“No, Alana, no. You can’t believe that. I refuse to let you believe that. You don’t want to end up like him.”
“I don’t think I have much of a choice. We share the same genetic makeup.”
“So do we,” she argues. “And so do you and your mother. You should remember that.”
“How long were you waiting to use that ammunition on me?” My mother is always a soft spot.
“When I needed it most.” She smiles deviously.
“You’re as conniving as your father.”
Emily grabs my face. “And you’re nothing like yours.”
“I’m not so sure.”
“I am. And I’m older, so you have to listen to me.”
I actually laugh. She used to say that to me all the time when we were younger. Especially when she wanted me to do something we weren’t supposed to.
There’s a knock at the door. “Alana?” my father calls before he enters.
“Yes, come in.” Emily and I separate as the coldest man I have ever encountered walks into my room. He examines both Emily and me thoroughly before he speaks. “The car is here. I’m going to send up the chauffeur for your things.”
“Okay, Daddy,” I respond rigidly.
“Emily.” He addresses her aloofly. “When are you off?”
“Tonight,” she answers.
He nods. “Safe trip.” Then he walks out the door.
Emily shakes her head with ayou’ve got to be kidding meexpression.“I wonder if we sent him to live in an igloo if he’d notice the temperature change?”
“Stop.” I laugh, pushing her arm playfully.
“What time does your plane leave?” I ask.
“Ten.” She picks up the sketchbook and inspects it. “I’m taking the red-eye so I can sleep.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“Yeah, after four years of traveling back and forth to Pepperdine, you learn a few things.” She smiles. Emily graduates this year, and I wonder if she’ll make the West Coast her permanent home when she does. I secretly hope not.
“What’s this?” She wiggles the small blue book in her hand. I wilt.
“It was for Ryan. A going away, remember me present of sorts.”
“Can I?” She pulls at the leather string.
“Go ahead.” I shrug indifferently; even though I’m falling to pieces on the inside. I don’t want to be reminded. I want it all to go away. And in that book is the memoir of mine and Ryan’s summer together.
She flips open the cover and reads aloud. “He is everything my head says is right, my heart says it wants, and my body can’t deny.”
I nearly crumble. I wrote those words our last night together. They startled me right out of a dead sleep. They were the words I never thought I’d find. Emily skims through the rest of the book. I know every picture that’s inside; the one of me he sketched on our second date, several of our beach, the sunsets, one of our cars parked next to each other, the city skyline, and a beautiful mermaid with a vibrant blue tail.
“Wow,” she says, after she closes the book. “Ryan has a little bit of talent.”
“A little bit,” I meekly reply. A moment later, a man dressed in a black suit and dark sunglasses is knocking on the door.