirty minutes ago. It was hard to find a parking spot,” Braxton says.

Mom
and Dad break through the guys and crush me into a proud hug, despite my suit
getting them wet.

“You
were great,” Mom says with pride, and Dad nods in agreement.

“Definitely
ended on a high note,” he adds.

Everyone
congratulates me as Mom and Dad lead our group toward the exit. They talk over
each other and I look down at Luka who is trying to make heads or tails out of
any conversation. She smiles at me and I make a face, causing her to laugh as
Mom and Dad small talk with the guys.

Mom
hands me my bag of clothes so I can change and I hoist it over my shoulder and
listen to the conversations before I interrupt.

“I’m
starving, but I need to change and get cleaned up. What time do we need to head
out?” I ask Mom and Dad.

“We’re
leaving right now,” Mom says, pointing to Luka in explanation. “But the boys
wanted to take you out to celebrate.”

“Oh.
Okay,” I say, stunned that they’re already leaving.

She
and Dad pull me into another hug while congratulating me on a great win. Luka
doesn’t want to leave and begs Mom to let her stay, but Mom refuses so she
walks over to me and gives me a pouty hug before disappearing with my parents.
Funny how she was the most annoying person in
my world, but now that I’m going to be leaving for college, I’m starting to
like having her around.

I
head off to change in the shower room, and when I return the guys are hanging
outside talking about something, but get quiet when I am closer. There’s nothing
suspicious about the action because none of them look guilty. I can read
everything about them from one look, and there’s nothing to tell here.

“What’s
the plan?” I ask of all of them when no one speaks.

“Depends
on what you want to do,” Haden says as we walk toward Cole’s SUV.

“Anyone
want to see Baylor?” I ask hopefully. But from the eye rolls and heavy sighs,
it’s not in the cards.

“Let’s
start with food and see how much time we have. Sound good?” Joey suggests.

“That’s
not a no. I’ll take it!” I shout as we near the vehicle.

Haden
holds the door open, and I climb into the middle and sit between him and
Braxton. The guys are telling me about the drive out here and how traffic was
backed up pretty badly, though I’m not sure why. Joey is sitting in the
passenger seat and mutters something to Cole, who cocks his head to the side in
some sort of response. With that gesture, Braxton nods and Haden hides a
grin—now I know they’re going to do something.

“We
talked it over and Bailey told Joey how much you wanted to see Baylor,” Cole
says as he continues to drive.

“Really?”
I ask excitedly. “Even though I’ve already been there before?”

“You’ve
never been with us,” Braxton says easily.

“Y’all
are awesome, but do you think we have time?”

“Trust
me,” Joey says, “we have enough time.”

Haden
drapes his arm across the back of the seat and I lean into him and smile. I
have to be the luckiest girl around to have these guys in my life. I didn’t
even have to throw a fit to get my way. My eyelids grow heavy from the toll the
day has taken on me, so I close my eyes and try to relax.

“Don’t
fall asleep,” Haden says. “We’re almost there.”

“There’s
no way,” I assert, sitting upright and looking around.

Cole
turns down a street lined with car after car, leaving very little for something
of his car’s size to get through. A truck pulls out in front of us and Cole
maneuvers the SUV into the vacated spot and throws the car in park.

“Let’s
go,” he says and everyone opens
their
doors and Haden
helps me out.

He
takes my hand in his and the five of us walk together down the street until we
come to a stop in front of what looks to be a large painted canvas or
something. Joey’s huge smile leaves me confused, especially when he stretches
out his arms as if he’s
Vanna
White.

“Welcome
to Baylor,” he laughs before adding, “
Street
.”

“You
have got to be kidding me,” I huff out in annoyance before laughing. “You guys
suck. I hate you.”

“You
didn’t really think we were going to drive two hours in the wrong direction to get
you home, did you?” Brax asks, hugging me tight.

“I
should know better,” I agree.

“And
yet you don’t,” Cole adds teasingly.

Some
people would call it graffiti, others would call it art. To me, it’s awesome
and fits Austin perfectly. In between houses, there is a large area that has a
tiered wall that has been spray-painted with words, drawings,
abstracts—nothing is out of place. I wonder if people can paint on it
anytime the mood strikes? That’s what it looks like, anyway. There is no
pattern or theme, as things appear to catch my eye at random. Vibrant colors
set against the blue Texas sky—it’s really beautiful and I’ve never heard
of it. Then again, Haden is the artsy one of the bunch.

This was all Haden’s idea.

His
hands are stuffed into his pockets as he tries to hide his own laughter over
the joke, but when I shake my head, he loses it and laughs outright. I flip
them off playfully, and run up to the middle of the area and wait for the guys
to follow. My arms are outstretched, reaching for the sky, and I feel so small.
Haden joins me and lifts me up in the air and I let my head fall back and enjoy
the ride.

“All
right, you two, be still so I can take a picture,” Braxton orders. We oblige
and hold the pose until we’re given the all clear and he sets me down.

“I
want one of all five of us,” I say to the groans I know so well when such a
picture is requested. Still, they come over and we squeeze together and Joey
takes the phone in his hand to snap the ultimate selfie of me with my best
friends.