David laughed. “What’s going on?”
“Oh, nothing. He’s just being annoying. Anyhow, here he comes.”
Kellan strode out through the door, still grinning widely. “Hey, David!”
“Hey. If you two don’t have any plans this evening, Mom’s invited you both over for dinner.”
“Is the surprise guest going to be there as well?” I asked.
Kellan raised his eyebrow.
David shot him a look. What was going on with all these knowing looks today? I frowned, suddenly wondering if the surprise guest was the girl David had vaguely mentioned. The girl he was dating. A sharp pain of disappointment surged through me. I wasn’t sure I could be bothered meeting her, but before I could even make up an excuse, Kellan nodded.
“We’d love to!” he said.
“Hold up,” I protested. “I’m not sure what’s happening tonight. The girls may want to do something after the game—”
“I already checked with Maria and Ali,” David said. “They’re going to join us as well. So?”
“Okay, I guess I’m in,” I said as cheerily as I could. All the aggro that I thought I had let go of while skating was suddenly back. I shook my head, trying to purge it.
“We better head to school,” Kellan said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “You still want to go to the game, right?”
“Yeah, of course. I’m going to cheer!”
Kellan nodded silently and put on his helmet.
“I’ll meet you over there,” David said.
“Don’t you have to go home to your
guest
?” I snipped.
“No, she’ll be fine. You’re really cheering?”
“Yes!” I shouted and climbed on behind Kellan. There it was again… a fleeting knowing gaze between the boys, which nearly made me burst with anger. I clenched my jaw and held onto Kellan as he revved his bike and raced up the highway. I was boiling over with frustration and felt like little angry elves were running through my bloodstream. WTF? It wasn’t even that time of the month. Why did I feel so uptight and agitated?
As we pulled into the parking lot at Mountain View High, my agitation turned to nerves, my stomach starting to heave with waves of nausea washing over me. I kept sitting as Kellan got off the bike and removed his helmet.
“Coming?” He held out his hand for me.
I grabbed it but didn’t make any attempt to get off the bike. I was pretty sure I’d hurl if I tried to move. Kellan pulled gently at my hand, and I instantly let go of it, grabbing the seat instead. His warm smile changed to a frown as he stepped closer to me and unhooked my helmet, carefully lifting it off my head.
“Hey,” he whispered. “You okay?”
I shook my head.
“What’s the matter? You look pale,” he said, putting his arm around my shoulder.
“Don’t know. I feel like I’m going to throw up. Can you get me off this bike?” The last thing I wanted to do was to be sick all over his Harley.
He scooped me up and carried me to the grass, setting me down. “I’ll call your mom. She should be inside.”
“No, it’s okay. I just need to breathe. Gimme a sec.” I lay down on the grass, letting the breeze cool my face. I inhaled deeply and then breathed out again, and with each breath, I felt my body relax. I didn’t want to come clean to Kellan, but I knew full well what was causing this burst of anxiety. Cheering. I felt unprepared. I hated feeling unprepared. What if I had forgotten the sequences? What if the girls had changed them since the last time we’d practiced? Maybe I was jumping back into this too soon. I had assumed that I could just walk right back in and join the team. The team had almost certainly changed, though.
“Kell, who is the cheer captain?” I asked to make sure it was still Julia.
“Ali.”
“Huh? What happened to Julia?”
“Moved to Mexico last Christmas.”
“Really? Wow.” I closed my eyes, trying to absorb this. I’d been second in line to Julia, so I should have been the captain. I felt a twinge of anger nip through me again but bit my lip to get it under control. It wasn’t Ali’s fault that I had gone MIA.
“How are you feeling? The game is about to start. You’re a bit late to take part now.”
“Yeah. I think I’ll sit it out and watch.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I immediately felt better. I got up and stretched. “I’m fine now. Let’s go.”
Mom nodded at me when I arrived in the gym and made my way up the steps to sit beside her.
“Hey, Ella! David.” I smiled as I sat down between Mom and Kellan. Watching the team from the bleachers was frustrating but a relief at the same time. I zoned out, relaxing my head on Kellan’s shoulder during the actual game but perked up when the cheer team took their places. My feet were itching to join them as I followed their every move. Sure, the sequence had changed, but had I made an effort to be there for the pre-game practice, I would definitely have been able to pick it up. Then, instead of sitting and watching them from the bleachers, I would have been down there doing what I loved. Instead, I had decided to while away my time on the rink. Gah. I had to get a grip on myself and get back into the swing of things. No way was I missing another practice.
