Page 54 of The Heiress
Phoenix’s eyes narrowed and I had a minor panic attack because I was unsure if he knew about my foiled plan where I’d lied about staying at the Holbrun’s house. I had a feeling he was about to be told.
“Oh yeah,” Bianca tried to sound casual but it seemed like it was a staged performance, “my parents had a phone call. Apparently your parents thought you were staying with me for Thanksgiving? That we werefriends?” Her snide snigger sent heat flooding across my cheeks, my only consolation being the dim lighting in the restaurant.
“Ha! She had one ride in your convertible, Bee, and suddenly thinks you’re besties.” Addison said, her laughter cruel and callous. “She’s telling everyone she’s your BFF!”
With all eyes on me, my face burned even more, and I was fiercely trying to come up with some half-baked explanation that would make this seem like a miscommunication.
“My father didn’t have a clue what was going on,” Bianca said smoothly, almost as if she’d rehearsed her lines, “just that someone called him wanting to know if it was okay for Elisha to stay with us over Thanksgiving weekend.”
I almost didn’t mind when Addison added her penny’s worth. “Making up friends is kind of desperate, Elisha, but it’s not unexpected that you don’t have any,” she said in her now familiar mean-girl voice. But I honestly had no way to explain myself—of course, other than the truth.
And wasn’t the truth always the best way, didn’t it set you free?
Yet there was a reason my parents had whisked me off to Covington Prep, a reason I was listed under the name of Sakkari-Millar, a reason they were in Europe...and maybe it wasn’t to do with me.
“What’s the big deal?” Phoenix interjected, a brazen stare shooting daggers at Addison. “And what’s it got to do with you anyway?”
Maybe Phoenix wasn’t usually so bold, because Addison visibly recoiled, shrunk back, glaring at Bianca in a plea for support. However, Bianca seemed to avoid her gaze and looked down at her phone as if she didn’t want to be associated with her. Perhaps that was what made Addison bounce back—with an even meaner streak.
“Guess she’s staying with you, Taylor?” Addison’s sneer distorted her usually pretty features. “I hear the homestay pays well? It’ll certainly help out the family finances.” Her eyebrows shot up high, and though I had no idea what she meant, I just wanted to wipe that smug smile off of her face.
Taylor shifted back slightly in her chair, but Addison plowed on like a steamroller, her unflinching eyes narrowed in on Phoenix. “And has your mother done her community sentence yet, Phoenix? I hear she has to pick up trash down in River Valley?” Addison fluttered her fingers while flashing a mocking smile. “I do hope she wears gloves.”
Taylor was in the process of standing, thunder in her eyes, and I could see she was about to lunge out at Addison who was cowardly cowering behind Bianca. I acted instinctively, pulling on Taylor’s shoulder to stop her from committing assault—or murder.
From her position of safety behind Bianca, Addison seemed not to be able to resist one last insult—this time aimed at me.
“Ooh, be careful, Elisha. You don’t want to damage your watch. The Rolex isgorgeous,it actually looksreal.” Her condescending chuckle put me in a state of confusion, not only because there was nothing fake about my watch, but her animosity to me, well, all of us, seemed so misplaced. Other than quietly disliking her, I’d never done anything to make her dislikeme.
But like a bolt of lightning, she was gone, leaving Bianca with an embarrassed look on her face. She gave a shrug as if to sayWell-what’s-her-problem?But in the next instant, she too had fled. Releasing my grip on Taylor, she squared her shoulders and took in a deep breath.
“Are you okay, Tay?” Phoenix asked.
“I’m fine,” she said softly. “What about you?” Her head was shaking from side to side, eyes rolling, chest heaving.
“Addison O’Day isn’t worth wasting your energy on,” Phoenix said, almost nonchalantly, and I couldn’t understand how he was calm after she’d trash-talked his mother.
“Should we dance?” I don’t know why I suggested it, but it seemed they both needed a release, a distraction.
“Yeah, you two should go.” Phoenix nodded over to the dance floor where Laura and Mr. Frank were boogieing to the music, both of them in the groove with their arms swinging in the air.
“What about you?” I asked.
Phoenix shook his head with a half grimace, like he was in pain. From all the activity, he probably would be. Even I was a little achey from the walking I’d done.
“Are you sure?” Taylor asked.
Phoenix nodded, ordering us to go with a wave of his hand. He picked up his glass of soda, like he was immovable. I followed Taylor to the dance floor, squeezing into space by Laura and Mr.Frank. Taylor nudged her father and he gave her a silly face. It was a bittersweet moment—I liked to see Taylor happy, but it was the type of thing Dad would do, and I missed him all over again. It was impossible to talk, so I got lost in the music, swaying to the beat, my mind whirling with the catty remarks from Addison. Phoenix was right—there was no sense in wasting your time worrying about people like Addison. But my heart went out to him because the comments about his mom had been unkind, and it would be hard not to be affected by it. As for the jibe to Taylor, I had no idea what that was about, and as for targeting me, I guessed there would be more to come once school started.
We didn’t stay much longer after that, Taylor complaining that her feet were hurting, and Mr. Frank saying he had a morning shift. That surprised me—that he worked on Sunday. Phoenix and Taylor parted with a “See you tomorrow,” which made me wonder if they had more tennis planned. My heart skipped a beat—would Phoenix ask me to hit with him again, or had I not been good enough?
Laura was beaming all the way home, and when Laura was happy, Phoenix was happy. She continually asked him how he was feeling, whether he had overdone it, ordering him into the hydrotherapy pool to help his recovery. She said I should join him.
“Yeah, you should,” Phoenix said with a playful tilt of his head, as if he remembered that I didn’t bring a swimsuit.
Now, I’d been contemplating what I would wear if I did indeed get a chance to go into the plunge pool. I had packed a pair of bike shorts—maybe I had envisioned working out in my hotel room—and I had a red crop top that would suffice as a bikini top.
I hurried down to the plunge pool which was housed under a pergola, wanting to be the first in so I didn’t have to undress in front of Phoenix. I was now thankful that Mom had included a kimono in my clothing.
