Remy appears at my side, her eyes wide with fear. “Run, Meggy!”
My phone rings and I gasp. I bolt down the hall as Miss Patty calls out, “Ari? Ari, is that you?”
I race down the stairs as I fumble through my purse for my phone and turn the sound off. I pass the bathroom, and then double back, go in, and shut the door. I hear Miss Patty thunder down the stairs. “What’s the matter, Ari? Couldn’t wait to have your little friend spy on me, so you had to do it yourself?”
Miss Patty stops in front of the bathroom. “Ari,” she says, her voice dripping with venom. “Come out, we need to talk.”
Oh great, she thinks I’m Ari. “Um, it’s me, Megan,” I call out with a shaky voice. “I’m … I’m just finishing up in the bathroom.” I flush the toilet, hoping she’ll think I was in here all along.
“Oh! I … I forgot you were here. I … just, well, I’ll go get Ari. Sorry,” Miss Patty says through the door.
I listen to her footsteps leading away and take in a deep breath. What the hell just happened, and what the hell was in that mirror? I quickly look up at the bathroom mirror and I’m relieved to see my own face—pale and drawn as it is—instead of the horrible one that was talking to Patty.
Why are you doing this to me, Remy?
I shake my head. Why does Remy do any of the things she does? “If only Dad could be with you,” I whisper. “Then you could rest and I could get on with my life without seeing girls with their chest carved open or floating heads in mirrors!”
I grip the counter and take a deep breath. Getting carted off to the loony bin is actually sounding somewhat appealing— as long as Remy can’t come, that is.
I look at the missed call and see it was Ryan. Why did he have to go to Portland today? We could’ve done something and I wouldn’t be here, hiding in the bathroom!
Well, I can’t stay in here forever. I just hope Miss Patty isn’t lurking around, ready to ask why I was spying on her.
I open the door and see Patty having a heated discussion with Ari outside the entertainment room. They both turn my way as I leave the bathroom.
“I’ll take care of it. Why don’t you go and clean yourself up before Daddy gets home?” Ari says without any effort to keep her voice down.
Miss Patty purses her lips, and then turns and walks down the hall away from us without saying anything else.
Ari rolls her eyes when I get closer. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.”
“Every couple of months something sets her off and she gets totally ’faced, and seeing as she’s been on this one-thousand-calorie-a-day diet, what she downed this afternoon hit her worse than usual. I think it’s all the crap with the park opening and the fact that this new ride we’re installing won’t be ready and she totally lost it today.”
“Oh, that’s too bad—about the ride and Patty.” I hold my phone up and point to Ryan’s number, thinking he’ll be the perfect excuse to leave. “Um, Ryan tried to call, so I was thinking I should probably see what’s going on.” I shrug. “You know, before Samantha decides to entertain him.”
“Yeah, that’s cool, but before you call him, I was just wondering if the mirror completely freaked you out.”
“How did you …” I trail off as Ari bursts out laughing.
“Oh my God, it did, didn’t it? I can see it in your face! It’s supposed to be like the latest in animatronics. My dad paid a freakin’ fortune for it—for two of them, actually, but once we got them, it was pretty clear we couldn’t put them in the park. For kicks we hung one here, and the other is in Patty’s office. They’re supposed to be the magic mirror—you know, from ‘Snow White.’ It’s totally state-of-the-art voice recognition stuff. You talk to the mirror, and the software analyzes your words and it’s supposed to come up with appropriate responses and facial expressions.”
“Yeah, I don’t know that I’d use the word ‘appropriate,’” I say, having a hard time picturing the conversation I’d just overheard being simply computer generated.
“Well, that’s what we were told, but as you saw, the mirror isn’t really kid friendly. My dad said it was probably a cultural thing—they were made in France and, you know, they do things a little differently over there.”
I think back to the things the mirror said to Miss Patty. Why would the programmers have even anticipated needing the words “stripper bar” for something geared toward kids? “It was like it was having an actual conversation with Patty—even taunting her.”