Our team lost. The mood in the gym was somber as we got up to leave.
“Arizona, do you want to catch a ride to Inez’s house with us?” Mom asked. “Kellan, you too? Leave your bike here.”
“Thanks, Dr. Darley, but I’ve got an early hockey practice tomorrow morning, so I’ll just bring the bike. Arizona, you want to come with me?”
“Actually, Kellan, I’d rather she come with me. We have a few things to discuss. We’ll meet you at the house.”
“Sure.” Kellan squeezed my hand and then left with David.
“Everything okay, Mom?” I asked once we were in her Hummer.
Mom started the engine but pulled up the parking brake and turned to me. She threw a glance at Ella, who was strapped in at the back, busily listening to her iPod. “I want to say yes, that everything is okay, but it clearly isn’t. I have no idea where Dad’s gone, and I can’t pretend that I’m not worried. Do you have any idea what’s going on? You’ve spent a lot more time with him recently. He did tell me about your time in London and the Bahamas, but I am foggy about the details, not quite sure what’s fact and what I may have dreamt up while I was on painkillers in the hospital. I was going to have him repeat it all to me, but now it’s too late. All he said before he left was that he was going to London. So, any idea what’s going on? Did Kellan or David say anything?”
The last week had been so busy, and our visit to London sure was… extraordinary. It was there that Dad’s life had changed forever when he took over from my grandfather as the sovereign Sigma-W.
“Did Dad get a chance to tell you what happened in London? How he was handed over the reins?”
“Yes, but he also said that Spencer had agreed to keep things in check for a while and only call upon him if he absolutely had to. He never really got around to telling me exactly what he does. I know he’s now the global leader of the Wanderers, but I don’t know what that means. I am guessing something serious is going on for him to be called away so suddenly.”
I nodded.
“What I need to know is how to contact him. He won’t answer his cell.”
“Maybe David’s mom knows.” She was one of the Wanderer Elders.
“Yes, I’ll try to have a chat with her before dinner.” She turned forward, strapped herself in, and reversed out of the parking space.
I glanced back at Ella. She looked so grown up, her hair gleaming with a new red streak. I guessed she’d spent the morning at the salon. I grinned as her lips moved in synch with whatever she was listening to on her iPod. She suddenly looked up at me.
“Stop, Arizona!” She threw me the death glare. Then she looked down at her iPod again and ignored me. Gosh, she seemed so much… less sweet. It was like we’d both swallowed a dose of cranky.
“Mom, what was I like last year? I mean… well, I don’t really know what I mean. I just feel different, and I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
Mom’s grip on the wheel tightened, and she ran the tip of her tongue against her bottom lip. “Different? How?”
“I feel short-tempered. Even the slightest thing makes me angry. I’ve never felt like this before.”
“Well, it’s not really that surprising. You’ve gone through so much in the last week. No wonder you are at the end of your tether. I must admit to feeling the same at the moment.”
“Is that all you think it is? It’s not just that I feel different. I was able to skate really well this afternoon. And I suck at skating. I don’t know if I can even cheer anymore.”
“Seems like you’re getting overwhelmed from overthinking everything. Just take one step at a time. It’s going to take you a while to get back into the swing of things. We’ll need to wait and see how the last year has affected you. For now, all we can do is try to figure out what changes there are and how to cope with them. You say you can skate, then perhaps that’s something you want to explore a bit more. You’ve played hockey for the last year, and you have been pretty awesome at it. There is a chance that you will still enjoy doing that, so keep an open mind.”
That seemed sensible, but I still felt uncomfortable about it. Kellan had told me all about the girl I had been—this tough hockey player chick. But that wasn’t me. I was sure that I’d hate being knocked around on the ice rink. Barbaric. However, I had enjoyed skating and playing with the hockey stick.
We pulled up to the Skoog mansion, which was lit up to show off the newly-washed stone siding. David opened the front door as soon as we walked up to the porch.
“David!” Ella yelled and jumped up on him.
