The Girl of Sand & Fog (24 page)

OK, that was mean, harsh and totally illogical
since Alan is probably right about everything but, fuck, hello, no one ever
gives a shit about me and you aren’t today.

“It’s about all of us,” Alan says succinctly.

Right.

“Fine. No posting. At least until after I move
out next month. After that I’m doing what I want.”

Alan stares at me, alarmed. “Moving out? What are
you talking about?”

His reaction surprises me.

It almost sounds like he doesn’t want me to.

I shrug. “I’m done with high school at the end of
May and I’m getting the hell out of here. Bobby and I are going to get a place
together.”

Inwardly I cringe, feeling the bite even though
it was only a little lie, since Bobby and I haven’t really talked about that,
but I’m pretty sure it’s what he wants us to do.

I change directions. “Are we done? Is this why
Mom wanted me to come straight home? For this? Or do I still have to check in
with Mom?”

He studies me for a long moment. “We’re done. And
you don’t
have
to check in with Chrissie, but you should.”

I stand up. “Tell Mom I went to Zoe’s.”

Alan lifts a brow. “Why don’t you not
go
to Zoe’s tonight? Eventually your mom is going to figure out what going to
Zoe’s means, Kaley. It’s going to hurt her when she does, the lying to her and
realizing she missed it. Maybe you should stay in and finally talk to Chrissie
honestly. There seems to be quite a bit going on in your life she knows nothing
about.”

My entire face reddens. “Thanks for the
suggestion, but I already have plans.”

Alan focuses on gathering up his things. “I want
you to tell me the truth. You never being home, is it about me, Kaley? Or the
nonsense in the press? Or something else your mother and I don’t know?”

I gape.

Really?

Do you actually want me to believe you don’t know
why I can’t stand being here with you?

“It has nothing to do with you,” I say
dismissively. “I do have a life, Alan.”

“We used to have a good relationship. I don’t
know why you’re so hostile now.”

“I’m not eight anymore. I’m not hostile. I don’t
avoid you. I don’t think of you at all.”

Those words unexpectedly cut at my insides.

That was mean, Kaley, mean
. Far
from the truth, not what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t stop myself.

Crap, I need to get the fuck out of here right
now before this all blows up into something even more unpleasant.

I start to turn away, but Alan’s gaze halts me,
flooding me with an array of unsettling, warring sensations.

“If you are always gone and eager to move out
because of me, then I’m sorry,” he says softly, his voice potent with tightly
leashed emotion. “That is not what I wanted. If it’s something else I wish
you’d confide in your mother. If you’re angry over the garbage being spewed in
the press, then I want you to know this directly from me. The only true things
you’ve read are that I’ve loved your mother most of my life and Khloe is my
daughter. The rest, sweetheart, is lies.”

I stare at him, my insides growing colder and
colder with each second. A non-denial denial that I’m his daughter since that
is part of the ‘lies’ in the rag sheets these day. I can’t get air into my
lungs. I hold back the tears until I’m in my bedroom.

*  *  *

When
I get to Bobby’s, his car is already gone and he’s left for the desert. Damn. I
pull out of the Rowans’ driveway and head for the Kennedys’.

I’m let into the house by the housekeeper, and
quickly make my way to Zoe’s room. She’s sitting on her bed wearing flannel
pajama bottoms and a tank top—
crap, I was right. Depression city
—staring
at something on her iPad with a wounded dimness in her eyes.

I feel kind of wounded myself after that hideous
talk with Alan on the patio. Zoe being a mess gives me something to focus on
other than the sorry state of my own life.

I toss down my bag and flop onto my stomach on
her bed. “What’s wrong? More crap from Natasha?”

She shakes her head, and clicks off the tablet
before I can see the screen. “Nothing. I just really wish we were going to Palm
Springs.”

“Me, too.” I shake my head and groan. “I wish
you’d been at school today. It was hideous from first bell. The worst freaking
day ever. Bizarreness from beginning to end. Everyone in my business about
everything. Natasha and her posse. Mr. Jamison actually sent me to OCD this
afternoon. Mrs. Trent wanted to have that ‘
I’m not just your teacher, I’m
your friend’
girl chat. All worried and shit about me over something. And
the cherry on the cake of my day was quality time with my current male parental
figure. I’ve been ordered not to post any of my work online and then, to add
insult to injury, he in not-so-many words denied he was my father.”

Zoe’s eyes go wide. “He didn’t?”

I nod.

“Are you OK?”

“Sure. Great,” I whisper, trying to speak through
the lump in my throat.

She studies me, gnawing at her lower lip. “Maybe
you should cool it with your websites and blogs for a while. Some of the
Kaley’s
Word
stuff. It’s not funny anymore. Especially the stuff about Alan. It’s
sort of—”

I give her
the stare
. “Sort of what?”

She lifts her chin. “Wrong.”

“Well, I think those videos are just fine.” I let
out a frustrated breath. “And it’s not like anyone knows I’m doing them or that
they’re about Alan or anyone else I post about. No one knows I’m
Kaley’s
World.
And the only reason you know who they’re about is because you know
me. It’s not wrong. It’s satire. And no one knows for sure who the videos are
about.”

“What if someone hacked you? Found out? You’ve
been saying some really unkind things, Kaley. Even about Khloe.”

I roll my eyes. “They won’t. It’s all cool, Zoe.”

“No, Kaley, there is nothing cool about any of
the things you’ve been posting online on your secret accounts lately.”

We square off with our eyes and Zoe looks away
first.

Thank God.