“Yeah, the software definitely has a few bugs that need to be worked out. Patty gets tanked and starts talking to the stupid thing like the idiot she is, and then gets royally pissed off when it says something inappropriate—which it always does.”
“But why didn’t you just return them?”
“They wouldn’t let us. We even threatened to sue them, but seeing as they’re in Europe, they weren’t too worried. At least it was a tax write-off.”
“Wow, but besides the language, the face in the mirror is a little too PG-13 for the park anyway—it’d give some kid nightmares. They did a really good job on it, otherwise.” Totally spooked Remy and me!
“Enough about the stupid mirrors. Nicki’s watching Gypsy—the Patti LuPone version. Seen it a million times, but if you want, we could head out to the pool. I’ve got it cranked up to eighty-five!” She cocks her head and looks down at the phone still in my hand. “Unless you’re one of those girls who blows off her friends for a guy?”
“No. But I should probably at least call him back just in case it was something important.”
“Sure, but before you do, let me show you the pool.” Ari leads me to some French doors at the end of the hall, looking out to the backyard.
Large rocks are lit up with soft blue and green lights tracing the path of a waterfall that splashes into the pool. Chinese lanterns hang from cherry trees whose petals drift down onto the pool deck and scatter across the water’s surface.
“I could snag some champagne and we could swim or hang out in the Jacuzzi.”
“Okay,” I say, gawking at the Jacuzzi attached to the pool. “I vote for the Jacuzzi! Let’s get Nicki—she’ll love this.”
“I seriously doubt we could pry her away from the show. And, you know, I’m getting a little tired of her Debbie Downer routine. She takes everything so Goddamn seriously. Doesn’t she just drive you crazy the way she’s always on your case?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, stunned.
“Like riding you about Ryan. I mean, relationships are complicated—you can’t just bail on a guy because there’s a little trouble, right? But if it were up to Nicki, you’d already be broken up. And having one little drink, what’s the big deal? Did you see the way she was glaring at you? It’s like she doesn’t think you can make up your own mind.”
“Well, we kind of are underage, and as far as Ryan goes, she’s just concerned that I’m setting myself up for a fall. We didn’t know each other too well when he first asked me out—and there’s the whole Samantha thing.”
Ari looks at me doubtfully. “I guess you could look at it that way, but if you ask me, she’s jealous.”
I shake my head. “No. Nicki isn’t like that.”
“Well, I’ve just never heard her talk about any guys at chorus. Not that Nicki could be bothered talking to me much, even though I’ve tried to include her in conversations.”
I stare out at the pool. Nicki’s made it more than clear Ari isn’t one of her favorite people, and seeing as Ari can change from hot to subarctic at the drop of a hat, it’s not hard to imagine why. But Nicki has been riding me about Ryan from the first day he asked me out. I was so excited, but she just stared at me like I was crazy and asked why I said yes to a guy best known around school for scarfing twenty-eight cupcakes in three minutes our sophomore year.
She’s only dated a few guys, the longest lasting just over a month. But she’s chalked the breakups to the fact that the guys weren’t into women’s rights o
r politics or just not—I keep myself from rolling my eyes—serious enough.
I guess Ari nailed it.
“But if you want, go ask her to join us,” Ari adds.
“No, she’d rather watch the movie. Besides, she thinks bathing suits are designed by chauvinistic people who view woman’s bodies as eye candy for men.”
Ari shakes her head. “Yeah, like I was saying. But let’s get changed, and I’ll meet you out here in a few.”
Ari heads off and I walk slowly toward the front entrance hall where I left the bag with my suit and towel. I feel a little guilty not coming to Nicki’s defense, but in a way Ari’s right. Nicki needs to loosen up or at least accept that she’s not always right about everything.
I pull my new bikini out of my bag and wish Ryan were here. I’d never admit it to Nicki, but I don’t see anything wrong with being eye candy. And maybe next time—if Ari asks me over again—I won’t ask Nicki to come.
“So have you gone all the way yet?” Ari asks with a giggle.