“Hey! Is that your new naughty streak?” He pulled playfully on the red strand in her hair.
“No!” She laughed and squirmed back down, running into the house.
“Come on in, Dr. Darley, Arizona.”
My stomach tightened as I stepped into the hallway, remembering why we were here—to meet David’s visitor, his new girlfriend. I had already decided that I hated her and hoped she was ugly. I breathed out with relief when I saw Kellan walk toward me. I grabbed his hand and followed David into the family room.
The familiar warmth of the room relaxed me. David’s mom had decorated the red-walled room for comfort, covering the hardwood floor with plush cream rugs and oversized armchairs scattered with colorful cushions. I plonked myself down on the one nearest to the sizzling marble fireplace, scanning the room for ugly girlfriend sightings.
“Inez, can we have a quick chat?” Mom asked David’s mom.
“Yes, of course.”
“Arizona, look after Ella.”
I nodded as Ella scooted in beside me and turned on her iPod. Poor thing. It must be so boring to hang out with us. I nudged her. “Do you want to watch TV for a while?”
“No, it’s okay. I’ve got movies on here. Going to watch
Pretty Little Liars
.”
“Okay, just tell me if you need anything.”
She nodded.
“Are Maria and Ali here yet?” I whispered to Kellan, who was sitting on the armrest.
“No, they’ll be here soon.”
“Any signs of David’s girlfriend?”
Kellan eyes widened. “No. Why?”
“That’s who we’re here to meet, right?”
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“Then, who?”
“Hey, Arizona!”
I turned around and looked into the green eyes of the girl I had met at school before I’d been wandered off to the Bahamas. “Sorry, I don’t remember your na—”
“Ariele.” Her smile faded. “You don’t remember me?”
“I do,” I assured her hastily. “You’re the captain of the lacrosse team, right?” I wondered why she was here. Was she the new girlfriend? Ariele?
A
? Hmm. I scowled.
She pursed her lips. “You don’t remember me from Ne—”
“Ariele, can I talk to you for a moment?” Kellan interrupted, taking her elbow and rushing her out of the room.
Whatever. I got up and walked over to David, the only one left in the room apart from Ella and me. “So, when do we get to meet your girlfriend?”
He turned around and smiled at me, displaying his perfect white teeth and gleaming sexy eyes, sending my pulse racing. I needed to get that under control.
“Girlfriend?”
“Yes, you said you wanted me to meet someone?”
“That’s right, but she’s not my girlfriend.” He laughed.
“Who, then?”
“Mom will bring her in soon. Look, here’s Maria and Ali.”
“Hey!”
“Hi, Arizona!” Ali threw her arms around me and brought me close for a hug. And once she was done, Maria did the same. They looked awesome—my two best friends. We could’ve been sisters. We even did our hair the same—platinum blond and cut in the same long style. We used the same tint of lip gloss and dressed in similar styles. But not today. I looked down at my outfit—the jersey and jeans I had worn to the rink—and felt icky compared to my two friends who had changed into dresses. “Gosh, I wish I had changed!” Especially seeing that we were supposed to meet someone new.
“Pffft! You look fine,” Ali reassured me.
I laughed. “Not! But thanks. Sweet of you. Sorry about not showing up to the game.”
“What do you mean?” Maria asked. “I saw you there.”
“Oh. Yeah. I mean to cheer. I was horribly late.”
Ali looked over at Maria… yet another one of those knowing gazes. I was getting pretty sick of them. “What’s that all about?” I asked sharply.
“You were thinking of cheering?” Ali asked.
“Yeah! Of course.”
She stared at me, obviously at a loss for words.
“We should talk about that,” Maria said. “Did you go skating?” She pointed to my jersey.
“Yes, and yes, and—” I stopped talking when David took my elbow and pointed me to the patio doors, which were sliding open.
A little snout peeked through, followed by a tiny dog, who trotted into the room and stopped in front of me. A Chihuahua. It sat down and watched me. And I watched it, not knowing quite what to make of the little dog. Mom and Inez had walked in behind it.
Then I suddenly heard a squeal, and Ella launched herself at the dog, who erupted in a mess of excited licks and enthusiastic wagging. Mom burst out laughing as the two of them rolled on the floor. I could hear Kellan’s chuckles from behind me.