I don’t want to talk about my social media
accounts, I don’t want to talk about my dad, and I definitely don’t want to
have another
Kaley, you should tell Bobby about this
discussion. Nope,
not doing it. Bobby would blow if he saw any of it.

“So what do you want to do this weekend?” I ask,
abruptly changing the subject.

She crinkles her nose. “Anything. I’m bored out
of my skull. My folks took off for Morea this morning and the house is so quiet
I can’t stand it.”

“Your folks are gone? There is no one home.”

Zoe nods. “For a month.”

“Damn it, Zoe. We could have gone to Palm
Springs. Ian and Yotti wouldn’t even have known if we’d taken off.”

Her pretty face grows anxious and serious. “Nope.
Not lying to them. This time I’m staying home like they told me to. I’ve been
sitting here all day thinking about all the things I haven’t been busted for
yet and how pissed off they’re going to be if they ever discover them. Ian
totally flipped out when he found out—and thank you, Kaley, for posting it on
your Facebook—that I went to Mexico with Jake without tell them. I’ve never
seen Ian so angry. But my dad really scared me with all that ‘
this is what
could happen to you’
shit. I’m going to lay low for a while, Kaley, and I
think maybe you should, too.”

I blink at her.

Shit.

We’re finally over eighteen.

Now is when she decides we should do what we’re
told to?

*  *  *

“Don’t
post it, Kaley. Enough already. She’s not going to back down. Let it go.”

I ignore Zoe and hit post anyway.

“You want me to stop the cyberwar, give me
Natasha’s phone number or tell me where she lives so I can have it out with her
face-to-face. This shit needs to stop. Now, Zoe. I don’t want her bullying you
anymore and the photo she’s spreading of Jake with another girl is bullshit.
Fake. Photoshopped or something. He wouldn’t do that to you.”

Zoe gives me an intense look. “I know that. I got
over it after I called Jake when she texted me the first one on Friday. Yep, I
got butt-hurt when I saw it. Yep, I went off on my boyfriend. But it ended three
days ago for me. I don’t know why you keep hitting her back online every time
she hits me.”

“Because she’s a bitch and she deserves it and
I’m not going to put up with her treating you this way.”

Zoe’s eyes fly wide. “But I don’t care. And I
just want the fighting to stop. It’s gotten out of hand. It’s going to be ten
times worse now when I go back to school. Can’t you see that, Kaley?”

I slap closed my laptop and flop back on the bed.
“Fine. I’ll stop.”

She nods in relief. “Good. It needs to stop. It’s
too much for me. I don’t want to fight with anyone.”

I pout. “I’m sorry. But you’re my best friend. I
love you. And I can’t stand when those girls hurt you.”

She smiles. “Boy, when you say you’re going to
have someone’s back you mean it.”

She makes a silly face and I laugh.

Then I groan.

“Maybe I did take it too far. Bobby is going to
be so pissed if he sees any of it. Definitely not among my most stellar
moments.”

“Some of it was kind of funny,” Zoe offers
carefully.

I shake my head. “No. You’re right. I took it too
far.”

Ding.

Oh fuck, that was fast. Fucking Natasha. Zoe’s
right. She’s never backing down.

Zoe grabs her phone off the bed and holds it away
from me. “Don’t look at it. It’s my text. I don’t want to see it. We’ve decided
it stops.”

She stares at me, unblinking, and I nod. “Fine.
It stops. Can we go out and grab some breakfast now? I’m starving.”

“Let me take a fast shower then we’re out of
here.”

I watch her disappear into her bathroom. I lie
back and shoot off a text to Bobby.

Me: What
time are you going to be back in the ’Sades?

Bobby:
On the way home now, babe. We should be there in maybe two hours if we don’t
hit more traffic.

Me:
Can’t wait.

Bobby:
Me either. Be ready to hit the road for Santa Cruz the second I get there.

Me: The
second, huh? Wouldn’t you like a 30 minute layover before you start driving
again?

Bobby:
30 minutes? Layover’s definitely longer than that.

Me: Says
who?

Bobby:
Says you. Love you.

Ding.

I check to make sure Zoe won’t catch me—bathroom
door closed and water running—then I go to her laptop on the desk and click on
her Facebook page. I check the messenger. Yep, new incoming from Natasha.

I open the chat box and my body grows cold even
though my heart is pumping so quickly I almost can’t breathe.

Two pictures in a collage side by side.

Where the fuck did Natasha get them?

One of Alan and Khloe.

One of Alan and me.

Headline: Which one does Daddy love?

Khloe captioned: Billion dollar baby.

I’m captioned: Zero dollar baby.

Closing caption: We all know what you are, Kaley.

That’s it. I’m not putting up with this shit one
second longer. How the fuck did Natasha get that picture of Khloe? Nope, I
don’t care what Zoe says. I’m having it out with her today.

I grab Zoe’s tote. Please, Zoe, I hope you put
your phone back in here. I rummage through her stuff, then anxiously toss
everything out onto the bed.

An envelope floats to the floor, I pick it up and
then my eyes go wide.

She got the kinship lab results and didn’t give
them to me. How could Zoe do that? Ripping it open, I sink onto the bed. I pull
it from the envelope and then stare at it, stunned.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh no.

This can’t be right.

It’s not possible.

Krystal’s voice rises in my memory.
I didn’t
just open them. I used them for their intended purpose. One of those is Eric’s.
One of those is Ethan’s. One of those is mine.

We’re not half siblings.

None of us.

We all have the same mother and father.

What have my parents done?