Page 22 of Arden and the Girl Downstairs

Arden: Does anyone know what the hell this means? And how did Ella get into my room again?

My friends don’t respond how I was expecting.

Rhys, Ally, and Chase all reply with laughing emojis. Yasmin replies a moment later.

Yasmin: I freaking love that movie. Add it to the list for Sunday.

Arden: What movie?

Yasmin replies with a GIF of Eddie Murphy inThe Nutty Professorclapping and saying, “Hercules, Hercules, Hercules.”

That’s when it clicks. It’s a quote fromHercules.

It seems Ella is also a Disney fan . . .Now I understand why she and Yasmin became instant friends.

I don’t reply.

Once I’m finished getting ready, I head down to the second floor to check on Julia.

When I get to her room, it’s empty, so I head to the library at the end of the floor. I had this added for Yasmin and Ally as part of their Christmas present last year. I wanted to give them everything their inner bookworms dreamed of, and also create a place they would want to spend time in.

As I approach, voices coming from the room reveal people are in there. But when I open the door, it’s not what I am expecting.

Julia is sitting at the desk in the middle of the room. Beside her is a guy that I’d say would be in his mid-twenties. Looking over at the couches on the other side of the room, I spot Yasmin and Ally “pretending” to read while stealing glances at the guy with Julia.

I asked the girls to hire her a tutor. This—he—is not what I had in mind.

“Who are you?” I make myself known and startle Julia in the process. She glares at me.

“What? Are you drunk already?” she spits out. I cringe. She hit me where it hurts, and I can’t fucking blame her—I deserve all her anger.

“No, I’m not drunk. Who the hell is that?” I point to the obviously very attractive guy to her left.

“This is Isaiah. He’s my tutor.”

“No, absolutely not.” I turn to the girls on the couch. “This is not what I meant when I said hire her a tutor. You were supposed to hire some middle-aged woman who would make sure she doesn’t fall behind. Not a freaking distraction for her.” My tone is meaner than it should be. I have a feeling I’ve just destroyed all the progress I made earlier.

Ally doesn’t stay quiet. She rarely does. “You should have been more specific. We hired the best option for Julia. Not for you. It’s been two weeks and you haven’t even noticed that Isaiah has been hereevery single day.” She storms over to me and meets my eye to deliver the final blow. “Julia is excelling at every subject. One of us is always with her, whether she is studying, hanging out, or going to appointments. We have a roster and there is nothing we wouldn’t do for her. While you’ve been drinking your way through every bottle of bourbon in New Hope, we have been looking after Julia. Isaiah has caught her up in a few short weeks. He’s good for her. Is he nice to look at? Fuck yes. But that just entices her to show up each day, no matter how shitty she feels. Even an hour is better than nothing. Isaiah comes on a Sunday if she is having a good day, or stays late if they are on a roll. You aren’t paying him enough, so we’ve been paying for the extra hours. Wake the fuck up, Arden! We are all moving on with life and finding ways to navigate it, so why can’t you?”

Ally has always been brutally honest—she’s just never reacted like this to me. My friends love Julia like she’s family. They missed her when she stopped coming out with us, so when Millie and Julia became friends last year, we got Julia back.

My friends shouldn’t be paying for Julia’s tutor. Julia can afford to pay for it. But because she isn’t means it was a fight she lost against them. What hurts the most about what Ally said, though?

They have a roster that doesn’t include me. Normally, I’m the one to create something like that.

There’s no way I can go to school now. My mind swims with all the thoughts I’ve been fighting off since I opened my eyes this morning.

I need a drink.

Now.

I head to my room and go straight to the bar.

It’s only 9 a.m., but a pub is open somewhere in the world.

Uncapping a bottle of whiskey, I don’t bother pouring it into a glass. I drink straight from the bottle.

Ella

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