Izzie hung her head, as if the thought of what she was going to have to deal with was weighing her down already. “This town is so not normal.”
“Why don’t we go to Corky’s and we’ll give you the lowdown on all the events that are part of Founders Day?” Nicole put an arm around her. “You’ll be fine after we get some sweet-potato fries in you. I’m starving!”
“Actually, I am meeting Kylie there in a half hour,” Izzie said, looking at her watch. “We agreed to meet up so I could vent about my first day back. Do you guys want to all go together?”
“Sure,” Mira said. She noticed Nicole give Violet a look. Mira knew Violet and Nicole hadn’t warmed up to Kylie yet, but she was sure they would once they got to know her. Izzie’s best friend was brassy, but so was Izzie, and Mira liked how Kylie didn’t shy away from the truth. Hopefully the girls would grow to like her, too.
A short trolley ride later and they were at Corky’s, waiting to be seated. A waitress grabbed menus and began roller-skating over to their table, but halfway there, Izzie stopped short and Mira crashed into her.
“What’s…” Mira followed Izzie’s eye line over to the window. “Oh my.” Hayden was kissing a girl they both knew.
Izzie’s face was hard to read, but her action wasn’t. She pushed past her and headed to the table. “Kylie?”
Kylie and Hayden looked up, startled, and practically jumped out of the booth.
“Iz-Whiz!” Kylie’s cheeks were flushed. “I thought you said four thirty.”
“It is four thirty.” Izzie looked from Hayden to Kylie for some sort of explanation, but neither offered one. “What’s going on? Are you two… together now?”
Kylie pretended not to hear the question. She looked at Violet and Nicole instead. “You brought your friends. Cool. Hey. Wow. You guys actually leave school wearing those nerd costumes, huh?”
Violet bristled. “Oh, you know us Emerald Prep girls, always making a fashion statement.” She looked Kylie up and down and then scratched her chin. “At least we don’t have to worry about getting holes in our jeans.” Kylie’s were purposefully ripped at both knees, and she had Sharpied a design over one whole leg.
Mira felt herself tense. Sensing friction among girls was like a sixth sense. It was needed to be friends with someone like Savannah. Right now she could feel the drama building between Violet and Kylie while Izzie seemed to be preoccupied with the Kylie-and-Hayden situation.
Hayden did what he always did—attempted to crack a joke to cut the tension. “Well, as fun as this has been, I think I’m going to leave you girls to do what you do best—debate Peeta versus Gale and determine which lip gloss has the best shine.”
Violet stepped in front of him. “Not so fast.” She flashed him a wicked grin. “You didn’t answer Izzie’s question—how long have you two been hanging out? From the look of things, I’d say you’ve been keeping it from Izzie for a while, right?”
Kylie quickly walked into Violet’s personal space before anyone could react.
“This doesn’t concern you,” Izzie’s best friend said darkly.
Sometimes Violet couldn’t mind her own business. “Really? Last I checked, Izzie was my friend, and friends look out for each other.”
“Violet, I can handle this.” Izzie’s face twisted sadly as she looked from Kylie to Hayden for answers. “So how long have you guys been lying to me?”
Kylie exhaled sharply as if she’d been holding the information in for far too long. “I love you to pieces, but we didn’t know how to tell you about us.”
“When did this happen?” Izzie sputtered. “You guys hardly know each other.”
Hayden and Kylie looked at each other guiltily. “We hit it off that day we went to Corky’s in the Charger,” Hayden explained. “I Facebooked her, and we talked some more, and then we started hanging out right before…” He trailed off when he saw Izzie’s somber expression. “We weren’t sure how you would react, so we decided to wait.” Kylie nodded. “It seemed like bad timing.”
“What was bad timing?” Izzie asked. “Grams’s death or the fact that you two hooked up at her funeral?”
“Izzie,” Mira admonished. “That’s not fair.”
“Mira’s right.” Kylie gave Izzie the evil eye. “That’s a low blow, my friend. We were trying to protect you.”
