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“Yeah, bug off, arsehole!” Tanya mimicked in her charming British accent.
In unison, we flipped him off as he zipped around us, and shared a good laugh before turning onto Ventura. As we drove toward Hollywood, I pointed out a few sights. The Hollywood Bowl, which we passed, and the famous Hollywood sign in the distance. Tanya, not impressed, thought it would be bigger.
Urban Outfitters was located on trendy Melrose Avenue, five minutes away from our house. I readily found nearby parking on a side street and, arm in arm, we skipped to the popular store. I felt like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz.
There was a Starbucks across the street. “Do you want to get a coffee first?”
“No, I’m good. I really can’t wait to go shopping.”
“What do you need?”
“Everything!”
I laughed. While I assumed that she had a debit card and that her father the diplomat had given her spending money, I was going to treat her to her new wardrobe. We wouldn’t miss the money, and it would give me enormous pleasure.
One hour later we were shopped out. Each of us was carrying two big bags full of clothes and accessories. Plus some sexy lingerie that Tanya insisted I buy when she saw me eyeing the lacy garments. “I bet Matt will really like them,” she’d whispered in my ear.
The passionate sex Matt and I had once enjoyed had died the same day as Anabel. And now our sex life was non-existent.
But maybe this free-spirited girl was right.
It was time to reignite his fire.
SEVEN
PAIGE
For the fourth time today, my eyes bugged out. Setting my heavy book-filled backpack on the floor in the entryway, I looked up and saw Tanya bounding down the staircase. Wearing the khaki overalls, white T-shirt, and Doc Martens I’d ordered online from Urban Outfitters. A few back-to-school basics. The package wasn’t supposed to come until the end of the week. It must have come early. And she’d opened it! The nerve of her!
“Hi,” she said cheerfully, fixing her hair into a messy bun. “How was your Chess Club meet—”
I cut her off. “How dare you open a package that was addressed to me!”
She gave me a perplexed look. “What are you talking about?”
I pointed my finger at her. “Those overalls! They’re mine! I bought them online from Urban Outfitters.”
“Chill. They’re mine. Your mum bought them for me at Urban. We went shopping together this afternoon. It was so much fun!” She breezed by me. “Maybe we could both wear them to school, and we’ll be like twins.”
I gritted my teeth. No freaking way. The overalls made her look like a Seventeen magazine cover girl. They’d probably make me look fat and washed-out. My blood roiling, I picked up my backpack and humped it up the stairs, taking two steps at a time. Tanya called out to me from below.
“Do you want to see what else your mum bought me? I can put on a fashion show.”
No, thank you! It wouldn’t surprise me if she’d sneaked into my room this morning while I was in the shower, somehow accessed my account, and copied everything I’d purchased just to piss me off. When I reached the second-floor landing, I pulled out my phone from my backpack and managed to cancel the order before it shipped.
“I’m going to help your mum make dinner,” I heard her say as I put my phone away, something I now had to guard carefully along with my laptop. “Will you help me with my calculus homework after we eat?”
Not answering her, I stomped to my room and locked the door behind me as well as the door to the bathroom we shared. More urgently than ever, I needed to get a new knob for the hallway door, one that enabled me to also lock it from the outside. Maybe tomorrow I’d do that. Or have Will bike over to the hardware store to pick one up for me. He’d know exactly what to buy.
At least right now I was safe from her. She couldn’t get into my room. I should start my homework, but I couldn’t concentrate on it if I tried. She was on my mind. Consuming every thought. I hated the way she was sucking up to my mother, my father, and my boyfriend. Lance showing her around school today was bad enough, but sharing his tuna sandwich with her at lunch had almost made me barf.
Kicking off my Birks, I plunked down on my bed. My father always said to succeed in business, you need to know your enemies. Plain and simple. Tanya might act all nice and sweet around me, but she was my enemy.
What did I know about her?
The truth is…hardly anything. All I knew was that she was British. Born in London, and an only child. Her father was a diplomat who traveled a lot. And her mother had died in childbirth. Oh, and she was seventeen and went to some fancy-schmancy boarding school. Oddly, I’d not found her on social media when I’d checked during free period. Not Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. Every teenage girl I knew, even me, was at least on IG. Why wasn’t she? Maybe her diplomat father forbade her.
I pulled out my laptop from my backpack along with a spiral notebook and lead pencil. My mother had gone online and ordered a boatload of school supplies for me and Will as well as Tanya so we wouldn’t have to go to Staples and fight the crowd of back-to-schoolers. Except for the time she was incubated in her room after Anabel’s death, she always thought ahead. And was always thorough and methodical. It was time for me to be more like her. Think ahead. Be thorough and methodical.
