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“How was your flight, dear?” asked my mom, her eyes still riveted on her. “Oh, and please call me Natalie.”
At least she didn’t say “Mom.” Or Nat, which was reserved for my father, who hadn’t said a word yet.
“It was fine, but really long, Mrs. Merritt.” She caught herself and giggled. “I mean, Natalie. And by the way, you are so pretty! Even prettier in person!”
Freaking kiss-up.
“Oh, please. You’re too kind!” My size-four, blonde, blue-eyed mother, a former model, blushed. It was as if, in that second, she and Tanya bonded for life.
I forced myself to say hi, trying to diffuse the attention my mom was lavishing on her.
Our exchange student looked at me and grinned. “You must be Paige. Your mum’s told me so much about you.”
Inwardly, I cringed. Like what? She prefers flea market finds to designers and wears Birkenstocks with socks. She eats weird things and needs to lose ten pounds. Oh, and I think she’s still a virgin.
“That’s nice.” I managed a polite smile. Fake was more like it.
I’m sure my mom had sent her pictures of me, but I didn’t hear her telling me I was much prettier in person. Probably because I wasn’t. I hadn’t inherited one bit of my mother’s slender beauty. Well, except for her wide-set sapphire-blue eyes. With my riotous auburn hair, square jaw, and big bones, I looked a lot like my father. While he was impossibly handsome, his classic features hadn’t translated well on me. Lost in translation. Some girls are just lucky and born beautiful. I felt a pinprick of envy as Tanya’s chirpy voice cut into my thoughts.
“I can’t wait to hang out with you. Maybe we can go shopping together.”
The latter was more of a statement than a question.
Sparing me from responding, my mother introduced my father, Matt. Yup, meet my parents. Matt and Nat. I often thought they should open a deli—Matt ’n Nat’s. A dry cleaner would work too.
My dad, the successful businessman he was, extended one of his broad, long-fingered hands. (Well, at least I’d inherited those, along with his athleticism, which helped make me a star player on my school’s girls’ basketball team.) Miss Kiss-Up took it graciously and offered another saccharine smile.
“So nice to meet you, Mr. Merritt.”
“Welcome to Los Angeles, Tanya.” He kept his gaze on her longer than necessary. I’m sure he was noticing the vague similarity between her and Anabel. As well as the size of her boobs. They were impossible to miss.
“We’re looking forward to having you spend your senior year with us.”
Speak for yourself, Dad. Tanya was not my idea. Things were just returning to normal (whatever that was) and now there was a new addition offsetting the equation of our family. An unknown variable.
Tanya thanked my father and added, “It’s my first time in Los Angeles.”
Being the daughter of a diplomat, she must be well-traveled. Yet, oddly, there wasn’t a dent on her suitcase. Not even a nick. Maybe it was brand new, and she’d had it plastic-wrapped at Heathrow although I didn’t see any baggage tags. Maybe she’d pulled them off, something I always did.
Whatever. My dad responded, “I’m sure both my wife and Paige will love showing you around.”
“I can’t wait to go to Urban Outfitters!”
Mentally, I rolled my eyes. Given the wealth of attractions LA had to offer, from world-class museums to Hollywood memorabilia, not to mention nearby Disneyland as well as the breathtaking coastline, some retail emporium you could shop at online and could probably find in London wouldn’t be high on my list of priorities. Her interests were obviously different from mine.
My father craned his neck to check on our car. It was still parked where we’d left it. But not far behind it was an airport police patrol car. “We’d better get going before I get a ticket. The airport police are very strict about how long you can remain parked curbside.”
He offered to take Tanya’s suitcase, but she told him she could manage it. Together, we hurried back to the car and got there just before we got ticketed. I watched as my dad pushed down the handle of the bag and then loaded it into the trunk of his shiny black BMW 750i.
I was surprised by how effortlessly he lifted the big red suitcase. My six-foot-two father ran, swam, and worked out with weights regularly, but it was almost as if the bag was weightless. Then, he helped Tanya remove her backpack and groaned like he’d pulled a muscle.
“Jeez. What’s in this bag? It weighs a ton.”
“Oh, just my laptop, some makeup, and my personal stuff.”
With that and a grin, she followed me as I slid into the car. As my father pulled away, I wondered: Why did I have a bad feeling about this girl?
TWO