I choke on my champagne and then pick up some of the foam gathered at the edge of the hot tub and throw it toward her. “Ari!”
She leers at me. “You’re still a virgin, aren’t you?”
“That’s none of your business!” I squeal, splashing her.
She laughs again. “It’s okay, I’ve never done it either.” She sinks a bit lower in the water, the top of her champagne glass tilts and fills with hot tub water.
“Look out!” I laugh.
She sits up and fumbles with her glass, dropping it into the tub. “Shit!”
We laugh some more as we feel around the bottom of the tub with our feet. “I found it,” I say, reaching down and grabbing the flute—which Ari explained is the proper name for a champagne glass. I explained that we don’t do a whole lot of celebrating at my house and therefore I was ignorant to the fact that there was a type of flute you don’t blow into. Ari then asked if I could tell a merlot glass from a chardonnay—to which I replied, “No,” and she vowed to educate me in the ways of sophistication.
She dumps the water out of her flute and pours more champagne from the second bottle we opened.
“What if Patty or your dad comes out and catches us?”
Ari snorts, dips her lips below the surface, and blows some bubbles. She comes up and crosses her eyes, looking woozy. “Patty’s probably out cold.” She shakes her head and looks at me sadly. “And my dad is such an old fuddy-duddy he’s in bed by nine o’clock sharp.” She raises her flute in the air. “This is why it’s important to party while you’re young and can still enjoy it!”
I raise my glass to hers and then we both sip our drinks. I look up at the sky and marvel at the stars. I went to New York City with Nicki’s family a couple of years ago to see The Lion King and was shocked that there was so much artificial light it made seeing the stars near impossible. But here, up high on the mountain overlooking the park, each and every star stands out crisply in the black sky.
“It’s so beautiful here—perfect.”
“I guess,” Ari says softly. She swirls a hand across the surface of the water and sighs. “But I’m still missing the key ingredient to my happily ever after.”
“Does Luke know you like him?” I ask, not bothering to pretend I don’t know she’s hot for him.
Ari clucks her tongue. “Sadly for me, he does. I stupidly made the first move and got the you’re-like-a-sister-to-me speech. That was over a year ago, and I keep hoping things will change—but it’s hard waiting, and seeing him all the time and wondering when he’ll realize I’m not a little kid anymore.”
“Do you think it’s because you were friends with his sister?”
“How did you know Kayla and I were friends?”
“Nicki told me.”
Ari nods. “Yeah, I think that may be part of it, but Kayla wasn’t much help either. She didn’t want us going out because she said if we broke up, it might ruin our friendship. I contended that my marrying Luke would make us sisters.” She drains her glass and then fills it again. “Sometimes I think Kayla just didn’t want to share him.”
I look up at the stars, not sure Ari will like what I’m going to say. I consider keeping my mouth shut, but I do feel bad for her, and the champagne is making me feel brave.
“You might want to back off a little, give him some room. It was kind of obvious you had it bad for him when we were in the costume room that day. Instead of always trying to hook arms with him or stand next to him, which gives off this needy vibe, let him come to you.”
I wait to see if Ari’s going to bite my head off.
“Maybe you’re right,” she says.
I realize I’m holding my breath, and exhale.
“Maybe if I turn off the I-love-you vibe then he’ll …” Ari sits up straight as a huge smile breaks out on her face. “Oh my God, he’s here! This is like fate!”
I turn around and see Luke walking out of the house with Nicki.
“Hey, ladies,” he says.
“What are you doing here?” Ari says. She looks sideways at me and beams.
“Patty called me a while ago to ask if I finished touching up the sign leading to Hansel and Gretel’s forest.” He picks at the paint clinging to his hands. “She sounded pretty out of it, so I thought I’d check in on you.”
Ari rolls her eyes. “Yeah, she started drinking as soon as she got the call that the new minicoaster is being delayed again.”
“That’s pretty sad,” Nicki says. “Are you going to get her some help?”
