Page 84 of The Rebel
Mom seemed to have recovered from the shock and patted Valencia’s shoulder and winked. “Oh, well, let’s hope you won’t be waiting too long.”
“How about tomorrow?” I said, a pointed gaze at Mom. “At the airport cafe?”
“Mmmm, not the most romantic first date,” Mom mused.
“Nah, it’s not,” I said, “so, how about business class to London, then?”
“Nice try,” Mom said with a laugh.
“Why not?” I swirled my hand across Valencia’s lower back. “She’s a minor, she could do with an escort.”
“Okay, let’s get ready for dinner,” Mom said, quick to quell my absurd suggestion. Which in my head was perfectly possible. “Valencia’s got a busy night ahead.”
“But I can drive her to Falls Creek, right?”
Mom let out a deep sigh. “Yes, I think that will be fine,” she said, though her eyes narrowed a bit, “As long as you come back!”
“What happened to living out your dreams? Living life to the fullest?” I baited, enjoying the playful banter.
“In this instance it can wait till senior year is done, okay?” Mom smirked.
“Did you hear that?” I said to Valencia, “you’ll have to wait three weeks for a second date.”
“What if she doesn’t want a second date?” Oliver chirped up, thinking himself funny.
“Absolutely,” Valencia said, teaming up with my brother again. “It might be so horrendous, I might stay in Europe and never come back.”
“Oh, we’ll see,” I drawled with a swagger of confidence and, checking Mom wasn’t looking my way, aimed a kissy pout toward her.
She sneered at me with a scrunched up nose, but her cheeks blushed pink, and as much as she wanted to see her family, I knew she was going to miss me as much as I missed her.
Chapter 22
VALENCIA
I’d barely gotten any sleep last night, with going home to grab more clothes and my passport, packing my suitcase and letting my friends know what was happening. The group chat had been fast and furious, everyone jealous and wanting to know all the details. And surprisingly, in a private message, Gabby texted that she hoped I’d have a good trip and congratulated me on my selection in the art exhibition.
Sending back a quick reply of thanks, I asked if she would let the blind center co-ordinator know that I would be absent for the next few weeks.
She sent back a row of smiley emojis and hearts. And then a few seconds later, another text:Of course I will. Btw, just to let you know Scott and I broke up. Hope we can catch up when you get back: )
From the tone of her text, my heart dropped and I just knew she was hurting. Without hesitation, I called her.
I wasn’t wrong. Gabby blubbered and spilled it all to me, more upset over the way she’d treated me than her breakup. She’d come to realize that Scott was a jerk who had been manipulative and controlling. And he’d used her—when their band hadn’t been chosen to represent the school, he had become vicious, unkind and blamed her.
“Can you forgive me, Vali?” she asked. “I got so caught up with Scott, I think I lost my head.”
“Yeah,” I had to agree, “I think you did.”
And we’d both laughed, like old times—our friendship solid enough to stand the test of time and bad boyfriends. Hers, that is—not mine.
Jade and I had stayed up talking (okay, and other things), but the door had been left wide open. After he left my room, Dad called, having just woken up. They were on their way back to London and were desperate to see me, missing me so much, especially Paris who was blaming his lack of success on me not being there. I was his lucky charm, his calming influence and he needed me.
That made my heart leap, being credited as a vital member of the team. Suddenly, everything was good in my life and though the thought of leaving Jade, Oliver and Dani was sad, having a first date and telling Mom about it was just as exciting.
It was a 75 minute flight from Falls Creek to O’Hare International Airport, making the connection for my 10:25 flight to London tight. I’d get to London after midnight, but Dad assured me he would be waiting for me.
Jade, a stickler for punctuality as well as rules, suggested we leave early, like the crack of dawn. He wanted to accommodate for traffic delays, parking issues and airport crowds.
