Page 39 of More For Me

She stops what she’s doing to glare at him. Littles are the nickname the family gave the five youngest cousins, who were all born within a few months of each other, and prefer to move through life as a united pack of feral monsters. They’re well into their teen years now, but calling them the Littles annoys the hell out of them, so we keep it up.

“They’re jealous,” Vega says. “Cade’s mom wouldn’t let him go because he’s failing geometry and Ash is stuck at some dance competition with his parents for Violet.”

“We’ll just have to take them next time,” I say putting the car into reverse.

“Oh, shoot,” Bodhi says, dripping with sarcasm. “Another trip to Disney? The horror.”

We spend the drive talking about our plan of attack for the day. Bodhi has very specific strategies for hitting all his favorite rides in a timely matter, which is usually annoying, but CeCe is the same way and I’m finding myself more amused by their bickering than anything else.

“I’m telling you, the line for Space Mountain is going to be longest. We should try to beat the crowd,” he argues.

“No way,” CeCe says. “That’s whereeveryonegoes first. We need to go straight to New Orleans square and do Haunted Mansion, then go back to Tomorrowland when the crowds have died down.”

“You’re insane,” he shoots back. “The crowds never die down at Space Mountain!”

I meet Vega’s eye in the rearview mirror and grin. “I want to ride Small World first.”

“What?” CeCe and Bodhi explode in unison.

“We are so not doing that,” Bodhi says.

“It doesn’t make any sense.”

“It’s so easy to get them going,” Vega says, laughing.

By the time we park, I swear Bodhi is ready to jump right out of his shoes, he’s that excited. You’d think the guy had never been here before when I know for a fact he dragged Leo as a pre-bachelor party last month. It’s pretty damn cute, if I’m being honest, and when he takes Vega and CeCe’s hands to pull them along faster, my heart melts a little.

The entire vibe changes almost as soon as we walk through the gates. CeCe finally conceded that Space Mountain is the better plan, so we start in that direction—and then stop when the girls see a group of kids their age. I recognize a few as people Vega has had over to our parents’ house.

“Oh my God,” she says in a strange, stilted voice. “What are you guys doing here?”

“We heard you mention you were coming,” one of the girls says, sounding even more awkward and wooden than Vega. “It sounded so fun we decided to come, too.”

“That’s awesome.” Vega shoots me a glance, then turns to her friends. “Maybe we could meet up later.”

“Come with us now!” one of the girls calls. Unlike the weird monotone of the others, she sounds almosttooexcited. “It would be so fun to all hang out together.”

“Oh.” Vega frowns. My sister is a terrible actress and I know she’s full of shit. “We promised to hang out with my sister today. Darn.”

CeCe is watching her with a furrowed brow, apparently not buying this whole act either. CeCe is much sportier than my little sister, and they don’t really run with the same crowd at school, so I doubt these girls are people she’d consider close friends.

“I’m sure your sister doesn’t care,” the first friend says. “She probably doesn’t want to hang out with teenagers all day.”

Vega turns to me with wide, hopeful eyes. “Do you care if we go with them?”

I cross my arms, studying her. “Are you trying to go meet boys or something?”

“No!” she cries.

“Absolutely not,” the first friends says. She very clearly stomps on the foot of the redhead at her side.

“We uh, don’t even like boys yet,” the redhead says.

“I could text Mom?” Vega asks, already searching through her purse. “I’m sure she’ll tell you it’s fine.”

“We’re wasting so much time,” CeCe grumbles.

I study my sister with narrowed eyes. There’s definitely something weird happening here. At the same time, I know she’s allowed to be in the park without an adult. My parents let her go with friends all the time, so long as she checks in regularly.