Page 36 of Sweet Ruin

The question took me by surprise, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Why was she asking me? I didn’t know any more about love than either of my friends. Had I even been in love before? I wasn’t sure. I’d thought I was in love with Levi, but looking back now, I was certain I had been mistaken.

The things Noah had made me feel were on another level compared to Levi. But that relationship had ended even quicker, passing over me like an unexpected and devastating tornado. I hadn’t had time to think about love. Now I was with Wes, and I liked him so much, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to declare my love for him. It seemed like such a big word. I didn’t want to use it lightly, especially after the heartbreaks I’d recently endured.

“Isobel?” Cress nudged me from my thoughts.

“Uh, yeah.” I didn’t want to dampen her excitement with my internal confusion, so I nodded. “Sometimes, you just know.”

“See,” Cress said to Anna, who simply shrugged.

The car didn’t drive far from the school before it pulled off the main road. I recognized the long wire fence it turned toward immediately. We were going to the same small airstrip Noah had brought me to on our first date, when he’d used his family’s private plane to fly us to Rapid Bay. It felt like a lifetime ago now. So much had changed. The way Noah had treated me at Luther’s party was clear evidence of that.

This time, it wasn’t Noah’s family jet that was waiting on the tarmac—it was my father’s. As the car slowed beside the pristine white plane, I could see his name printed in bold letters across the side of it and up the tail. I really wasn’t sure I’d ever get used to the sheer ridiculousness of his wealth.

Matthew’s plane was just as luxurious as the Hastings family’s jet although Matthew’s felt slightly bigger and more spacious. Cress and Anna commented on how nice the plane was, but neither of them seemed at all overawed by it like I had been on my date with Noah. I guessed they’d both been on trips like this before.

Cress spent most of the flight gushing about Kaden. She seemed to be missing him already. They hadn’t been apart for more than an hour, but she kept glancing at her phone like she was struggling not to call or message him.

She wasn’t the only one constantly looking at her phone, and it felt like I was lifting mine to check the time every couple of minutes. I couldn’t wait to get home and was practically counting the seconds until the plane would touch down and I’d see my mom again.

Once the flight attendant announced we’d started our descent, I was pretty much useless at holding a conversation with my friends. I was excited and distracted, and I bounced on my seat as I looked out the window to see if I could recognize any landmarks.

Anna and Cress kept laughing at how eager I was, and even though neither of them had been anywhere near Rapid Bay before, they both looked out the window with me and tried to help me spot home.

When the plane finally landed and came to a stop on the runway, I looked out the window and saw my mom jumping up and down on the tarmac, waving her arms in the air.

I smiled brightly at her excitement, which was even more obvious than mine. When the stairs lowered and the three of us got off the plane, I raced over and threw myself into my mom’s arms. We squeezed each other tightly, and it felt so good to be wrapped in her embrace again. She felt small in my arms, and I remembered thinking the same thing when she’d come to visit for Halloween.

I really hoped she wasn’t still stressed and overworked at the café. She sometimes got so caught up in work she forgot to eat. It was like the world’s worst diet, and I hated I wasn’t around to make sure she was taking care of herself.

She didn’t show any other signs of fatigue though as she greeted Cress and Anna, giving them both a warm and enthusiastic hug.

“I’m so glad you’re all here,” she said. “How was the flight? Can I help you with your bags?”

She didn’t hesitate as she grabbed one from the steward who was carting them over to us, but she immediately gasped and dropped it to the floor.

“Did someone pack a ton of bricks?”

Anna blushed. Apparently, she was finally feeling embarrassed about packing too much.

“That would be Anna,” I said.

“Anna…” My mom shook her head. “You’re going to break someone’s back with that bag, sweetie.”

“Yeah, so I’ve been told.” Anna shot stern looks at Cress and me.

We started walking over to my mom’s car, and a wave of nerves hit me as my friends took their first look at it. The beaten-up sedan was older than me, and I imagined neither Cress nor Anna had ever driven in something made before they were born.

I’d grown comfortable at Weybridge, despite all the wealth and privilege that had made me feel so out of place when I’d first arrived, and that was mostly because of Cress and Anna. But I feared the jarring contrast of going from a luxury private plane to a rickety old car would be a stark reminder I wasn’t from their world. I chewed on my bottom lip as I waited for their reaction, but neither of them said anything. In fact, they barely seemed to notice the car’s peeling paint and rusted edges as they happily made themselves comfortable in the back seat.

As my mom started the car and the engine spluttered to life, I glanced at the girls from the front seat, waiting to see if they might finally react. Still, they remained unbothered. They were both too busy laughing at one of my mom’s jokes, and when the radio came on and one of their favorite songs started playing, they began to belt out the tune at the top of their lungs.

When we arrived at the café, the girls gushed over how adorable it was, and they didn’t bat an eyelash when they were shown upstairs to our small apartment. Cress and Anna had never treated me any differently after finding out I didn’t come from money like most of the kids at school, but a part of me had been worried they might feel differently when they experienced my simple upbringing firsthand. Seeing how comfortable they were in my home made me truly appreciate just how little it mattered to them, and I felt slightly guilty for ever having any doubts.

It was getting late when we arrived home, so my mom made us all hot chocolates, and we drank them while we sat around the small kitchen counter. I got the feeling my mom would have kept us chatting all night if she could, but we were tired from traveling, and everyone decided it would be best to get an early night and be fresh for the Thanksgiving festivities the next day.

Cress and Anna slept in my room and agreed to rotate each night between my single bed and the air mattress my mom had set up on the floor. I shared a bed with my mom. I fully expected her to keep me up half the night as she tossed and turned worrying about my father arriving tomorrow and the big day of cooking she had ahead of her. But, instead, she fell straight into a deep slumber.

She seemed so settled as she slept, looking far more at peace than she had when I’d last come back to Rapid Bay. She was normally so stressed by work and finances, but right now I couldn’t see any hint of those usual worries.

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