Gigiis entirely too familiar, and Lola’s probably only doing it because she wants to get her hands on the Lightly name or money to help her out of whatever pickle she’s gotten herself into as well.
“Aw, that’s too bad,” I tell Lola. “Usually, alternate errands to get out of getting dirty one day mean the other shoe will drop soon. Like tomorrow? Carter will probably have to crawl through the attic or something, since he’s out shopping now. If I were you, I’d be hoping the toilets are the worst of what you have coming your way. I heard they found mold while they were renovating the community center, andsomeone’sgoing to have to clean that up ...”
“Oh, don’t be silly, Tavi. Gigi says my soul’s already in much better shape than the rest of yours.” She sashays into the kitchen and props one skinny, spandex-clad hip against the countertop I just cleaned. “And do you know what? Because of that, I think I should help you out.”
“That’s so kind of you. Does that mean you’re leaving?”
She titters. “Oh, you. You were never this funny when we were younger. Or maybe I just didn’t know it since Phoebe always called you such a spoiled pain in the ass. I was always so glad I was an only child.”
Deliver the insult with a smile, and you can say you were joking.
But I know Phoebe thought I was a pain in the ass.
She told me so herself.
Frequently.
Even that year when we didTavi’s Party Housetogether.
Maybe especially that year.
“Siblings have their perks,” I say through my smile. My cheeks hurt, and my teeth are gnashed together so hard that I should probably wear my night guard all day. “Grown-up siblings are actually the best. We’re built-in friends now. Not so lonely, you know?”
“It’s really nice to not have to be friends with people just because you’re related to them too, though.” She’s beaming at me so hard I’m positive her cheeks hurt too. They have to. “Like being friends with you. It’s so, like,refreshing. And do you know what? I’m in talks with myproducers to do next season ofLola’s Tiny HouseasLola’s School Houseinstead. As soon as Gigi signs off, we’ll be getting cameras and writers and directors in here. You should totally doLola’s School Housewith me. We have this great chemistry, and we could fight over the bedrooms, and over whose turn it is for the locker room shower, and over which of us left a bigger mess in the kitchen ...”
Lola’s School House? Itoldyou she wants to be me.
It’s my turn to titter. “That’s so last season in my family, Lola. Like, you should’ve seen us fighting over bedrooms when Gigi moved us into the school.”
“And Phoebe took the best bedroom. Naturally.”
“And wasn’t that great for you when you got to move into it since she already moved in with Teague in his tiny house?” I titter again. “Like, wouldn’t that be funny if Teague’s tiny house was canceled too? Where would they live? They’d have to move into the library here.”
She glances behind herself, then slides closer to me. “You still call him Teague? Even though ... you know.”
“I still call you Lola even though ... you know,” I whisper back.
Lola Minelli was six when she petitioned the courts to change her name from Petunia Gardenia Minelli, on the grounds of child abuse.
Her mother has a thing for flowers. And her aunt was appalled and paid the legal fees.
Which is nothing at all like why Teague changedhisname after high school.
Lola waves a hand as if she’s wiping away the memory. “Totally different.”
“True. He walked away from family money to make a better life for himself, and you ... well, I guess we’re lucky you have good parents who understood you needed a lot of help.”
Truly, truly, truly hate this life.
“It’s eat or be eaten,” Phoebe always said.
I’m glad she’s staying in Tickled Pink. She’s a different person here, and if we didn’t have a lifetime of history with both of us being much worse than the people we are today, I’d stay and be friends with her.
For real.
But disappearing to Costa Rica to run a cacao farm with my best friend is where my heart is.
Lola leans over the sink and points. “You missed a spot.”
