AllFreeNovel
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Manuela: Why? She already knows you’re crazy. We all do.
Faith: No, you don’t get it.
Faith: Eden does not have memories of stupid hair colors and even stupider crushes on high school boys like we do. I don’t… It makes me cry just to think about it. I don’t want to remind her that we don’t have shared these years, like she…
Manuela: I get it. You’re right. Delete them all. Quick.
*messages deleted*
eleven
We drive down the winding road that hugs the coastline, and Lou for once sits quietly next to me, filming the gorgeous landscape as I drive. I love that about her, she’s so quiet when she’s alone. When she’s with her friends… it’s a whole other deal.
I haven’t seen her since last summer. She’s dyed the lower part of her hair pink—she is going to be on stage in a few weeks, after all. I’m sure she’s buzzing with anxiety inside, but you couldn’t tell just by looking at her.
I open the window so that Pooh can pop out his puppy head and feel the air on his ears. Lou shrieks, and I start to pull it up.
“Can you smell this?” she says, eyes closed, leaning back.
Oh. So it was a happy scream. She curls her manicured long nails around Pooh’s white little body and I wince.
“Smell what?”
“The grass,” Lou replies. “The leaves. Everything is just glorious.”
I start to laugh. Here, right now, there’s nothing to choose, nothing to acquire, nothing to decide. Nothing to strive for. We can just exist and breathe. I press the button to put the roof down, and, instead of complaining about the wind messing her hair, Lou lets out a whoop of excitement, lifting her hands in the air. In a few minutes, we’re there.
The waterfall is so pretty and calm and hidden, it takes my breath away.
It is surrounded by green rocks and rustling trees and the water babbles and flows gently in hundreds of little streams as we hike towards the small waterfall. Lou and her friends have to stop at some point and change into sneakers, but I don’t even mind waiting. As I stand there, just looking around, my eye catches the slim figure of a girl, with her hair in a thick side-braid. Immediately my body clenches and the blood rushes from my head.
What the hell?
What is Eden doing here?
Breathe, I remind myself.Center yourself.Those freckles on her nose… No. No freckles. No nose.
“Lou?” I hiss at her, and she hops on over to me, one foot in a heel shoe, the other in a sneaker.
“Babe?”
I sigh. “What is that… That girl doing here?”
“Oh, Eden?” Lou waves at her, Eden waves back. When did they get introduced? “I asked her to come help out. She’s your assistant, right?”
“No, she’s not.”
But Lou is not listening. She’s yelling at Eden: “Hey! Come on over!”
“She’s not staff,” I whisper-yell through gritted teeth.
“Eden!” Lou keeps shrieking, as Eden makes her way reluctantly towards us.
Great, now everyone is free with her name. Lou has been on the island for five seconds, and already it’s ‘Eden this’ and ‘Eden that’. An image of Jude wrapping his arm around Eden’s waist a few hours ago flashes in front of my eyes and I see red.
“This is Eden,” Lou says to me, hopping into the other sneaker. She hands over her sandal to Eden as if it’s no big deal; as if she’s used to handing stuff over to people. How I don’t stab Lou with her own heel is a miracle. I grit my teeth and look down. “Eden, meet Isaiah, aka Issy. Somehow, I don’t think you two were introduced, which is ridiculous, since Eden works for you.”
“She. Does. Not.” I grind out.
