20
I get a phone callfrom Teal just as I’m choosing what to wear for dinner at William’s. “Well?” she asks.
“Well what?” I put the phone on speaker so I can keep going through the armoire.
“Hold on. Sage wants me to three-way her in the call.”
I hear a number of beeps and then a ring tone. Sage picks up in the middle of the first one. “Did Adam get mad about your date? Also, how was the date?”
My first thought is my sisters somehow learned that Adam and I grabbed burritos and then went to the beach. Even excluding the part where we visited the wild, wide oak in the woods and proceeded to make out inside it, the whole thing sounds very date-ish. I pause on perusing through my dresses.
Was that a date? It sure felt like one. It’s not like Crescent Beach is ever busy, unlike the downtown beach, so it doesn’t make sense for Adam to bring me there to do a pretend-friendship outing. And the only reason we discussed the topic for his piecewas that I brought it up. I took us to the tree. If it weren’t for that, would he have asked me questions about what happened to me at all?
Did Adam and I literally just go on our first date, and I didn’t even know it?
“Sky?” Teal asks. “Did we lose you when I got Sage on?”
I shake my head even though they can’t see me. “No, no. Sorry, I just got really confused by the three hundred questions that were just asked.”
Sage laughs. “Okay. Touché. Let’s start with: Did you go on the date?”
I pull out a lemon yellow sundress and place it on my comforter. “I did not.”
“Oh. So you told Amá Sonya you changed your mind?”
“Nope. The guy arrived and he was old enough to be my grandparent.”
“He was not,” Teal gasps.
“Okay. Maybe a young grandparent, but still. There was a thirty-year age gap or so. Which…that’s fine for someone else, but not for me.”
“So what did you do?” Teal asks. “Cancel on him by telling him you’re sorry you don’t know the signs of a heart attack?”
I laugh. “No. Adam told him that he and I were dating. And that was why I couldn’t go to breakfast.”
Now they both gasp. “What the hell?” Sage says. “You didn’t mention Adam being there!”
They make me back up the story to tell them every single detail. Which I do. Sort of. For some reason, I just don’t want to tell them about the beach. About the burritos. My revelation that it might have been a not-date date is a little overwhelming now.Especially since, of course, my sisters are already making baseless claims about Adam’s motivations.
“See. I told you,” Teal says. “That man wants you.”
“It really does sound like he couldn’t stand to see you with someone else,” Sage agrees.
I tilt my head and make a hmm-ing noise. “I mean. Maybe he’s got a crush.”
“Maybe?” Teal practically shouts. “He literally chased off your date. Who wasin the drivewayto pick you up!”
“You guys!” I sit on the bed and bury my face in my hands. “Maybe—yes, maybe he’s got a crush. But he’s probably trying to be ethical, because of the article and stuff. I need to respect that.” I use the opportunity to change the subject. “By the way, he wants to interview the two of you for it. If you’re okay with that, I mean. And Teal? No interrogating him about his feelings for me.”
“Aw, man!”
We playfully bicker for a few more minutes, before asking Sage about how she’s doing (much better, the SSRIs are finally kicking in), how the baby is doing (still obsessed with milk), and how Teal’s leather launch is doing (she’s still working hard to meet the deadlines, but Carter is forcing her to take the necessary breaks). When we end the call, I realize that my eyes are stinging. I lie back on the bed and let the tears fall down the sides of my cheeks.
It’s only just now hit me, for some reason. But my sisters are back. They remembered me. They care about me.
They love me.
Maybe there really isn’t a reason to try and move away the first second I can. Because having my sisters by my side…it makes me feel like I can accomplish anything. Even surviving in this town. Maybe even, one day,thrivingin this town.
