Paris turns out to be fun. Like, a lot of, a lot of fun. And we spend so much time sightseeing, tasting the food, and going shopping that I don’t have too much time to dwell on my family situation. Still, during the late hours of the night, when Indigo is snoring and Grandma Stephy is tossing and turning, I lie awake in bed, going over every single memory I can scrounge up, trying to figure out how I missed it. Missed the truth. It’s hard to take in, hard not to cry, and sometimes, I let the tears soak my pillow.
On the bright side, I haven’t received any more strange texts, and my phone has been fairly silent for most of the trip. I’m trying to convince myself that it was just a fluke, a mere wrong number, but I have the most unsettling feeling that there’s more to it than that. But I try not to stress about it too much and simply focus on having fun.
We’ve been in London for a few days now, and there are so many sights to see, like Big Ben and Tower Bridge, that we’ve had hardly any time to rest. Everyone is feeling the exhaustion, but no one wants to slow down.
“I’m so exhausted,” Indigo says to Grandma Stephy as we get on the elevator to go up to our room. “I think I’m going to crash early tonight.”
When she catches my eye and gives me “the look,” I know her feigned exhaustion is just a ruse. She really has a hidden agenda for us tonight. I’m excited to see what she has planned and cross my fingers that maybe it’ll wear me out enough I’ll pass out as soon as we go to bed.
“That’s okay. I was thinking about going out with some of my friends, anyway,” Grandma says as the elevator doors glide open. She steps out into the hallway, and we follow. “Could you two girls do me a favor?”
“Of course, Grandma Stephy; we’d be more than happy to.” Indigo lays on her charm thickly.
“Make sure the door shuts all the way when you decide to sneak out.” Grandma Stephy grins at us as she digs the key card out of her purse. “Last time, you left it open. You were lucky we didn’t get robbed.”
Indigo gives her a guilty look. “That was all the way back in Paris. If you knew we were sneaking out all this time, why didn’t you say anything?”
Grandma Stephy swipes the key card into the slot on our room door. “Because I didn’t want to ruin the fun of sneaking out.”
“But you freaked out the one time you found out we left the room,” Indigo points out as the three of us enter the small, quaint room. “Why do you suddenly not care what we do?”
“I care. I just figured you two need to have some fun.” She looks at me, and I know by that you two, she really means me. Grandma Stephy sits down to take off her shoes. “But now that we’ve got that all out into the open, I’d prefer if you two told me where you were going and I didn’t have to track you down with that little thing on your phone.”
“What thing?” Indigo asks as she unzips her suitcase.
“That little tracker thing that lets you know where your phone is,” Grandma Stephy gets up and heads into the bathroom to take a shower.
I flop down on the bed and stretch my arms and legs out. “So, does it lessen our fun that she’s known this whole time what we’ve been up to? Because that whole we’re-being-so-rebellious-and-it-makes-this-so-much-more-fun speech you gave when we snuck out to go clubbing seems pretty insignificant now.”
“Nah, we still had fun, didn’t we?” she asks with her head tucked down as she rummages through her bag for the perfect outfit.
“That we did,” I agree, sitting up. “So, what’re we doing tonight? Or is it another surprise?”
She looks up at me, grinning as she throws a shimmery black dress at my face. “Tonight, we’re going to find you a guy.”
I set the dress down on the bed and run my fingers along the glittery fabric, smoothing out the wrinkles. “I don’t need to find a guy.”
“Liar. You so need to find a guy, so you can get over that Kyler dude.”
During a drunken conversation, I told Indigo about Kyler. She isn’t a huge fan of my crush on him and said I deserve a guy who actually tries to spend time with me. I wanted to argue that we technically have spent time together, but knew my point was probably moot since a few weekends doesn’t really count.
Knowing there’s no point in arguing with her, I get up and wiggle into the dress then curl my hair. I apply some dark red lipstick, and kohl eyeliner then add a drop of eye glitter, just because I love looking sparkly sometimes. Since I’m a newbie at the hair and makeup thing, I make sure to get Indigo’s approval.
