Chapter Nine
Tyler
“Tyler, when is your sister coming to the house?” Mom yells from the dining room. I’m currently three rooms away, and could easily pretend I don’t hear her. But she’ll continue to shout until I respond.
“I’m not sure.” It’s not like I keep tabs on her every move. What do I look like, a GPS?
“Call her,” she shouts.
I roll my eyes. “Fine whatever.” I lift my phone from my pocket and dial my sister.
“What, turd?”
“Hello to you too. Mom wants to know your location?”
“I’m in my hotel room typing.”
“Why are you staying in a hotel? You know the whole left wing of the house is vacant.”
“And have Mom hover and lurk over my shoulder every second of the day? Constantly asking me what I’m working on? I don’t think so. I don’t need her shit.”
“Wow. Okay. So, should I lie and say your flight was delayed?”
“Sure. Wait a second, what’s in it for you?”
“Nothing. I get to leave the house and find a gift for my girlfriend. It’s a win-win.”
I hear the snap of her laptop. “What is this? A girlfriend? Oh, let me help.”
“You want to help me pick out a gift for a girl you’ve never met before?”
“Yes.”
“Whatever. Meet me at the mall. Unless you need me to come get you?”
“Pick me up. Derrick took our car into town to run some errands. I think he’s getting last-minute gifts for everyone.”
“Where are you staying at again?”
“The Hunter Inn. I’m in suite thirty-eight.”
I shake my head. “Only you would request a bottom floor suite,” I say. “I’ll text you but I’m not coming in.”
“Whatever.”
At the mall, I huff in frustration. My sister is supposed to be helping me, instead, she’s signing a copy of her book for some strange woman. I’m glad my sister’s a famous author. I really am but I need her more than these people do.
My sister peers over at me then waves to the small crowd that has formed around her as she steps out of the store. “Unbelievable,” I growl.
“I know. It’s not so bad in the city.”
“Does it look like I give one crap about your fanbase? I don’t. I should have just come here by myself.”
“Oh, quit your bitching,” she snaps. “Honestly, you’re just like Derrick. Always complaining about something.”
“You married him.”
“Sometimes, I wish I hadn’t.” She stomps off toward the little-specialized ornament store and steps inside.
I follow her. “Kera, I’m sorry. I’m in uncharted water here. I need your help.”
She lifts an ornament off one of the small plastic trees sitting on a table. I watch her roll her blue eyes then she groans. “I’m sorry. You’re right. Tell me about this girlfriend of yours.”
“Her name is Layla. She is a cheerleader.”
“Of course, she is.” My sister looks like she’s about to gag as she hangs the ornament back onto the tree.
“You’d actually get along with her. She used to hate the hell outta me.” I smirk at the memory of Layla getting all pissed off at anything I did. Although to be fair most of the things I did do to her were mean, like in fourth grade I spilled orange juice under the chair and others thought she peed herself. She clocked me in the nose for that.
Kera smiles and moves to another table. “Well if she put you in your place a few times I say, yeah. What else do you know? Favorite color? Does she collect anything?”
Does she collect anything? I try reimagining her room and I swear everything is blank. You know what, this is flat out stupid. I should just get her a gift card and be done. There simple. Easy.
Kera narrows her eyes. “You don’t know, do you? Wow. Didn’t I teach you anything while I lived at home? You have to ask questions.”
“Oh, who made you an expert? You just write some false bullshit for people to lap up and really it’s bullshit.”
“My bullshit sells but you’re right. I’m not an expert. Hell, my whole life is falling apart. I love Derrick, it just seems lately, neither of us are ever around each other for more than an hour or two. I’m either doing book tours, writing, or editing. It never ends, and people demand so much. Fans want more. The publisher wants more. My agent wants more. More, more-more and honestly, I just want a vacation. Escape somewhere where no one knows me. No one asks me about my next novel.”
This is why I should never have taken my sister with me. This is starting to turn into a drama fest that I don’t need. “Then go somewhere. You have the money,” I say.
“I don’t want to go by myself. I want my husband with me.” She puts back one ornament and lifts another off the display tree. “This is really pretty. Do you think your girlfriend would like this?”
I stare at that delicate glass object. It’s a snowflake that changes each time the light hits it. Blue, purple, green, red. It’s really awesome.
“Yeah. I think it’s really cool.”
