Evermore - Alyson Noel [100]
“Still spying on celebrities?” I ask, wondering if she has any dish.
She makes a face and rolls her eyes. “God no. I was being seriously corrupted. Besides, it’s always the same old thing, shopping binges, food binges, drug binges, followed by rehab. Wash, rinse, and repeat—yawn.”
I laugh, wishing I could reach out and hug her instead. I was so afraid I’d lost her.
“What’re you looking at?” she asks, peering at me.
“You.” I smile.
“And?”
“And, I’m so glad you’re here. And that I can still see you. I was afraid I’d lost that ability when Ava showed me how to make that shield.”
She smiles. “To be honest, you did. I really had to ramp up my energy so you could see me. In fact, I’m using some of yours. Do you feel tired?”
I shrug. “A little, but then again, I just woke up.”
She shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter. It’s still me.”
“Hey Riley.” I look at her. “Are you still . . . visiting Ava?” I ask, holding my breath as I wait for the answer.
She shakes her head. “Nah. I’m over that too. Now come on, I cannot wait to see your face when you unwrap your new iPhone! Oops!” She laughs, placing her hand over her mouth as she backs right through the closed bedroom door.
“You’re really staying?” I whisper, making my exit the traditional way. “You don’t have to leave, or be somewhere else?”
She climbs on top of the banister and slides her way down, looking back at me and smiling when she says, “Nope, not anymore.”
Sabine returned the ring, I had a new iPhone, Riley was back to visiting every day, sometimes even accompanying me to school, Miles started dating one of the Hairspray backup dancers, Haven dyed her hair dark brown, swore off everything goth, began the painful process of lasering off her tattoo, burned all of her Drina-dresses, and replaced them with emo. New Year’s came and went, marked by a small gathering at my house that included sparkling cider for me (I was officially off the sauce), contraband champagne for my friends, and a midnight dip in the Jacuzzi, which was pretty tame as far as New Year’s parties go, but not at all boring. Stacia and Honor still glared at me, pretty much the same as before, even worse on the days when I wore something cute, Mr. Robins got a life (one without his daughter or his wife), Ms. Machado still cringed when she looked at my art, and between it all was Damen.
Like caulk around a tile, like binding in a book, he filled all of my blank empty spaces and held everything together, kept it all contained. Through every pop quiz, every shampoo, every meal, every movie, every song, every dip in the Jacuzzi, I held him in my mind, comforted just by knowing he was out there—somewhere—even though I’d decided against him.
By Valentine’s Day, Miles and Haven are in love—though not with each other. And even though we sit together at lunch, I may as well have been on my own. They were too busy hovering over their Sidekicks to notice my existence, while my iPhone sat beside me, silent and ignored.
“Omigod, this is hilarious! You can’t believe how brilliant he is!” Miles says, for the gazillionth time, gazing up from his text, his face flushed with laughter, as he thinks of the perfect reply.
“Omigod, Josh just gifted me like, a ton of songs! I am so not worthy,” Haven mumbles, thumbs tapping a response.
And even though I’m happy for them, happy that they’re happy and all that, my mind is on sixth-period art, and I’m wondering if I should ditch. Because here at Bay View High, today is not only Valentine’s Day, it’s also Secret Heart Day. Which means that those big, red, heart-shaped lollipops, the ones with the little pink love notes they’ve been pushing all week, are finally distributed. And while Miles and Haven are fully expecting to receive theirs even though their boyfriends don’t go here, I’m just hoping to get through the day, somewhat sane, and mostly unscathed.
And even though I fully admit that ditching the iPod/hoodie/dark sunglasses combo has allowed for a considerable amount of renewed male interest,