“You look fantastic,” she says, admiring my handiwork as she douses her hair in hairspray. “Seriously, you’ve caught on to this whole makeup and hair stuff way faster than I expected you to.”
“Thanks.” While I appreciate her approval, there are times when I still feel like the girl with shiny brown and green hair. Wearing the glittery, probably too short dress, isn’t me. I feel like I look ridiculous, and everyone around me knows it.
My phone suddenly buzzes from the nightstand. Indigo and I trade a quizzical look because the thing never goes off.
I hurry over and pick it up, worried there might be something wrong at home. And in the back of my mind, a tiny drop of fear rises that maybe the message is from the unknown caller again.
My confusion only deepens when I see the message is from Kai.
Kai: U haven’t sent me any pics yet. :( At first, I thought maybe it’s because u forgot all about your cute, sexy neighbor next-door, but then I realized how impossible that could be and started worrying that maybe something bad happened to u. That’s it, right? Something bad happened to u?
Me: So you’re saying u would rather something bad happen to me?
Kai: Ha! I knew that’d get u to respond.
Me: Whatever. I was never ignoring u since this is the first time u sent me a message.
Kai: I didn’t want to seem too needy, but then I realized it wasn’t about me. It was about your well-being.
I roll my eyes. I can almost picture Kai smiling as he texts me, totally amused with himself.
Kai: So where’s my pic?
“You should probably send him the one we took at the top of the Eiffel Tower. You looked amazing in it,” Indigo says, reading the message from over my shoulder. “But first, you have to explain to me who Kai is.”
“He’s Kyler’s younger brother who loves to annoy me,” I say, sinking down on the bed.
She coils a strand of her hair around her finger. “Annoy you, huh?” She seems wistful about something. “Because, from what I read through the text, he seems like he’s flirting with you.”
I laugh so hard I almost pee myself.
“Kai isn’t flirting with me. Trust me; he’s made it his life mission to annoy the crap out of me.” I start to send Kai the pic Indigo suggested then stop myself.
I don’t fully understand why. Part of me whispers that my hesitancy is that I don’t trust him. The other part of me whispers that I’m just not ready to take these moments overseas, this fantasy world I’ve been living in where I feel like I can be anyone and do anything, and share it with my old life.
Me: Don’t have any cool pics yet. Sorry.
I leave it at that and put my phone away.
He doesn’t reply. I don’t know why I’m surprised or a tiny bit disappointed, but I am. The sucky part is I don’t know what I’m more disappointed about: Kai’s silence, or the fact I was too afraid to send him a damn photo.
I shake the feeling off, though, and focus on tonight, focus on my next life experience.
As I walk out the door, my phone buzzes. I fish it out of my bag, and then my stomach ravels in knots.
Unknown: London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down. And Isabella’s world is going to crash down, too.
Panic sets in. My heart slams in my chest. Someone knows about my mom. Someone who knows I’m in London. The only people I can think of who would know that is my grandma Stephy, Indigo, my dad, Lynn, and maybe Hannah.
When Indigo notices my worried expression, she asks, “What’s wrong? Why do you look like you’re about to be sick?”
Instead of answering, I show her the texts I’ve received from the unknown caller. She reads over the messages then shakes her head.
“I bet it’s Hannah,” she says. “It sounds just like something she’d do to you. That stupid bitch. God, I’ve never been able to stand her.”
“Me neither.” I clutch the phone in my hand. “But how did she even find out? And how would she get an unknown number? I have her programmed in my phone under her name …”
“I don’t know.” Indigo shrugs, not seeming too bothered. “Maybe your dad said something about it to her. Or Lynn. My bet is Lynn. That stupid bitch has always had it out for you.” She shakes her head, her jaw set tight. “And the whole unknown number thing is probably Hannah’s way of messing around with your head and trying to make you worry. I bet she just borrowed her friend’s or something so you wouldn’t know it was her.”
“Maybe.” I know she’s probably right. If Hannah found out about my mom, she’d definitely do something like this to me.
If it is her, I really wish I knew her end game: whether she’s just messing with my head or if there’s more to come.