“You did a great job protecting her,” Violet spoke up. Mira was going to have to muzzle both of them soon if they were going to get through this.
“I’m warning you,” Kylie growled at Violet. “Stay out of this.” Her tone was softer when she turned to Izzie. “I know you’re still mourning, but you can’t hide behind Grams’s death forever.” Violet made a face, and Mira saw that Izzie didn’t fail to notice. “Life goes on. We like each other, so we started hanging out. What’s the big deal?”
“If it’s no big deal, then why did you hide it from me?” Izzie pressed. “I’ll tell you why. Because it’s weird and you know it. He’s my brother, and you’re my best friend.”
“So?” Kylie was getting agitated herself. “Technically, he’s not even your brother, so I don’t owe you an explanation.”
That was taking things too far. Mira wasn’t surprised when Izzie headed for the door. “Real nice,” Violet said. “Who says something like that?”
“The only person who can,” Kylie shot back. “Her best friend. You don’t know her the way I do. She’s fine.”
“Oh yeah?” Violet questioned. “Then why did she just leave, ‘best friend’?”
Kylie’s confidence seemed to waver. She touched Hayden’s arm. “Crap. I put my foot in my mouth, didn’t I? I should go after her.”
“No, let me,” Mira said, hoping to stop a fight from breaking out on Main Street. “The rest of you stay here. And don’t talk to one another,” she added as she rushed out.
Thankfully Izzie hadn’t gone far. She was pacing in front of the restaurant. Mira approached slowly as if she were greeting a stray dog whose temperament had yet to be determined. “Are you okay?”
“No! I know I was harsh, but what were they thinking?” Izzie said to Mira.
Mira watched her wear out the sidewalk. “I don’t know. But is it really that bad? You love both of them. Maybe they’ll be good for each other.”
Izzie gave her a look. “They won’t be.”
She wasn’t usually this irrational. “Why?” Mira asked. “And don’t say because she’s from Harborside and Hayden’s from EC. You paved the way for that scenario.”
Izzie sighed. “I know. It’s just she’s my best friend and Hayden’s my brother.” Her face was pained. “What happens if they break up? I can’t choose between them.”
“No one is going to make you choose.” Mira put an arm around her. “You have no say in their relationship anyway, so why make yourself crazy about this?”
“I guess you’re right.” Izzie stared at the trolley as it whizzed by. Mira had a feeling there was more to Izzie’s fears than a breakup, but she didn’t push it. Izzie was so fragile lately. “You’re going to say I should go back in there, aren’t you?”
Mira nodded. “Yep. Maybe a milk shake will make you feel better.”
Izzie laughed. “You think milk shakes make everything better.” Mira was glad to see the color return to Izzie’s cheeks. She looked more like her old self again.
“Hey, ladies. What’s so funny?”
They both turned around. Kellen was standing behind them. It drove Mira crazy that Kellen seemed to get cuter as the time for him to leave got closer. His sandy-blond hair looked softer, his green eyes somehow brighter. His peacoat made him look Abercrombie-catalog-ready. Maybe she was just studying him more closely now.
“I’ll meet you inside,” Izzie said as if she could sense they wanted time alone, which Mira always did. “Later, Kellen.”
Kellen kept his eyes on Mira. “I missed you today.”
Mira leaned into him. “I missed you, too. I can’t believe Ms. Marks took your class on an all
-day field trip when you’re only here a few more weeks,” she joked.
“Someone should suspend her.” Kellen gave her a lopsided smile. “She did get us back in time to order Valentine’s boosters, though.” Every Valentine’s Day, EP’s school newspaper added an insert called the Book of Love in which students could write each other love notes. Hate notes were highly discouraged.
“Oh?” Mira cocked her head. “Get one for anyone special?”
“Yep. You.” He wrapped his arms around her. “Not to give too much away, but mine has clues about our last date.”
Last. She tried not to hang on that word. “Sleuthing. I like that.”
“Good.” Kellen grinned. “I promise the night will be full of surprises.”
“I don’t care what we’re doing just as long as we’re together,” Mira said, and he leaned down to kiss her. Her stomach growled.
