Page 17 of The Book Reader
I give her a kiss on the cheek as I leave the kitchen, grabbing my bag on the way and heading upstairs.
There are six rooms on the upper floor, a bathroom and five bedrooms. My room is the last one on the left, next to my granddad’s. My mum and auntie’s rooms are at the other end, with a spare room in the middle that’s used for storage.
I push my bedroom door open., It’s stayed the same since I left a few years ago, my double four poster bed in the center, and my closet to the left along with my vanity. The room is painted white with blue and gold features. Walking over to the bed, I throw my bag on the floor and then flop down, pulling out my phone as I remember to call Lucy.
It rings for a bit, and then she answers, sounding out of breath.
“Lucy? Everything okay?”
“Yes… yes… I’m just… Ari, I need your help.” She sounds panicked.
I frown and roll over onto my front. “What do you need?”
“Do you remember that guy, Justin?”
I smile and nod. “Yes, I do… The hottie with the blonde hair?”
“Well, he called and now I’m going on a date with him.”
I squeal and thump the bed with my fist in excitement. “Yes! Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me this morning when I was leaving?”
I can almost see her biting her lip and it makes me grin.
“He only called about an hour ago, he’s in town and wants to go for dinner… Ari, what do I wear?”
I hear her moving off the bed, and I know this is about to get serious. I sit up, thinking for a moment. “What are the options? You can’t be too slutty on the first date… unless you think you want to be slutty. Do you want to be slutty?”
She giggles, which I take as a good sign. “Slutty? What does that even mean?” she says, shyly, Lucy has never been very forward when it comes to dating..
“It means will he be seeingKittyon the first night? Or are we going to be good?” I tease.
She growls at me and then bursts out laughing. “Ari, no… no kitty on the first date. Just dinner.”
Sighing, I get off the bed and move to sit in the window. “Okay, fine. Wear the white and yellow dress. You look hot in it, plus it shows off just enough to tease him.”
She laughs as I hear the wardrobe door open. “Are you sure? I was thinking about the black dress with silver heels?”
I shake my head even though she can’t see me. “You’re not going to a funeral, Luce, plus it’s summer. The other is a lot nicer.” Lucy hasn’t been on a date in forever. We make a point of not dating anyone from the club, and since we spend most of our time there, we don’t get many chances to meet someone outside of it. We talk about her date for the next half an hour before she must leave.
“Text me when you get home, okay? I want to hear how it went,” I say and Lucy giggles.
“Yes, I’ll text you, if it’s not too late, I’ll call you.” I can hear her excitement, and it makes me excited for her.
“Love you, Ari.”
“I love you too. Stay safe.” With that, we hang up the phone. I head into my ensuite and turn on the tap. One thing I love about my old room is the rain shower. I could spend hours here, and I plan on doing just that before dinner is ready.
Chapter 9
ARIANNA
The sun is bright. My mom would have loved a day like today. I don’t remember much of my childhood with her, but I get flashbacks when I look at photos. I glance over at my aunt as she walks beside me. She’s been quiet for most of the morning, the same as last year.
Her tears start falling down her cheeks just as we walk around the corner to the cemetery. My aunt feels responsible for that night. To this day, I still don’t know why. I was at a friend’s house when I got the call, telling me I needed to come home. And that was it… my parents were dead.
As we get to the large archway of the cemetery, I look up, my voice thick with emotion as I ask, “Are you ready?”
My aunt nods her head, and we both make our way over to our family plot. It’s large, dating back hundreds of years, and some of the tombstones are so old that it’s hard to make out the dates and names on them. The wind picks up, and I turn my face up to the sun, letting it warm me for a moment before I look back to where we are heading. I frown at a tall man standing by a tree staring right at me. I can’t make out much of his face, butsomething in me has me letting go of my aunt’s arm, wanting to get a closer look.
