2 L.A. BOUND

After three hours at Heathrow Airport, which included stopping in various shops to buy candy, magazines, and extra bottles of water, the Carmichaels loaded onto their flight. Zee settled into her seat next to her mother and grabbed her headphones. She was ready to throw a blanket over herself and watch a few cheesy plane movies, read some magazines, and catch a nap somewhere in between during the eleven-hour flight.

Before the plane took off, Zee got a text from Chloe.

Chloe

Weather is grand! Text when you land. Can’t wait to see you. Neither can Landon and Kathi, haha!

Zee raised her eyebrows. Chloe had mentioned two of the people at Brookdale Academy that she felt most hesitant about seeing. Landon Beck was her friend who became something more and then became something weird. Was it a crush? Was it more? Zee still couldn’t describe it. Whatever it was, Zee and Landon felt the same way for exactly three minutes, but Zee’s feelings faded quickly while Landon’s feelings lingered. Zee ended up leaving Brookdale without really saying goodbye and had been wondering if that was the right thing to do ever since.

Kathi Barney was another story. Kathi and Zee were frenemies at Brookdale. Kathi was the sort of girl who smiled at your face when she wanted something, then talked about you behind your back. She was always looking for attention—from teachers to friends (Zee’s friends, in particular)—and desperately wanted to sing the lead in Zee’s Brookdale band, The Beans. But Zee was the stronger performer, so Kathi was relegated to singing backup. Zee had not planned on seeing Kathi much during her time in Malibu, which would be a relief. But if Landon wanted to pay me a visit, I wouldn’t mind, Zee thought to herself.

• • •

The plane leveled off at 30,000 feet, and the flight attendants began serving snacks and passing out headphones to passengers. Mrs. Carmichael was busy tending to the twins as they squirmed in their seats. Camilla read a book to Connor while Mrs. Carmichael fed Phoebe.

“Zee,” Mr. Carmichael called. “They have Home Alone on the media system.” It was one of Zee’s favorite holiday films. Zee smiled and started to flip through the menu items on the screen in front of her.

About an hour into the movie, Zee drifted off into another world, a place she had been before. It was Brookdale, her old neighborhood, with its tree-lined streets and tidy houses, and kids riding their bikes and rollerblading toward her old school, Brookdale Academy. Zee was sitting in her mom’s old Prius, headed to the school. She was excited to be on campus again.

Mrs. Carmichael pulled up in front of the school. But something was off. There were no students outside. No teachers. It looked like there was no school today.

“You’re sure it’s not a holiday?” Zee asked.

“I’m sure, Zee! It’s Brookdale. Go on, go see your friends!” Mrs. Carmichael said.

Zee raised an eyebrow at her mother, then slowly opened the car door and got out.

Hesitantly, Zee walked toward the school building but heard no one. “Have a good day at school,” Mrs. Carmichael called behind her. Zee looked over her shoulder and saw her mother was already driving off.

Where is everyone? Zee thought to herself.

Zee looked at her watch. Oh. My. Lanta! It was already 10 a.m. Why hadn’t Mom told me I was two hours late for school? She made it sound like everything was going to be awesome. Zee raced to the front door and yanked hard on the door handle. It was locked. “Hello?!” Zee called, trying to get someone’s attention.

She could see a few students in the hallway just past the entrance, walking too fast to notice a flustered Zee at the door. Zee rattled the door handle, trying to signal to someone to let her inside, but no one came. Zee cupped her two hands around her face and pushed her head against the glass, peering down the empty school hallway. She was an alumna, for crying out loud, a proud former student! Her picture was on the wall of the library along with the other Beans band members. Why wouldn’t anyone let her in?

Finally, a student walking by saw Zee knocking on the door. He didn’t recognize her, but he walked closer to get a better look. It was Landon, Zee’s former crush. He looked confused, then started laughing and pointing at her. Then he called a friend over, and the friend laughed and pointed too. Another boy came over, then a girl Zee didn’t recognize, then another. Soon, there were ten kids laughing and pointing at her.

“Why won’t you let me in?” Zee asked. “I just want to come back inside!”

Then Kathi Barney joined in with the crowd, laughing and pointing at Zee. Soon, dozens of kids were treating Zee as if she were a clown trapped inside a cage too small for her. Zee didn’t understand what was going on, but she yanked and yanked on the door handle, and the louder and longer she banged and pulled on the door, the louder and longer the laughter from the students inside grew. Finally, Zee screamed:

“Let me in!”

