"Why do you want me to…" Bonnie began, tapping onto the Home Screen of the app.
Erin and I moved beside Bonnie, so we were looking at her phone screen over each shoulder. Erin reached over and pressed on Bonnie's Instagram story. First, there were two photos of the beach. Next, there was a photo of —
"Oh, fuck," I said.
Bonnie swore at the same time. The photo was of Bonnie, Kennedy, Curtis and I amongst a sea of sweaty bodies. In the next, us holding drinks. Next, I posed for the camera, clearly drunk. A photo of Bonnie and Kennedy posing in the bathroom mirror. A close up of our drinks. Again and again.
"I don't… know how these photos got on here," Bonnie said, first to Erin, and then to me, eyes wide.
"You don't know?" Erin asked, crossing her arms. "Dad just called me and gave me an earful. What the actual hell, Bonnie?"
"It's not as bad as it seems," I said.
Erin looked at me and I shut up.
"I can't believe this," Erin said, then stared at Bonnie. "Oh, wait, I can. Of course, you snuck out, and not only that, you were careless about it. Your Instagram story? Seriously? And, like always, Mum and Dad are going to blame me."
She gestured herself to make a point, then dropped her hand and glanced around the footpath to see if anyone was listening to us, but the footpath was empty.
"But you didn't go," Bonnie said. "And you didn't know about it."
"Which makes me look like a clueless moron," Erin said. "Now they think that we've spent the whole holidays partying and —"
"Who cares what Mum and Dad think?" Bonnie said.
Erin stared at her before turning around and walking the way we came. "Hurry up," she said, not bothering to look at us.
"But what about the groceries?" I asked lamely.
No one responded, and after a moment of hesitation, Bonnie and I followed Erin.
Fifteen minutes later, the five of us are sitting around the kitchen table like we're holding a conference meeting. Erin sits at the end, her fists curled against the table. Kennedy and Curtis aren't sitting in their usual seats next to each other — instead, Kennedy sits next to Bonnie, and Curtis sits beside me. Kennedy's eyes are red, but no one has pointed it out. I don't think Erin even noticed.
When we entered the house, we heard Kennedy and Curtis's voices in the master bedroom, and I tried to stop Erin from bursting in, in case something was going down, but Erin seemed doubly pissed off at the idea that Kennedy and Curtis would be in the master bedroom alone, even if they were talking rather than… you know.
"I just received a call from my parents, informing me about the photos on Bonnie's story," Erin begins, before launching into an explanation of the whole situation for Kennedy and Curtis's sake. Before, they seemed distracted, but once upon hearing what happened, their eyes flick up.
"How did Mum and Dad even find out anyway?" Bonnie asks. "They don't even have Instagram."
"Their maid does," Erin says. "And she showed Grandma and Grandma told Mum and Dad. And your parents know too," she says, flicking a look at Kennedy.
Bonnie runs a hand over her face. "I'm sorry, guys. I don't know why I put those photos up. I don't even remember…"
"You shouldn't apologise for getting caught, you should apologise for sneaking out in the first place!" Erin says. "How many times have you done this?"
"Only once," Curtis says in a tired voice.
Erin surveys the rest of us to read our faces.
"Seriously," Kennedy says. "Only once."
"And you didn't tell me?" Erin asks. I think there's a hint of hurt in her voice, but maybe I'm imagining it.
"Obviously, we wouldn't tell you!" Bonnie says. "You'd stop us! You never let us have any fun, and all you do is act like a parole officer for Mum and Dad. I don't understand why this is such a big deal. People go out all the time. We're all over eighteen. I don't know why you and Mum and Dad and Grandma and everyone in this family are so strict!"
Erin's laugh is harsh and mirthless. "Bonnie, you have no idea how much pressure Mum and Dad put on me to make sure you don't get into trouble. You know who's going to get blamed for everything? Me. I'm entirely responsible for you, and you have no concept of —"
"I can be responsible for myself! I'm an adult, and so is Kennedy."