Ari’s smile evaporates. “It doesn’t happen all the time,” she snaps, then she looks at Luke. “I take it you’ve met Nicki.”
“Oh, I remembered her from the chorus.” He turns to Nicki. “I’ll never forget that song you sang a couple of years ago—‘Glitter’ something.”
“‘Glitter and be Gay,’ from Candide! That’s one of my favorite performance pieces! I can’t believe you remembered that.” Nicki smiles and waves a hand around like her performance was no big deal, despite the fact that she got a standing ovation.
“No, that song stuck with me for a while. Well, Kayla was singing it a lot too, but she was always talking about how good you were—that you should be on Broadway.”
Nicki gives him a bittersweet smile. “She was really good too, but I don’t know if I’m ready to take on Broadway.”
“Of course you are,” Ari says coldly. “Everyone says so, and you made quite an impression on Luke, who I didn’t know was such a music aficionado.”
Nicki gives Luke a quick, nervous glance, and I can tell she’s realized Ari’s heading down that slippery slope of jealousy. “Um, everyone likes music, right? It’s universal. Um, you know, it’s getting late, and don’t you have your big Land of Enchantment orientation tomorrow, Megan? Wouldn’t want you to be late for the slushy machine seminar.”
I nod and climb out of the hot tub, suddenly self-conscious of being in a bathing suit in front of Luke. I quickly grab my towel and wrap it around me. “Yeah, it’s first thing in the morning so we should get going.” I wobble a little on my feet, and Nicki grabs my arm to steady me. “There’s more champagne, Luke. Maybe you should join Ari.” I wink at her and she smiles appreciatively. “Thanks for having us over. Good to see you again, Luke.”
“Yeah, you too. I’m sure I’ll see you at the park.”
I come out of the bathroom clutching my wet bathing suit, and Nicki is leaning against the wall, her arms folded across her chest. “I hope your mother isn’t waiting up for you— she’ll know you’re trashed.”
My cheeks burn as I slide the straps of my tote bag over my arm. “I’m not trashed, but my mom has an early meeting with her lawyer so she’s probably in bed anyway.”
“Whatever, and, uh, thanks for abandoning me tonight.”
I scoff. “I just figured you were enjoying the movie, and you even said you weren’t sure if you wanted to go swimming.”
Nicki takes her keys out of her purse. “It
would’ve been nice to have been asked! After the movie ended I had no clue where you two where. Luckily, Luke showed up and led me to the pool so I wasn’t wandering around this flagrantly overdone McMansion filled with butchered-up animal parts.
“Seriously, PETA would be picketing the Land of Enchantment in a heartbeat if they knew what was in here. Just look,” she says, pointing to an elephant foot turned into an umbrella stand by the front door. “How sick is that?”
I roll my eyes. “It’s obviously old stuff—from before endangered species were on anyone’s radar.”
“That doesn’t mean they have to keep it around.”
“It doesn’t, but why get all freaked out about it?”
Nicki opens the front door. “The real question is why are you okay with it?”
“I guess I’m not as morally superior as you are.”
Nicki glares at me. “Oh, that’s nice, and it must be nice knowing you can down as much champagne as you want, seeing as you have a chauffeur to drive you home.”
I sigh. “I’m sorry, I had a few drinks. It’s not like I make a habit of it, but I just don’t have the energy to analyze everything like you do. Yes, I think all the dead things are creepy, but they’re like antiques—maybe there’s some sentimental reason for keeping them around.”
“Well, FYI, this is my first and last visit to Casa Roy; if you plan on coming again, I suggest you finally get around to getting your license like you keep talking about or have Ari start chauffeuring you around.”
“Fine, I will!” I get in the car and wonder when Nicki turned into such an insufferable stick-in-the-mud—or what took me so long to notice. And she’s totally delusional if she thinks Ari will ever invite her over again, anyway.
Nicki turns the volume up and I know we’ll ride home without talking. It’s not fair. She’s always harping about stupid stuff and she doesn’t even know how lucky she is. I’d give anything to go home to a normal family every night and get praise for being great at something like her.