I double-take. “Love? You’re in love with him?”
Maddy huffs and rubs her hand over her face and into her hair. “Yes, Jamie. We’ve said it to each other.”
I grimace. “Eww. Why?”
“Jamie,” Aunt Maddy scolds. “Stop it. After all the swooning you do at rom-coms, I thought you’d be happy for me. I was hoping so hard that you wouldn’t be petty and jealous.”
I leap off the couch. “Did you really just call me that?”
“Why else would you be pulling faces and being rude to David?”
“Because he’s a pompous snob!”
“Only in the fantasy in your head,” Maddy argues. “There isn’t a snobby bone in David’s body. Yes, he comes from money, but he has never once made me feel inferior. I thought you’d be glad I brought someone like this into our lives.”
“I should be glad he wants to take you away from me?”
As I stare hard at Aunt Maddy, tears build behind my eyes. I stomp my foot and take off toward my bedroom. I slam the door behind me and take three deep breaths. The threat of tears dissipates as quickly as they emerged. I’m not a crier, and I’m certainly not letting Mr. Stuffy make me start.
Seven
Ipacemybedroomfloor, clamping my hands into fists. How dare she call me names like that?Gah! She makes me so mad! On impulse, I draw my foot back and swing it at the wall. Something smacks to the floor, but all I see is white.
Ouch!
I hop around the floor, holding my foot. As a soccer player, I should know better than to kick something by leading with my toe. Pain pulses through my big toe and ricochets up the rest of my foot.
I perch on my bed with my ankle crossed over my thigh. I take a few steady breaths and squeeze my foot until the pain dissipates. My eyes refocus and I blink until they clear. With a heavy exhale, I release my foot and let it slip onto the floorboards.
I pan across to where I kicked the wall and see a baseboard flipped on its side a foot away from the wall. I guess I kicked fairly low, but how crappy are they to just fall off? Maybe it’s normal for old homes? I move off the bed and pick up the painted piece of wood. The piece is only two feet long and is the middle section of the baseboard. So weird. I always figured this piece was one long strip running the entire length of this wall.
As I bend down to put the piece back in place, something catches my eye. Diagonally edged inside is a thin, oblong-shaped item. Surely it doesn’t belong. With little thought, I yank it out. It gives some resistance and shakes off some dust, but I budge it all the way out.
After some coughs and splutters from the dust, I take the object in my hand. It’s a diary. Carefully, I open the front cover. Chills spread the length of my arms and numb my hands, causing me to drop it where I kneel.
Holy crap.
It’s my mom’s.
A sudden noise behind me sends me into a jolt. I breathe out when I realize it’s my ringtone. I leave the diary on the floor and scoot over to my bed. I smile happily at the screen.Kai Calling.
I answer, putting the phone to my ear. “Hey.”
Kai huffs into the phone. “Man, I’m in so much trouble.”
I frown. “What did you do?”
“Forgot Milo.”
“Oh yeah. Thanks for that. He had dinner with us because Maddy thought it was the perfect opportunity for more studying.”
Kai’s laughter plays through the phone. “My bad. Did any of it sink in?”
“Yeah, kinda. Despite Aunt Maddy and Mr. Stuffy trying to sabotage me.”
“Whoa. What happened?”
“David wants Maddy to go to Hawaii with him for seven days. Right when everything in my life is on fire. It’s so selfish!”
