Page 3 of The Stolen Moments Trilogy

Kate grabs my hands excitedly and grins. “Oh my god, really?” she says. My smile wavers. I can’t get out of this without letting her down now. Kate looks beyond happy, while Carter looks annoyed. I’m not surprised. I’ve heard the rumors about him and the girls in the cheering squad. He’s probably worried I’ll cock block him the way he did to me last week, and I probably will. He deserves it.

Kate pulls me up. She drags me to the staircase and I look back at Carter. He’s staring at me, obviously brooding. His eyes meet mine and for a second I see a glimpse of concern. Surely he isn’t worried that I’ll get injured? I’m a little accident prone, but how hard can cheerleading be?

Kate drags me up the stairs and into her room. “The cheering thing just reminded me I totally forgot to tell you,” she says. “Look what I bought my mom for Mother’s Day!”

I don’t follow and fail to understand what cheering has to do with Helen’s Mother’s Day present. Kate walks towards her wardrobe and takes out a gorgeous dark blue gown that Helen is definitely going to love. I stare at it, equal parts confused and equal parts stunned. The gown is amazing, but Kate and I have been buying one joint present for Helen for the last three years. Why would she buy something without me?

Each year, Kate and I compete with Carter to give Helen the best Mother’s Day gift. Though she refuses to pick one over the other, we both know that we lose more often than we’d like to admit. The devil can be quite thoughtful sometimes — so thoughtful, that Kate and I have had to join hands to surpass him. I stare at the shimmering blue fabric in awe. I guess Kate is definitely winning this year.

“I went to the shopping center with Gabby yesterday, and she recommended this dress for my mom. She has such amazing taste.” My heart sinks. Gabby again. She moved here from New York right before the start of the school year and quickly became the most popular girl in our grade — scratch that, in our entire school. She took a liking to Kate almost instantly, and they’ve been friends ever since. It’s because of Gabby that Kate insisted on joining the cheering squad, even though she’s always been incredibly introverted. I guess I’m just not used to sharing Kate, and Gabby doesn’t really seem to like me much, so they never include me when they hang out.

“I didn’t realize we were doing separate gifts this year,” I say. Kate’s expression drops and I immediately feel bad for bringing it up at all. Kate shouldn’t have to discuss anything with me before buying a present, yet I still feel left out. I don’t mind it as much when she hangs out with Gabby and doesn’t invite me, but this is different. Besides, we still have a couple of months left until Mother’s Day. I thought we’d plan something out together. Usually it takes us weeks to even decide.

“Oh, well… I saw this and I thought it would be perfect for my mom. I guess we can give it together? Or maybe you can buy her something else,” she says. I hate that I’ve taken away her excitement over the gown and shake my head, trying my best to shrug it off.

“I should buy Helen matching shoes,” I say.

Kate looks at the dress and purses her lips. She’s quiet for a couple of moments and then looks up at me with an expression I can’t quite decipher. “Well, you know, my mom isn’t your mother. You don’t need to get her anything at all,” she says, her eyes flashing.

I freeze, a pang of hurt coursing through me. Recently she’s been making remarks such as this more and more often, and I never know how to respond. I’m always worried about overstepping, and recently she’s been making me feel like I am.

“Anyway, we can go to the shopping center tomorrow if you still wanna get something. She’s going to absolutely love this gown!”

Kate puts the dress away carefully and sits down on the bed next to me. I’m a little thrown. Recently, I’ve started to feel like the way Kate treats me has changed. She’s always been my best friend — the girl that stuck with me when I was the new girl in a close-knit town. She defended me when kids made fun of me for not having a mother, and she’s always done her best to include me in her family, so I’m not sure what I’ve done to cause the recent change in her.

“So, I saw Carter ate your ice cream,” she says. “Mom picked that up especially for you when she bought me some Cookie Dough. It’s so sweet of my mom to get you something too, isn’t it? You know Carter doesn’t even like chocolate. I can’t believe he’s acting like this after ruining your chances with Zach. I saw the photos from the party, and we really missed out.”

I’m enraged instantly. “I know. That dick,” I snap. Kate grins and I’m relieved. I hate it when Kate and I are even remotely at odds with each other.

“What’re you gonna do?” she asks, giggling. She always tries to dissuade me from arguing with Carter in an attempt to be a good sister, but I know she secretly enjoys our feud.

I glance at her bathroom door and grin. “I have an idea.” I walk into her bathroom and emerge with a tube of Nair hair removal cream.

Kate’s smile drops, and she looks at me with wide eyes. “Oh my god, Milly. Carter will actually kill you this time.”

I shrug and walk out of her room, Kate hot on my heels. As always, she keeps an eye out while I sneak into Carter’s room. I giggle and walk into his bathroom, my heart racing. I grab his bottle of shampoo and shake it, happy to find it half empty. I fill it up with Nair and shake vigorously, without an ounce of remorse. Just in the last week, he’s thrown itching powder all over my bed, ruined my chances with Zach and eaten my damn ice cream. I can’t wait to see his face after his next shower. Maybe this’ll finally teach him.

Chapter 3

Carter

I pause on the stairs when I hear Kate’s bedroom door open. Emilia walks out looking like she’s on a mission and Kate follows her with a worried expression. I grin when I see the bottle of Nair in her hands. She’s getting cleverer and more ruthless. The stakes in our game keep getting higher. Very well, I’ve gotta hand it to her. This is a good one. I bet she’s still mad as hell that I stopped Zach from flirting with her last week. She’s been trying to ignore me all week now — I wonder how long it’ll take her to get over it. She’s too young to be going to parties like Zach’s and it’s obvious what he wanted from her. No way was I gonna let that happen on my watch. I might mess with her, but when it comes down to it, I’ll always protect her the way I protect Kate.

I should’ve tried to appease her this week and I definitely should’ve been nicer to her when she got home today instead of eating her ice cream, but I couldn’t help myself. That flustered and angry look on her face just makes my day.

Kate is meant to stand watch in front of my room, but all she does is stare at her phone. I could walk right up to her and she wouldn’t even notice.

Eventually Emilia emerges from my room with a triumphant look on her face. She looks so damn pleased with herself. She’s smiling, and her stunning blue eyes are twinkling with mischief.

I grin to myself and take a few steps back before walking up the stairs, making as much noise as I can. Both of them gasp and hurry back into Kate’s room, the door closing just as I make it to the top.

I smile and walk into my room. The perfume I gave Emilia for her last birthday is all over my room, betraying her presence. She claimed she hated the smell, but she wears it every day. I chuckle to myself and shake my head. How she thinks she gets away with these things is beyond me. There are always traces of her.

I strip and walk into my bathroom, scanning the bottles in the shower. She’s done a meticulous job. Not a single thing is out of place. I stand underneath the stream for a few minutes and lean back against the wall. What expression will she have on her face if I walk out of here with clumps of my hair missing? I’m filled with excitement and anticipation. She’s vicious, that’s for sure.

I smile and grab the shampoo bottle, lathering my hair with the Nair-laced concoction. I leave it in for a couple of minutes for good measure. I’m not surprised when chunks of my hair fall out when I rinse the shampoo off. I bite back a smile and shake my head. She really did it, huh?

I turn the shower off and step out to get dressed. I take one look in the mirror and burst out laughing. I look fucking ridiculous. I throw on some shorts and a tee before storming down, my angry game face on. I’ve learned to school my amused expressions for our feud long ago. I hear the front door slam closed just as I reach the bottom of the stairs and bite back a grin. Dad just got home. Perfect.

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