Thank you for all the reviews! I love them! All three of them. Hahaha.
ALSO…pen name change time! Like it? Took me a lot of debating in my head…not that you really care, so on with the story! Review, of course. The chapter title was based on the song by Colbie Caillat, you should listen to it. It's great. :)
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Annoyed, Alicia threw her iPhone onto her extra bed. This is just ridiculous, Alicia thought. Not only pressure from her parents, but now pressure from her best friend? She was just so, so sick of all this. Why did she have to take it? You know what, she wasn't going to. This was enough.
Running out of her room, she grabbed her Prada from where she had left it in the front hall and ran back to her room. She dumped all her school stuff onto her floor and started to refill it with everything that she'd need. Her cell, a bathing suit, one change of clothes, her credit and ATM cards, and a journal. She'd gotten it from her mother who'd read that it was how many girls vented their feelings, but she's only written in it once since she'd gotten it for Christmas two years ago. But the whole reason she was leaving was to discover herself, right? She should write down her feelings and all that crap, right? Might as well throw it in.
But before she packed it she tore out a page and grabbed a pen to write her parents a quick note.
Dear Mom and Dad,
Don't get all freaked out because I'm not here, because I decided to go away for a little while. I've thought about it, and I'm all prepared. I know where I'm going, even. I'm not trying to run away, just get away for a couple months. And I have my cell phone too, so you can call me anytime, pretty much.
Anyway, I should get going the latest ferry leaves at 7:30. Talk to you all later.
Love,
Alicia
She then fished her phone out of her bag and thumbed a note to Kristin.
ARivera: Kris, I know that ur mad. but I've made a decision. im going away, not running, but just taking a little vacation with myself. go ahead and check, when you get to my house the only thing left of me here will be a note to my parents. feel free to call whenever you want to apologize.
The next thing she did was turn off her phone so she wouldn't have interruptions on the long drive. She snatched up her bag and her car keys and walked out the door. Her car stood in the driveway where she'd hastily left it earlier, eager to meet Kristin, expecting to gossip with her until dinner, and then into the rest of the night, just two best friends being best friends. But plans change. Sometimes peoples true feeling show.
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"C'mon Dylan, let us see!" Massie called from outside the small stall that Dylan was still standing in. Sucking her stomach in, Dylan stepped out.
"That color is great with your eyes Dyl! It matches perfectly!" Claire squealed. "Buy it!"
Dylan looked at Massie, who nodded. "Definitely. Claire is exactly right." Dylan tried to smile and turned quickly to change into her other clothes, letting out her stomach and poking it. She resolved something to herself. Derrick would never like a fat girl. Never. She needed to diet. Something better than the Atkins or the Jenny Craig or whatever it was. Something serious. Her future with Derrick could depend on how serious she was, how committed she could be. "Starting with this…sugar," Dylan muttered to herself, tossing her half full Starbuck's cup in the trash. She already felt a little better. Stepping out into the hall she satisfied Claire and Massie by sliding her Visa across the counter to buy the tankini.
"Guys, do you think we could just head home? I feel kind of tired. I don't have to worry about getting shoes and stuff until Wednesday or Thursday."
"Yeah sure Dyl, that's fine. Let's go." Massie checked her Tiffany watch. "It's almost time for dinner anyway, and Claire and I have that celebration dinner with both of the families." Even after Claire and her family moved into an apartment building that was nicer than Brickveiw, but not quite as nice as the Montador. Dylan swept her hair back into a messy bun to keep it from flying around in the wind and getting in her face. She sat quietly the whole ride home while Claire and Massie discussed shopping, beaches, and boys.
As Massie pulled into Dylan's driveway she said, "Do you want to finish shopping tomorrow? I can pick you up at like one and we can have a late lunch and hit BCBG and all the other stores we missed at the mall…?"
"Nah, I'm sure that I can find something in my closet. I'll talk to you guys later." Dylan turned and started to the door, letting their cries of "good-bye!" and "love you!" wash over her in a wave of guilt. She was avoiding them, in a way, but she didn't want to see them and their gorgeous flat stomachs with her's feeling so odd and different.
"Hey Dylan. Catherine's making her chicken divan for dinner, so I hope that you're hungry," Dylan's older sister Tallie said. She was the tallest in the family, and her hair was darker than Merri-Lee's and their other sister Gracelyn, sometimes nicknamed Grace. Catherine was the Marvil's maid, and in Dylan's opinion the best cook there ever was, even better than Inez, Massie's long-time cook.
"Uh, I'm not that hungry. I got some dinner with Massie and Claire." That wasn't exactly a lie. They'd gone to Starbucks. It was something. Just then Catherine stuck her head into the foyer, where Tallie had greeted Dylan.
"Girls, dinner is ready. Can you call Gracelyn and Merri-Lee down?"
As Dylan climbed the winding staircase toward her sister's room, she wondered how many calories were in the chicken divan. There's broccoli, that's good, she thought, but the sauce, that's cream, and milk, and butter. Plus there's all that cheese that gets sprinkled on top! That made up her mind. This meal was way too fattening. She'd just tell Catherine and her mom and sisters that she wasn't that hungry because she'd gotten something with Massie and Claire.
She knocked on Gracelyn's door and opened it. Grace was laying down on her bed with her headphones in, and Dylan could see her lips moving to the Pussycat Dolls. "Gracie-kins…dinner…" Dylan said in a teasing voice to her sister.
"Alright...I'm coming." Without opening her eyes Grace pulled her headphones out of her ears and held the PLAY/PAUSE switch on her iPod until the screen went black, and then followed Dylan down the stairs.
"Wow, Catherine, it smells great." In an effort to be kind to her maid, Merri-Lee always invited her to sit down and eat dinner with them.
About ten or fifteen minutes into dinner, Catherine looked at Dylan. "Aren't you hungry Dylan?"
"Well, I had something with Mass and Claire when we went shopping."
"Oh, where'd you go? What'd you get?" Merri-Lee asked her daughter.
"Uh…we just went to A Slice of Heaven and got pizza. I'm going to head to bed, I'm kind of tired." Dylan stood up quickly in order to avoid any more questions. This whole dieting thing could be a little harder than she thought.
I know, I know, a short chapter. I'll update soon and Kristen and Alicia and what happened there, and I understand that there's not really any drama with Mass and Claire, but it's coming, I swear! Please review with any compliments, questions, suggestions, criticism, flames, whatever. Just review or PM! And vote in my poll! It's for Claire!
Love ya,
M