If the thought of going to a dance with Kai made my heart race, the idea of spending a weekend with him makes the entire world spin. I feel so weightless I’m sure I’ll float away any second. I’ve forgotten how to breathe, how to function, how to say anything that isn’t a high-pitched squeal. A growing cloud of dread lingers in the corner of my mind, but I force it down like last night’s dinner.
“Yeah, totally,” I say before I can regret it, or realize what a monumental mistake I’ve just made.
There’s no way I’ll get to go. I can admit to myself now that Mami never would’ve let me go to the dance, and there’s no way in hell she’d let me spend an entire weekend away. If she had it her way, we’d never leave the house. Never talk to anyone who isn’t each other or her.
Besides that, while the idea of alone time—realalone time—with Kai feels intoxicating, I can’t pretend that spending a weekend in a secluded cabin with his sister, Kiki, doesn’t give me pause.
As far as twins go, Kai and Kiki’s similarities end at the physical. Where he’s sunshine and kind smiles, she’s hard edges and dirty looks. Beautiful and cruel, exactly what you’d expect from a cheerleader. Within weeks of arriving at Millcreek High she was linking pinkies with Carla Gutierrez, cheerleading captain,ruthless queen bee, and former girlfriend of star soccer player Jose Perez. A boy I never spoke to but am linked to forever now because of my family. Needless to say, no one in her elite orbit is a fan of me, Mikey, or anything having to do with us.
Ever since Kiki arrived, she and Carla have ruled the halls with perfectly manicured iron fists. Last week they made a girl from the debate team cry because she’d accidentally sat at their usual lunch table. Even if I didn’t have my dad’s reputation hanging over me like a black cloud, I’d still avoid Kiki’s red-hot gaze. Anyone in her path is bound to be destroyed.
Still, I can’t fight the thrill bubbling up inside me, making my hands shake and heart race. A weekend away. With Kai. The only person who’s ever made me want to step into the sun. Like the wish I’d made on that cupcake last night could be more than just a dream.
Tomorrow I can panic about what saying yes means. How to either let him down gently or beg Mami for permission. But today, I can bask in the way he looks at me. The way he holds my gaze for just a few more moments before the bell rings and Ms. Martinez calls us to attention.
“I’ll text you,” he says before finally turning back around.
And if I wasn’t weighed down by a dozen other problems, I’d float away then and there.
Exhibit C: Text Messages Between Kai Thompson and Kiki Thompson
KAI:Heads up I invited someone else to the cabin next weekend
KIKI:omg
KIKI:you ACTUALLY have a friend????
KIKI:stop the presses this is groundbreaking news
KAI:stfu
KIKI:is it that dude from the swim team with the braces?
KIKI:bc he said some weird shit to Carla last week
KIKI:don’t really want that vibe around
KAI:Nah, you don’t know her
KIKI:HER?????
KAI:Yes, she’s a her
KIKI:WHAT HAVE YOU NOT BEEN TELLING ME?????
KIKI:does me being your twin sister mean nothing to you???
KAI:Yes
KIKI:wooooooow you’re so fake
KIKI:im telling mom you blamed Snoopy for throwing up on her Louboutins
KAI:Okay fine
KAI:Damn
KAI:It’s Dina Soto
