Page 8 of The Other Side of Paradise
“Nah, I do.” I don’t know what compelled me, but I found myself compelled—the relief from letting go of the weight, even just a little. “I’ll go rock-climbing with you next time and won’t even complain,” I said, and I paused. “Won’t complain too much, anyway.”
She laughed. “Okay, you win. Deal. We’ll take that and call it even.”
Ugh. I was going to regret this. I’d gone rock-climbing with her twice before and both times made me hate my life.
But hey. If I wanted to face my demons, maybe I could start with facing some rocks.
Chapter 4
Stella
Whole family freaked out when Ryan no-showed.
I didn’t know what was going on, but apparently I was supposed to—Aunt Helena cornered me to ask where Ryan went, and then my cousin Caleb asked me if I’d heard anything about Ryan, and then Dad caught me in the walkway that led to my suite, dark out now, almost midnight—Dad was never up this late, but apparently the whole family stressing out had him anxious too. He was a man with dark blond hair and a solid build, a strong jawline, and dark eyes that were always a little sharp, like someone was in trouble. He’d always been better at getting us to behave as kids than Mom was, without even saying a word—justthe lookone time and we were perfect little angels. I guess he was frustrated now that Ryan wasn’t around to get her in line with a look.
“Hey,” he said, his voice low—he almost never spoke up, always a kind of quiet restraint to it. Kind of made him scarier, in a way. “Did Ryan tell you anything?”
I sighed, rolling my eyes, turning away from the green-lattice walls lined with elegant gold-trim sconces, phone back in my pocket. “No, Dad,” I said. “I didn’t know anything when AuntHelena asked me two seconds ago, and I don’t know anything now. She’s a grownup, she’s probably fine.”
“Stella, do you want to take things seriously?”
“No, I want to go to sleep.” I gestured to my room door, the number 24 glistening with promise on it. “I know she texted Mom to say she’s just fine, visiting someone, and not to worry, so we can probably take her at her word.”
He pursed his lips into a thin line, two fingers exasperatedly to his temple. I swallowed past the heavy feeling, knowing I was supposed to feel guilty under the disappointment rolling off of him, but dammit, he couldn’t just dictate how I felt about things. At length, he said, “Your mother’s very worried.”
“I’ve noticed. I don’t know what you want me to do. I sent her a text when Aunt Helena asked me. Should I get the FBI involved? Scotland Yard?”
“Did she say anything to you before she left?”
“Uh…” I shrugged, racking my mind. “On the beach. She was heading back to her room. I was staying a little bit longer.” Because I’d gotten pulled into drinks with a table that had a couple of cute guys, and I’d been intent on trying to send signals to get this guy Olamide there to make a move. He flirted, but then he left it at that, and I was of half a mind to grab the next guy who tried to flirt with me and leave it and just sayask me to dinner, dammit.I wasn’t telling Dad all that part, though. “I dunno, everyone was clearing up, so I don’t think she said anything, just went back up. Everyone else was there too, I don’t know anything more than all the rest of them.”
He sighed, dropping his hand by his side and turning to the railing that looked out into the dense greenery around the place, folding his arms on the wood and leaning over it. “Stella… we need to have a heart-to-heart.”
Oh, god. This was worse than Aunt Helena trying to get under my skin. I swallowed hard, shifting from one foot to theother. “About what?” I said, my voice prickly, defensive. “Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“I know you had plans for the summer. I know this isn’t what you had in mind. But it’s not appropriate to use that as a staging ground to throw a fit.”
I scoffed, feeling it like a punch to the gut. “Dad,” I said, voice incredulous. “I’m notthrowing a fit.I literally don’t know what you want me to do. Ryan’s an adult.”
“Your mother and I have seen the way you’re trying to push back and do whatever you think might… I don’t know. Spite us. But we’d really appreciate it if you made an effort to care about things like this. It’s a slap in the face to all of us, your sister included.”
“What are youtalkingabout?” My face burned, head spinning, a thick feeling in my throat. I didn’t know if I wanted to scream, punch something, run away, cry, maybe all of the above—my system plunged into some useless fight-or-flight response, and I stood there clenching my fists. “I’m not doing this to spite you. It’s literally not about either of you. I just don’t know where Ryan is, and I don’t know what else you want me todoabout it.”
He turned to me with a pointed look, pushing away from the railing, and I felt a sick weight in my gut at the frustration in his eyes—I panicked, and I looked out across the grounds, past the bushes, and I got a rush when I saw a familiar face walking down the middle path, under the glow of streetlights. The girl who’d checked me in this morning—she was out of her uniform right now, and this was such an annoying customer thing to do, but I was panicked, so I leaned against the rail and called out to her.
“Oh—excuse me! Miss?”
Dad flinched, doing a double take, looking between me and the girl some thirty feet away, who turned and looked like she’dbeen hit in the stomach when she saw me, her face paling. “Oh—” she started, fumbling her phone and taking two tries to shove it into her pocket. “Oh—Miss Stella Bell—Valerie—Stella Valerie Bell, miss, ma’am.”
This girl was weird. But I really needed her help right now. Dad tightened, shooting me a look, and he spoke quieter. “Stella, what are you doing?” he said, and I shrugged.
“She’s with the staff. I just need a hand.” I turned back to the railing, smiling at the girl. “Hi, sorry. I lost my room key. Can you help out?”
Dad sighed, putting his hands up, and he turned his back to me. “We’ll talk later,” he said, and he walked away, footfalls ringing on the wooden planks of the walkway. The girl didn’t even seem to notice he was there. She seemed to have some kind of issues… I wondered if she was sick. Guess I was the last thing she needed right now.
“Uh… y-your room key.” She blinked twice, and she nodded. “Yeah. Um. You can go to front desk.”
“There was no one there when I went,” I lied, still watching Dad leave, turning a corner and disappearing.