Kellen pulled away. “Is your stomach trying to tell me something?”
“It has bad timing! Are you hungry?” Mira gestured to Corky’s. “Hayden, Izzie, and her friends are in there.” She bit her lip. “On second thought, let’s go someplace else. The scene was getting ugly.”
Kellen looked curiously at Corky’s glass doors. “While I’m always up for drama, I actually have to go home and pack. I was on my way to buy more boxes when I saw you.”
“I’ll go with you.” Mira didn’t hesitate. She didn’t want to let him out of her sight.
“Are you sure?” Kellen frowned. “I don’t want you to leave on my account.”
“They’ll survive without me. I’ll text Izzie to let her know I had a change of plans.” She slipped her arm into his, and Kellen led her down the street. “I have time to hang out with them.” It’s you I don’t, she thought sadly.
Five
Izzie was used to seeing people stream in and out of the Monroe house. It wasn’t unusual to run into people with her dad’s campaign in the living room, or to find his personal assistant at the kitchen island jabbering on the phone about fund-raising efforts. With her dad back in the race for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat and primaries coming up in May, the Monroes’ house had turned into campaign central.
Which was why she was surprised to come home one day and find her dad and Aunt Maureen alone in the kitchen while Connor played with LEGOs in the adjoining family room. She couldn’t remember the last time the house had been that quiet.
“Hi, gang. How was your day?” their dad asked as if it were completely normal to find him at the island drinking coffee without an entourage. “How was swim?” he asked Izzie as Hayden and Mira trickled in behind her. “Are you back in the final heat yet?”
Izzie dropped her book bag. “I wish.” She eyed one of her aunt’s homemade chocolate-chip cookies. She was training, so she tried to resist their allure. “It’s been torture having to watch Savannah swim the last heat of the one-hundred-meter-freestyle medley.”
“For you or for her?” Hayden joked, and took a cookie from the plate.
“Hopefully you’ll be back where you belong by next week’s meet.” Her dad removed his reading glasses and placed them on the newspaper in front of him. “Your aunt and I have been looking forward to coming out to cheer you on.”
“He cleared his afternoon schedule for it,” Aunt Maureen added. Izzie knew that was a big deal. Her dad didn’t have enough time to even eat these days. Hayden joked he needed a second assistant just to feed him.
“I hope it will be worth it,” Izzie said, her fingers inching toward the cookies. “I’d hate for you to waste valuable campaign time to watch Savannah swim in my spot.”
“Ignore her,” Mira told her parents. “She’s having a Savannah situation.”
Izzie took a cookie and stuffed it in her mouth to keep from saying anything about Savannah she would regret. She had texted Savannah twice about getting together to discuss Founders Day, but the prima donna had texted back that she didn’t feel it was appropriate to meet till Izzie had brushed up on her EC history. She even had the nerve to leave books about EC near Izzie’s locker.
The most frustrating part was that Savannah could be right. Izzie didn’t know much about the town she now called home. Until Savannah gave her that reading homework, she had no idea that the townswomen were some of the first to fight for suffrage. Or that, for a short period, the town’s official symbol wasn’t emeralds—it was cows. (No wonder they buried that fact on here of the book she was reading. Cows didn’t seem trendy enough for Emerald Cove.)
The crash course in EC history was helping, but Izzie hoped Savannah didn’t think she could give her a pop quiz before they discussed Founders Day again. Their meeting with Mrs. Fitz was next Tuesday, and this weekend was Valentine’s Day. Savannah wouldn’t want to celebrate the day of love with her. Izzie had to nail her to a meeting.
“Speaking of thorns like the Ingrams,” their dad said, “I have some news.”
Mira immediately panicked. “Did they get to Charles?” Charles Abrams was their dad’s new campaign manager. Their dad had hired him only last week. He had gone through so many it was a running joke now.
In less than six months, Lucas Hale, Callista Foster, and Savannah’s father had all tried to take Bill and his campaign down. For a minute, it looked like their dad was going to drop out of the race, but after he cleared his name, he had come back from the holidays in fighting form. Izzie admired that. She felt like she had to prove herself every day, too.
