Alterations by Stephanie Scott

Author:Stephanie Scott [Scott, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2016-12-05T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Close to seven, a rumble sounded outside. I peeked out the kitchen window. A busted blue hatchback. Exhausted as I was from a day of traveling, I couldn’t not invite Maya over. This was the longest we’d been apart since we’d met in first grade.

I joined her out back in the usual drop-off spot. Maya exited the driver’s seat. Wait, Maya was driving? “You have a car now!”

Maya ran over, the car’s door still hanging open. “Yes! And you! You look amazing!” She scanned my outfit. “What happened in New York? Did you switch bodies with somebody?”

I’d changed clothes since getting my shorts dirty earlier in the barn talking with Liam, but I didn’t think my new outfit looked that extreme. A shirt I’d traded with Des in exchange for some of my scarves. The cropped pants, and new sandals. “Thanks, I guess?”

She pounded my shoulder with a loose fist. “You look good, A. I want to hear everything.”

We ended up driving for a few hours, talking. We drove roads bordering the bay, and past the port where cruise ships filed in line like giant minivans waiting for school pickup. We dished about our new friends—hers where she worked at Zeeno’s hot dogs, mine from the internship.

“So, Desiree—Des, she’s like, your good friend?” Maya looked out at the taillights braking ahead of us.

“Des is amazing. I felt like the biggest loser around her at first. She’s so confident. Living in a dorm for a month with a total stranger brings you pretty close.” Maya still wasn’t looking at me. “You know, I wish you and I talked more while I was gone. We were constantly busy.” It sounded like an excuse. “I should have made more time. I’m sorry.”

She twisted the ends of her hair, though no amount of twisting would curl her straight layers. “Really? Because I didn’t want to bother you.”

“Oh. No, you could have. I thought . . .” I shook my head. “I thought I was the one ignoring you.”

Maya glanced over as traffic slowed again. “No worries. I thought, hey, I’ll save the car as a surprise! First day back, me and A will cruise Miami. I’ve only driven the Hammer to work and back—that’s my name for her, the Hammer, because she’s indestructible. By the way, don’t mention anything about hitting or nearly hitting a turtle—my brothers will hear about it and rat me out.”

It was good to be back.

The next morning, I slept in late. Like past noon late. If Abuelita tried to wake me, I hadn’t noticed. I reached for my phone on instinct and blinked myself awake. Three text messages. One from Des and two from Liam. Oh yeah. I really had given Liam my number yesterday after we worked out our deal. Even a night’s sleep didn’t make Liam developing a fashion app any more believable. His message said he needed a couple of days to prepare for testing, and he’d let me know our next steps.

I rolled over. A mug of herbal tea sat on my nightstand, lukewarm.

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