LITMIR.BIZ

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was the first time in hours that my phone didn’t ring. To any other average sixteen-year-old girl that would have caused an aneurysm, or at least twitchy fingers and a headache. I rolled over; the bright-purple-and-pink-striped beach towel under me stuck to my leg from the heat of the early afternoon. I sat up and lifted the towel from under me. I wiped my sweaty face and dropped my sunglasses down from my head. Like hell was I going to get raccoon-eyes tan lines! The girls wouldn’t forgive such a summer faux pas. The lounge chair was warmer than it was when I sat down to sunbathe two hours ago and the backs of my legs immediately stuck to the plastic surface.

      I grabbed my phone from under the chair so it didn’t take the brunt of the New England late-June heat, and I pressed the round button on the bottom of the screen. Several photo texts littered the screen. Earlier, I’d turned off the text notifications, leaving the ringer on in case Mom or Dad called. Dad would be okay with leaving a message, but Mom would have been frantic if I didn’t pick up before voicemail.

      I scrolled through to find the latest from Kat. My best friend, and my boyfriend’s sister, posed on the deck of her parents’ sailboat in the matching bikini we both bought last week. Well, she bought mine as an early birthday present. I kept my relief to myself since I wasn’t sure how I’d be able to explain that expense on Mom’s credit card. The suit cost more than several items of my clothing combined.

      I looked down at the pink and gray bandeau top with matching bottom. Mine looked dull in the Connecticut sun while hers appeared more vibrant against the clear blue ocean of the Caribbean. I flipped through the photos and commented on each one as she would be expecting. Then I took a picture of myself in my suit and sent it along.

      It was around one. I wouldn’t be expecting anything from Rachael or Brittany for another hour. They were night owls and the main reason my parents forced me to turn my phone on silent at night. Rachael’s and Brittany’s late-night barrages of texts over the past week had disturbed the entire Daniels household. And, after two sleepless nights before the new cellphone rule, I was happy to comply.

      After checking my text log, I let out a whoosh of breath. There weren’t any texts from Joe yet. I’d woken up this morning with twelve missed calls from him and one cryptic voicemail.

      “Call me back, Cara” was all he said, though I sensed the “or else” in the silence following his voice. I wished he would have gone on the family trip with Kat, though he insisted on staying home as his own graduation present. Two weeks of freedom to do whatever he wanted.

      Even in the stifling heat, I shivered. Joe and I had been on some seriously thin ice since his graduation out of Chester Bay High two weeks ago. Our relationship seemed solid to everyone else. It had started like a fairytale, with a junior jock plucking a sophomore nobody from the masses of high school social hell. But it had a happy ending for only about a year. I could have ended it at any point after getting to know the real Joe, but, at the same time, I couldn’t. There was no going back after getting a taste of the high life. Besides, I’d burned enough bridges clawing to the top of the food chain, I would be ground meat if I ever attempted to climb back down.

      The sliding door opened and my sister, Madison, stepped onto the deck. She squinted in the sunlight as if it would burn her pale skin the second she came into its light. Or it might have been the glare from her Coke-bottle glasses. She twisted her blonde ponytail around her finger. Hair color was the only trait we shared. I thanked the genetic gods for my ability to sustain a tan, unlike my sister.

      “What is it?” I asked. Madison had rarely left her room so far this summer.

      She pushed the bridge of her glasses further up her nose. “Joe’s on the phone.”

      I ground my teeth together and glared at the phone in her hand. Why didn’t I think about the landline?

      She held the phone in her outstretched hand as it continued to ring. “He’s been calling all morning. I saw his name on the caller ID.”

      I stood up and crossed the deck, my bare feet pounding on the wood. I grabbed the phone from her hand and pressed the end button.

      “Why did you do that?” Madison asked, squinting up at me.

      I held the phone out to her. “I’m not in the mood to talk to him.”

      She crossed her arms. “You don’t want to talk to your boyfriend? Since when?”

      “Since, I said so,” I snapped. I wasn’t going to explain the intricacies of high school relationships to a fourteen-year-old.

      Madison stepped back and scowled. “Why are you so mean all the time? Your stupid friends have turned you into a jerk, you know that?”

      “I’m not mean,” I said. “You need to stay out of my business.”

      She rolled her eyes. “Devin is right. You’re always mean.”

      My breath caught in my throat. Devin was my best friend since fifth grade. In fact, she’d been my only friend. Then I started dating Joe and all of that changed. She got weird and suddenly stopped hanging out and talking to me. Sometimes, Madison hung out with her little sister, Sabine. It was Devin’s fault that she didn’t stay friends with me; now, apparently, she had only her little sister to talk to. Pathetic.

      I rolled my eyes. “It’s not my fault Devin was jealous that I had a boyfriend.”

      Madison shook her head. “Whatever. I’m going inside.”

      “Take the phone with you,” I said, holding it out.

      “Take it in yourself.”

      She closed the sliding door, and I groaned, tightening my grip on the plastic phone. I would deal with Joe later.

      I grabbed my cell, opened the door and entered the kitchen. Madison was already gone, probably in her room reading one of her fantasy books. She was obsessed with whatever new series was ripping money from tweens’ hands.

      I placed the phone back on the cradle. It was one of Mom’s rules of cleanliness. Admittedly, there had been a few instances of low battery, enough for her to create the rule based on my phone habits before I had my own phone. Now it was ingrained in my head, as were many of her other rules around the house.

      The relaxation from sunbathing had been ruined by Madison’s interruption, and I didn’t feel like going back outside. Besides, I didn’t want to burn this early in the summer. I wanted to be a deep brown goddess, not a lobster.

      I opened the refrigerator and pulled out leftover homemade pizza from the night before. I ate a slice while I headed to my room. I sent a dirty look to Madison’s door. I hadn’t been that annoying when I was fourteen. Her dour moods had brought down the entire family at times. I wished she would get over herself.

      I went into my room and closed the door. My shoulders relaxed upon entering my sanctuary. I tossed my phone on my bed, still not made from that morning, my faded pink comforter a heap on the floor.

      I headed to my desk and adjusted the photo of Kat, Rachael, Brittany, and me at senior prom back into place on my corkboard. We were the only juniors in attendance this year. Next to that were our tickets and several other candid photos. I smiled at the memories of the fabulous time we had that night. I couldn’t wait until my own senior prom next year.

      I sat at my computer desk and opened my laptop. It was nearly five years old, yet refurbished. It took a while to boot up, but it was my baby. The keys were perfectly worn to the shape of my fingers, and it had been my first big purchase last year after working as a grunt at the Chester Bay Inn. It helped that Dad managed the inn, though he didn’t portray any nepotism. I smiled and nodded at every task given to me, even though I cringed on the inside. I never looked at a toilet the same way after that summer. I negotiated to help out during school breaks as long as cleaning toilets was out of the picture. I was checking my email when the phone rang from the kitchen; the shrill brrring-brrring grated against my temples every few seconds. Joe wouldn’t give up.

      I glanced at the prom picture; Kat’s eyes bored into mine.

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