Page 34 of Ordinary Secrets

My phone buzzes.

Okay, we can carpool.

Her next text includes her address.

Then my phone vibrates again.

You know, one of these days, you’ll learn that you can’t always get your way.

I snort. Funny that she thinks I always get my way. I figured out as a child that life will hand me rotten lemons and there’s nothing I can do about it.

Some might say that living with Victor wasn’tthatbad. A kid can survive demeaning comments and some violent outbursts here and there. A few smacks to the face usually shut me up. Nothing I couldn’t handle. To make myself feel better, I always compared every hurtful thing Victor said or did to seeing my parents get blown up. After that, taking a few hits was nothing.

10

ARELLA

At exactly six o’clock,someone lightly thumps their knuckles against my apartment door.

I jump in front of the mirror to inspect myself one last time. The extra minutes I spent on my makeup paid off. I look like I’m glowing. My lacy plum-colored dress falls just above my knees, and my hair features more defined waves, thanks to my curling wand.

I know, I know, tonight’s not a date.That doesn’t mean I can’t look cute though. I was never allowed to wear anything like this around my ex. He would yell at me for dressing like a “slut.” To him, showing legs is “asking for it.” Now that I’m done living by his rules, I’m going to wear whatever I please.

The second I open the door, Trey whistles through his teeth. “Damn. If I knew I was gonna have competition, I would have tried harder.”

I almost laugh. There is no competition, and if there was, he’d win. Trey looks more gorgeous than the last time I saw him. I’m not even sure how that’s possible. Hair fluffed up, perfectly trimmed stubble, and an irresistible smile to top it all off.

He’s in his usual black V-neck that hugs his broad shoulders and a pair of jeans that hangs a little low on his narrow hips. Ifhe raised his arms up, I’d probably get a glimpse of those defined abs Google images showed me earlier.

“Ready?” he asks with the sunlight hitting him in just the right way for me to see how smooth his skin is. I’m jealous. I want skin like that. I’ll bet he’s never had a blemish.

I nod eagerly, yet not as eagerly as I feel. “Ready.”

As he leads me to his car, my eyes scan the parking lot. I think we’re in the clear. If my ex was here, we would have known by now. He would have picked a fight with Trey the moment Trey knocked on my door.

How embarrassing would that have been? Now that I think about it, maybe this dinner thing isn’t a good idea. What if, when Trey drops me off later?—

“I’ve been looking forward to this all day,” Trey says, cutting into my thoughts.

I fake a smile, pretending that I wasn’t thinking up ways to end the evening right now. “Me too. Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise, remember?” Trey opens the passenger door for me—like a gentleman. “Hop in.”

I don’t move, even though I appreciate his kind gesture. “This isn’t a date, remember?”

He rolls his eyes and chuckles. “Just get in.”

Once we’re on the road, Trey turns the radio down. “How was your nannying job today?”

“Wonderful.” I tell him about the four kids I spend every weekend with and how we finger-painted dinosaurs on canvases. “How about you? What did you do today?”

“Sunday is the band’s day off. I literally just sat around until it was time to pick you up.” His tone is gloomy, like he wishes he had other things he could have been doing. I imagine him in his big living room, all by himself, aimlessly staring at a clock. Surely, he was more productive than that.

Trey flicks his blinker on and speeds to pass a slow car. “So, you told Liz that you’ve lived everywhere in Cali. Where’d you live before you moved to LA?”

I can’t believe he remembers that. I didn’t think he was paying attention to anything that was said in the car the day we met. He seemed so out of it. “I moved here from Brawley. It’s a small town about three hours south of here.”

“Where’d you grow up?”

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