She smiles and snatches one more off the tree. “Great. I’m getting one for myself. Oh, look at this snow globe over here. You can put a picture in it.”
She walks over to the shelf with a whole display of snow globes on it. I join her.
A voice cranes through our silence. “The great thing about that particular snow globe is, you can set it out year-round because it’s not traditionally seasonal.”
I turn to see a small woman with large glasses standing behind me.
“Oh, that’s fantastic. May I have three of these?” my sister asks.
“Sure; the rest are in the back. I’ll just be a moment,” says the woman.
“Why do you need three?” I ask when the woman heads to the back of the store.
As soon as she’s out of sight, my sister sighs. “I’m getting one for Mom, my mother-in-law, and your girlfriend. I want her to feel welcomed.”
I wince. “Yeah, well, I don’t want her to feel like crap if she doesn’t get you anything.”
“She does know you have a sister, right?”
“Yes. I went over my entire family tree with her,” I say sarcastically.
Kera smacks my arm. “Don’t be an ass!”
“She knows I have a sister. She just doesn’t know that you’re my sister.”
She shoves my shoulder. “You’re such a jokester.”
“I’m being serious right now, Kera. Do you know how hard it is for people to like you for you and not because of your money or family ties and connections? Do you know a freaking football scout, of all people, asked if I was related to you? Like that would be the only reason he would even look at me as a receiver on his team. Not because of my talent on the field. No. It’s because of my stupid family tree.”
She stares at me for a moment. A voice clears, and we pivot to the woman holding three boxes out to my sister. “Thank you,” Kera says to the lady.
“I’ll take you up at the counter whenever you’re ready.”
Kera smiles and walks up to the counter while I storm out of the store.
I hate my name. I hate the ties I have. Why couldn’t we just be a bunch of normal nobodys?
I step into another store and skid to a stop. Jared and my girlfriend are inside the Pans-And-More store.
Where the hell is Rachel? She told me she was going to be with her. Not … my best friend. I walk up to them. “Hey, there, pretty lady.”
Layla startles by a display, and squeaks. “Tyler. What are you … doing here?”
“Had to get a few things. Where’s Rachel?”
She blushes as she drops a few items into a bin in front of her. “There was a group of guys who caught her interest. I ran into Jared here. He was helping me with something.”
I glare at my best friend. “Yeah, and what would that be?”
“How to get Juliet out of the house. We were spitballing some ideas,” Jared answers quickly, a sure sign of guilt.
“Cool. Anything I can help with?”
“Now that you mention it, you could throw a small party before your big house party,” Jared says.
Maybe he was pulling my leg all along. He doesn’t want Juliet. He wants my girlfriend. I have news for him; he can’t have her.
Layla glares at me. “You’re still having that stupid Winter Break party?”
“Of course. I throw it every year. People expect it.”
She stamps her foot while her hand rests on her hip. “And were you planning on telling me about it before now? Or was this like one of those don’t tell anyone we’re a couple kind of party. The kind you won’t even bother inviting me to?”
I rub the back of my neck. How the hell did this get flipped on me so quickly? She’s the one in here shopping with my best friend and not with the person she said she was going to be with. “People know we’re together. Ask any of my friends. Even this one, well maybe not him since he’s obviously trying to scam on you.”
“Whoa. Dude, no. No offense, Layla, but I’m not into you. At all.” Jared narrows his eyes in my direction. “This is ridiculous. It’s two forty-five, I have to go. Good luck.”
He walks out of the store and I turn my attention back on Layla. She frowns. “I can’t believe you would imply that I was cheating on you with Jared. I’m not that kind of person.”
“Oh, and I suppose it’s okay to think I’ll cheat on you?”
“No. I just …”
“Tyler! A little warning next time you’re going to leave,” my sister says.
Layla glares at the two of us. “Right. I’m the one sneaking around. You know what screw you, Tyler. Have a Merry Christmas.” She shoves past me and plows into my sister’s right shoulder before I can even stop her. Son of a bitch!
I give my sister a dirty look.
“Great. Just freaking great,” I snap.
“What is your problem? Who was that girl?” Kera asks as she rubs her arm.
“That was my girlfriend. I say was because I’m pretty sure she just dumped me.”
Kera winces. “I’m sorry. Want me to go fix it?”
“No. I got this.”