Page 18 of Pushing Daisy
Sloan
That’s so unfortunate and yet so kind of you to think of me.
Will you tell Daisy ahead of time?
I’ll let her know I can’t make it on Friday, but whatever else happens is out of my control
Thanks. I wouldn’t want her to try to cancel.
I understand.
Have fun!
Thank you.
With thoughts of how this ambush of Daisy could go, playing every possible scenario through her mind a dozen times, Sloan admits to herself that this is likely her only option. Is it ideal? Absolutely not. What would be ideal is having a working partner who actually wants to work together. Instead, she’s plotting with Daisy’s friends and trying to find a loophole in her evasiveness. Sloan feels like a bat looking for the tiniest crack to hide in, hoping it will lead to a bigger, better opening. Until then, she’ll take what she can get.
“Sloan!” her mother calls down the hall, pulling her attention back to work.
“Coming,” Sloan replies as she enters the hallway.
“Explain it to me again. Why are you going to spend the weekend with her?” Francesca asks.
Sloan and Franny have been friends since they were little. Despite this, Sloan has, more recently, realized that she doesn’t particularly like her. She hangs out with Franny more out of comfort than similarity and actual friendship.
Never one for having many friends, Sloan couldn’t be particularly choosy about who she associated with. Growing up, Sloan was always the popular one everyone wanted to be connected to because they felt it would benefit them in some way. People thought they would become popular and rich merely by association. Franny, though, saw through Sloan’s pretentious facade and became not her best friend but one of her only friends.
Of course, Franny was also more than happy to reap the reward of being friends with a Wilks, but she didn’t wave around the popularity badge. She didn’t brag to all the others about the trips, the gifts, or the hired servants. No, she just went along with it. And as Franny’s parents became closer to Sloan’s parents, they also started to benefit. Soon enough, the Wardwells were at the top of the tower alongside the Wilkses. With position came power; with power came money, and with money, Franny became obnoxious and insufferable. But with already so few friends, Sloan stuck around. She couldn’t risk being seen as a loner. She learned early on from her parents that being a loner would make her an outcast, and Wilkses were never outcasts.
Rolling her eyes as she packs her overnight bag, Sloan replies, “I’m spending the weekend at The Dandelion because I’ve been assigned this project, and I’m going to see it through. Like I always do. I didn’t choose to work with Daisy, but if we want to get this thing done, we need to figure out a way to work together.”
“But, like, can’t you call her?”
“As I said earlier, I’ve tried that. She’s not responding. So I have to corner her.”
“I always knew she was an animal,” Franny retorts before laughing too loudly at her own joke. “Be careful you don’t startle her, or she may bolt like the gremlin she is.”
Sloan rolls her eyes again. At this rate, if Franny keeps talking, Sloan’s eyes will become permanently stuck in the back of her head. Maybe someday she’ll get the courage to tell her to simply shut up. She is almost certain there is not a thought in Franny’s pretty little head worth sharing with the world. Honestly, Sloan is surprised there is even a thought inside Franny’s head at all.
“What am I supposed to do this weekend?” Franny whines.
“I don’t know.” Sloan sighs. “Read a book?”
Franny breaks into a fit of laughter. “Please,” she wheezes. “Nothing good ever comes from a book.”
Sloan stares into space for a moment as she processes that sentence. Nope. She’s now certain. Not a single one of Franny’s thoughts ever needs to be verbalized. “I don’t know. I’m sure you’ll think of someone to keep you busy.”
A mischievous grin forms on Franny’s face, and Sloan wants no part of whatever is behind it.
“Anyway,” Sloan says, looking at her phone, “I need to get going.”
“Fine. I want all the details of how horrible it was when you get back.”
“Sure thing,” Sloan replies, grabbing her bag, sliding on a pair of wedges, and heading out the door, leaving Franny talking to herself. Despite saying she’s leaving, she knows Franny will continue talking to herself for a while before realizing Sloan is no longer there. “I really need to find some new friends,” she mutters to herself while backing out of the driveway.
Watching the lake fade into the distance in her review mirror, Sloan runs through what she plans to say to Daisy. She initially thought about making it seem like a coincidence that they both happened to be staying there at the same time, but didn’t think she could pull that off. Then she considered flat-out telling her that Lachlan and Petra set her up—but she didn’t think driving a potential wedge in their friendship would be a good idea. Instead, she settled on going with a version of the truth.
Years of family expectations and being seen as a pawn for everyone else have taught her to always remain guarded. That practice has been hard to shake, and she routinely finds her words coming out harsher than she intends, which means she offends others more often than she befriends them. But, today, she comes armed with cupcakes, hoping that will win her some points with Daisy.
