Page 3 of Riverside Reverie

“Looking to use those condoms?” she teased, waggling her eyebrows.

I shot her an unimpressed look. “Hardly,” I rolled my eyes. “I want to have some idea of who’s going to be there.”

“Aside from us? Seven,” Jasmine replied with a grin. “Desmond, Baz, Rhiannon, Theo, Talia, Zoey and Kai.”

“That’s...a lot of people.” I frowned. Like, a lot. I only recognized a couple of names from conversations over the years. Talia had been one of her college roommates, and Desmond was one of the owners of the duplex they rented from. Theo might have been too…or maybe that was Baz, I couldn’t remember. They were all mysteries to me: names I’d recognized from her mentioning them in passing, but I’d never registered any lingering details about them.

Jasmine slammed the trunk closed, her grin widening. “They’re all really great people, Lux, you’ll see. Stop worrying and get in the car, we’ve got to hit the road so we can meet everyone at the boat launch.”

“All right,” I sighed, looking past Jasmine at my house. The knots in my stomach had already lessened with the knowledge that I had four days away from the drama that lived there. But what about after? The thought tried to worm its way in, but I pushed it away, unwilling to face it. I knew I needed to figure out my next move, but it was clear I couldn’t subject myself to Brinley’s continued cruelty.

Walking around to the passenger side, I opened the door and climbed in, closing it behind me.

The engine roared to life and Jasmine sent an excited grin my way. “This is going to be an amazing trip, you’ll see,” she assured me with a confident smile before backing out of my parents’ driveway.

2

ROAD TRIP

Lux

“So what do your parents think about the whole Brinley and Scott thing?”

“They don’t know yet,” I shrugged.

“And why the hell not!?” Jasmine exclaimed, her eyebrows raising with disbelief.

“I haven’t told them, and Brinley certainly hasn’t.” My parents thought that Scott and I had broken up due to the strain the long distance had put on us, and that we’d simply outgrown each other. Both those things were true: those issues had contributed to our demise…but they had no clue how much of a hand Brinley had in things. She hadn’t brought him around the house, she had enough self-preservation to realize that she’d catch some flak for that, and it was as if she was waiting for me to tell on her.

“I don’t think I can handle them excusing her behaviour again,” I admitted. I knew I couldn’t handle yet another dismissal of my concerns or listen to them minimizing what I’ve always suspected could be a real problem: that my little sister needed psychological help.

“I still can’t believe Brinley did that to you!” Jasmine blasted, rolling her eyes. She had caught me staring out the window with the same dejected look that prompted her to force me to come on the trip in the first place. “Actually, scratch that. I can believe it.”

While it had been seven months since I’d last gotten to hang out with Jasmine, we fell into the same familiar pattern we’d always had with one another. I realized just how much I’d missed my best friend, and how much I was looking forward to spending time with her again.

As much as I hated to admit it, I’d been down the last few weeks. It wasn’t exactly upbeat knowledge, knowing that your own family would intentionally betray you just to hurt you. My eyes started to itch, and I blinked away tears, glancing out the window and trying to pull myself back together. There was no reason why Jasmine’s presence should make me feel so emotional, other than she felt and acted more like a loving sister than my own.

I’d known Jasmine and her family since grade seven, and she’d known mine just as long. Our younger sisters had been close friends too, although Camellia was so sweet compared to Brinley. None of Jasmine’s three sisters were as competitive and cruel as Brinley, and Jasmine had a great relationship with each of them.

To have so many sisters, and to have such unique bonds with them all…it was something I’d longed for with Brinley. Jasmine’s sisters could depend on her, and vice versa. I couldn’t depend on Brinley unless I wanted to depend on getting hurt. My little sister had always been catty and mean, choosing to see other women as the enemy. She saw other girls as competition, someone to defeat, rather than the powerful allies they could be.

Jasmine had called me after seeing my Facebook relationship status change. She thought I’d be happy, celebrating having finally broken the chain that had held me back since high school. She’d thought I’d be ready for a summer of mingling. But I wasn’t, I was quietly devastated. Not about the Scott thing, and once I explained the other party…she understood.

Things had seemed so wonderful at the beginning of our relationship. Scott was one of the few guys in our grade with a license and a car, and he’d picked me up every day before school, and he loved having me at his rugby games. But outside of sports, Scott didn’t have many goals, and his grades weren’t very good.

Scott planned on taking sports therapy after graduating. He thought it’d be cool to work on big sports teams, but he lacked the motivation and discipline, and his marks weren’t high enough to qualify for the program without taking a few refresher courses first.

Which was what he was doing, refresher courses at the local community college—and my sister, apparently.

I sighed, finally drawing my gaze away from the window and to my friend. I lifted my shoulder in a weak shrug. “Brinley just…has a lot of issues.”

Jasmine chortled. “Understatement of the year.”

“I want her to get help for them, Jas. It’s always been painful watching her lash out at those close to her, simply because she’s hurting. If she got help, maybe she wouldn’t.”

My friend sent me a sympathetic smile. “Girl, you know I love your heart. But…people have to want to help themselves; they have to want to change. I don’t think Brinley sees a problem with herself.”

I nodded in agreement. She was right about that. I was beginning to see it.

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