“Nothing’s happened to Charles,” Aunt Maureen soothed. “Your dad likes him.”
“Now that all background checks are clear, I really like him,” their dad joked. “I promise you, no one in this campaign is going to mess with our family again.”
Good. Izzie didn’t think she could handle another month of newspaper stories that chronicled whether she was really Bill Monroe’s daughter (she was) or how her dad had used taxpayer dollars to take their family to New York over Thanksgiving (he hadn’t) or how he had messed up some environmental bill (it was never even on the table).
“My poll numbers are up and I seem to be making strides in several counties,” their dad continued. “If this keeps up, Charles says, I have a real shot of getting the nomination for the Democratic Party.” Everyone grinned. “But it also means we are still going to be in the public eye the next few months. I’ll need you to attend fund-raisers, make appearances at key public events, and do interviews. We want to control the information out there.” His face darkened. “We don’t want to give Grayson Reynolds any ammunition,” he said, referring to the sleazy reporter at the North Carolina Gazette who was on a one-man mission to destroy their dad’s reputation and political future.
“So what you’re saying is don’t go tagging school property, keying any cars, or robbing area banks,” Hayden translated. “Come on! I live for that stuff.”
His mom pulled the second cookie he was taking out of reach. “Very funny.”
“Look, you don’t need me to tell you how to act,” their dad said. “You are great kids. Act the way you normally would. Just remember the world—especially Grayson Reynolds—will be watching and waiting for you to screw up.”
“That’s encouraging,” Izzie said. When people waited for her to mess up, she usually did.
Their dad grimaced. “I know, but I said no more secrets and I am keeping my word even if the news isn’t great.” He looked warily at Izzie. “Which is why, with full disclosure in mind, I should mention that we’re having an unexpected guest for dinner tonight.” He looked at his wife. “Why don’t you tell her, Maureen. It was your idea.”
Her aunt shot him a look, which Izzie wasn’t used to seeing. “Yes, well, since she will be here any minute, I should.” Aunt Maureen suddenly looked anxious and started pulling at her pearls, which she did only when she was about to let a bomb drop like…
“Oh no. You didn’t!” Izzie backed away from the table like she was going to make a run for it. She was so loud that Connor looked up from his LEGOs. “Why?”
she moaned, her tone alternating between pained and angry. “I thought you said I didn’t have to see her if I didn’t want to.”
“Zoe is coming?” Hayden asked. “Mom! Not cool.” Izzie and Hayden still hadn’t discussed what was going on with him and Kylie. She figured they were both too afraid to bring it up. She didn’t want to make things weird—even if they already were. Kylie seemed to be using the same approach. Every time they spoke, they talked about only safe subjects, like Harborside and Izzie cochairing with Savannah. What else could Izzie really say? I don’t want you to date my brother? No, she had to think this through, and right now the bigger problem was Zoe dropping in on her doorstep again.
“I invited Zoe to give Isabelle some closure,” Aunt Maureen explained to the mutinous group. “Zoe is part of Isabelle’s family, and we need to give her a chance.”
“Being related to me does not make her family,” Izzie countered. Her shoulders were stiff, which made her swim-team jacket look like it had shoulder pads. “She hasn’t acted like family.”
“You’re right,” Aunt Maureen agreed. “But she’s stuck around, and that’s because she wants to make things right with you. If you haven’t noticed, she’s not going away.” Izzie didn’t say anything. “Maybe she will if you let her explain.”
“I already know what she’s going to say.” Izzie was huffy. “She’s sorry. Who cares? She doesn’t want to get to know me. She’s just sticking around because she feels guilty.”
“I didn’t think this dinner was a good idea, either, but Maureen is right about one thing: You deserve the truth,” her dad said. “Don’t let her be a coward. Make her be honest with you. If you don’t like what she has to say, then I promise you never have to see her again.”
His response surprised Izzie in a good way, but it also made her wonder: How well did he know Zoe? She’d never thought to ask him.