Page 54 of I'm Gonna Get You Back
“We’re still going to the hot springs, right?” I give Principal West a wide smile. “Team tradition that I’d love to get on camera for the video.”
I shoot Reid a significant look, and he nods quickly.
“Uh, yeah.”
West smiles. “Ah, well, I suppose there will be time to meet everyone at the Shakespeare event tonight. You’re making headway on the project, then, Clara?”
I nod. “Oh, yes. Lots of really interesting footage.”
“Excellent! All right, well, see you tonight.”
With West still watching us, I start walking toward my car, giving Reid no choice but to follow me. I keep my pace purposely slow for him.
“Thanks for the out, but you don’t actually have to take me to the hot springs—”
“Yes, I do.”
Even if I don’t quite understand why.
But we have to stop by my house first to grab a swimsuit. It’s on the way on this side of the mountain. We pull into my driveway, and there are a few cars parked in it that weren’t there this morning.
“The Suarezes have descended,” Reid observes.
I laugh, but it fizzles out awkwardly when our eyes catch.
“You should probably stay here,” I say.
He nods.
We both know the grilling he’d get from my Uncle Marco alone would take the entire day. Besides, he’s holding on to his knee for dear life.
I open the front door, and our small house is bursting with chatter and sizzling pans and my cousins running back and forth. AuntLisette is playing the piano, her tattooed arms moving rapidly, while her labradoodle, Moxie, lies at her feet.
It’s pure, precious chaos, and I relax instantly. Especially when I hear Mom laugh.
Maybe the Legacy Weekend descent I’ve been anticipating isn’t inevitable. If they’re here and she’s laughing, we’ve avoided the worst of it this time. At least I hope so.
“Clara! Do you have a dress for the banquet tomorrow?” Aunt Xi calls to me.
I’m in the kitchen hunting for a Ziploc bag to fill with ice. I find one in the cabinet and call back, “I have no idea!”
“Well, I finally cleaned out my closets this week and brought a giant box of clothes for you,” she says. “They’re in your room.”
That’s promising. Aunt Xi has the best style. And it’s a relief, because even if I didn’t have a dress for the banquet, we can’t afford to go shopping right now.
I start to fill the bag with ice from the dispenser when my ten-year-old cousin, Sonia, grabs me by the arm to tell me I got homejust in timebecause they’re putting on an original play soon. I laugh and tell her I have other plans.
Sonia pops her hip impatiently, looking entirely too much like my Aunt Lisette. “With who? Delaney is almost done with Reina’s makeup!”
Ice cubes crash across the linoleum as I accidentally let the bag overflow. “Delaney’s here?”
Even through all the noise, all I hear then is Delaney’s high-pitched “Hi!” when she calls from the hallway bathroom.
She must’ve come straight from the Fun Run. That’s what she would’ve done a year ago—hell, a month ago—but we haven’t spokenone-on-one in so long; she’s just going to pretend her showing up at my house is totally normal?
I tuck the ice pack in my bag and head to the bathroom. Delaney is still in her running clothes, her hair frizzing a bit around the hairline. She’s applying a shocking amount of blush to the cheeks of my eight-year-old cousin, Reina.
I grab my bathing suit and a towel from the rack behind the door and ball it up in my hands while I greet her. “What are you doing here?”