Suddenly, Zee felt a hand grip her arm. “Zee? Zee,” the voice said. Zee tried to shake herself free of the grip. She pushed herself away, jolting up in her seat. Taking a breath, Zee saw her startled mother staring at her. “You okay?” Mrs. Carmichael asked.

Zee looked around, confused. She was not in Brookdale. She was on the flight to Los Angeles, still on the plane, still in her seat. “Yeah. Fine. Just a dream,” Zee said. A very bad dream. A nightmare of epic proportions. Kathi Barney and Landon laughing at me? Oh man, I hope my reunion at Brookdale doesn’t go that bad, she thought.

Zee leaned forward and pulled out her journal and pen from inside her backpack. She clicked the pen and started to write furiously, not wanting to forget the dream before she could record it in her journal.

Why did I have a nightmare about Brookdale Academy? It was my happy place. Where my friends and old bandmates were! Why did I dream all of a sudden about being an outsider? Am I an outsider now? Are people going to be mean to me when I arrive? Ugh, mylanta!

Zee tucked the journal back into her backpack. Then she pulled the blanket back over her body and up to her shoulders, eventually falling back asleep.

• • •

After their long flight to Los Angeles, the Carmichaels took a large SUV to their rental home in Malibu, an hour’s drive away from the airport. They piled out of the car in front of a large rectangular house that was mostly windows, right on the beach. Zee walked into the house and her mouth dropped wide open.

“Whoooaaaa! I cannot believe this is ours for the entire winter break!” she exclaimed.

Zee turned her head from side to side to take in the full view of the two-story open-concept home. From the front entry, she could see the oversized kitchen, family room, and dining area, and beyond that the patio, pool, and gazebo outside overlooking the ocean. A grand piano was tucked into the den opposite the family room. The property manager walked her parents through the house and its grounds while Zee strolled slowly across the light wood floors.

Phoebe and Connor ran ahead of her, eager to get their shoes off so they could jump on the oversized couches. Zee walked into the family room after them. “I cannot wait to have Chloe and Ally here!” she said.

Zee took out her phone and started filming short video clips of the house, narrating the scene as if she were on an HGTV series. She then added the clips to the Zee Files, the secret digital scrapbook where Zee, Ally, and Chloe uploaded their texts, photos, videos, and other messages for each other so they could keep in touch. This place is amazing! Zee wrote in a caption.

She walked past the kitchen, with its shiny, new silver appliances and white cabinets and countertops, to the dining area, where a long, rectangular table was already set for a group of ten. “This place was made for entertaining,” Mrs. Carmichael said as she peered in. “We should ask the neighbors to join us for dinner just because we have space at the table.”

Between the dining room and kitchen, Zee spotted a clear space. “Mom, that’s the perfect place for the tree,” Zee yelled out.

“For one of them anyway, yes!” her mother yelled back. The twins were already running down the hallways, looking for small treats and toys to play with as Camilla chased after them.

The family meandered through the large shared spaces and the bedrooms before making their way outside, where the air smelled salty and fresh. A large grill was built into the outdoor kitchen and bar area. Zee immediately ran to one of the loungers by the pool. She sat down and lay back, letting the sun beam down on her face. “Ahhhhh,” she said.

Zee wasn’t the only one who was recording the house’s features on her phone—Mrs. Carmichael captured every moment for her Instagram feed. She even took footage of the property manager explaining some of the house’s key features. Mrs. Carmichael flashed the camera over to Zee.

“Mom, can ya stop? Can we just move in already?” Zee said. “Where’s my bedroom?”

“Which bedroom do you want, the one across from the pool?”

“Absolutely!” Zee hustled to her room, rolling her suitcase behind her, and stopped at the first door off the family room that was across the pool. The large door was heavy, but it swung open to a light and airy bedroom. Zee gasped at the sight of the oversized bed, the white fluffy comforter that looked like cotton candy, and the flat screen television on top of the dresser. Zee walked over to the bed and turned her back, then fell onto the comforter, sinking into the mattress. “This is heavenly,” she sighed.

Just when she felt her body relax into the bed, Zee got a text from Chloe and smiled.

Chloe

I’m coming tomorrow. Get ready for me!