and I gritted our teeth, silently seething with wounded rage.
The memory faded to reality, yet I continued to sting with feelings of betrayal.
Sadie didn’t just steal from stores.
She stole from her friends, too.
* * *
Despite this new insight into Sadie, I couldn’t hate her. I wanted to — she definitely deserved it — but she was just so darned sweet. Besides, I was playing the role of Sharayah, who was aware of Sadie’s thefts yet continued to hang out with her.
“How do you feel about Mexican?” Sadie asked as she started the car engine and waited to merge onto the street.
I shrugged, not really caring. I should have been hungry, but body-jumping had my inner system out of whack and it was hard to gauge ordinary things like appetite. “Whatever you want to eat is fine.”
“Except sushi,” she teased.
“Definitely not that,” I said, unable to resist smiling back.
Minutes later, we pulled into a parking lot surrounded by palm trees and entered a crowded, adobe-style restaurant with a cactus theme both inside and outside.
My real body loved a variety of food in large amounts. Bean burritos, tacos, enchiladas … hmmm. And once I got a spicy whiff, a volcano of appetite burst inside me and I ate breakfast, lunch, dinner and every meal for tomorrow. Afterwards, I was so stuffed I could hardly move or keep my eyes open. All I wanted was to curl up in a warm bed and sleep. So when we returned to the car and Sadie slipped into the driver’s seat, I begged her to take me back to our so-called condo.
“You actually want to go back to the crappo condo?”
“Where else would we spend the night? On the beach?”
“That could be fun,” she teased. “But I’m hoping for something much more interesting.”
“Like what?” I asked cautiously.
“Mauve hinted she’ll stay with Alonzo, at the house he rented with Warren and some other friends. I’m planning on seeing a lot more of Warren, too.”
“No! Not him!” I exclaimed before I could edit myself.
“Why not?” Sadie turned to me with a dangerous glint to her eyes. “Are you after Warren for yourself?”
“The total opposite.” I shook my head emphatically. “I don’t want you to get hurt by going off with some guy you barely know.”
“So says the girl wearing a guy’s shirt last night.”
“That’s not the same … ”
“You’re such a hypocrite — but your concern for me is sweet. Only trust me — I know what I’m doing with Warren.” The light turned green and Sadie hit the gas pedal hard, jolting us forward.
“Be careful,” I told her.
“I’m always a careful driver.”
But I wasn’t talking about driving.
Sighing, I leaned against the seat and closed my eyes.
“Don’t you dare go to sleep now,” Sadie said, slapping my shoulder. “We have a big night ahead of us. You need to find some guy for yourself, then none of us will have to stay in the crappo condo.”
“I don’t care where I sleep as long as it happens soon.”
“It’s not even seven yet!” Sadie complained. “It’s like a law that we have to party till the morning on our first night of spring break.”
“I’ll pass. I’m too tired.”
“Who are you? And what have you done with the real Sharayah?”
Shock ripped through me. Had she guessed my secret?
Then Sadie grinned and I realized she’d been joking.
“Please, please, please Rayah, come with me tonight,” she persisted. “It won’t be as fun without you — and there’s going to be karaoke.”
“So?”
“You
I smiled to myself, thinking of the
Still, I shook my head. “I’m too wiped to go anywhere tonight.”
“Since when do you choose sleeping over partying? Oh, I get it now.” Sadie gave me a look oozing with sympathy. “Here I’m rattling on about my new guy when yours is back in San Jose. Are you missing James?”
“Who?” I furrowed my brow. “Oh! James.”
Sadie reached across the seat to give me a playful slap on my arm. “You really must be tired if you can’t remember your boyfriend’s name.”
“Completely exhausted,” I said with a yawn.
“Would you be better if you called him? Use my phone.”
“Thanks,” I said, jumping at this opportunity.
When she handed me the phone, I pretended I was calling James (who I wouldn’t recognize if he plopped down in my lap!), but covertly checked for voice or text messages from Eli. Unfortunately, there were none. And when I tried his number again, I got his voicemail. Damn, what was going on with him?
“No luck,” I told Sadie as I returned her phone. “But I’m too tired to talk anyway. I can hardly lift the phone. I’ll be good to go tomorrow.”
“I’ll hold you to that. I’ll cover for you when I see everyone.” She stared out the windshield and gave a dreamy sigh. “It’ll be so great to see Warren again.”
She went on to talk about … you guessed it! Warren. Whenever she said his name, my stomach knotted and I wished I could warn her. But if I told her about Warren attacking me, she’d either accuse me of lying or leading him on. Sharayah had a track record when it came to stealing other girls’ boyfriends.
Besides, I needed to stay on Sadie’s good side to succeed at my mission. A big part of my plan to make Sharayah a singing star involved getting a ride to the audition in Beverly Hills. If Eli showed up, he could take me. But I couldn’t count on that. If I didn’t hear from him by tomorrow, I’d need to resort to Plan B — which meant not pissing off Sadie so she’d drive me to the audition.
Under the flicker of a short-circuiting street light and the gloom of a misty night, the crappo condo was even less inviting. There were no lights except a dim glow through the living room window, which added to the whole haunted house effect of the sagging porch, the peeling paint and the glass-eyed attic window peeking down at us like a spying ghost.
Fortunately, I had a good relationship with the other side; dead people didn’t scare me.
Our arms full of luggage and shopping bags, we went inside, kicking a box out of the way and walking over a pile of dirty clothes. Sadie found a note on the fridge instructing us to sleep in the room at the far end of the hallway. Not a luxury room with a view of the ocean, but it seemed decent. A queen-sized bed with a flowered comforter and four matching pillows took up most of the space, while an uncomfortable-looking rollaway was folded against a wall. There were two dressers, a desk, a glassed-door curio case filled with ceramic cats, and several framed paintings of cats adorning the walls. As a cat lover, I was completely at ease with the kitty decor. All I cared about was going to sleep … the bed looked so inviting.
Dropping my suitcase, I started for the bed.
Sadie grabbed my arm. “Not yet — there could be icky germs all over that. Wait until I clean up in here. I’ve got sheets, pillow cases and cleaning fluids.”
“You bought all of that today?” I asked, seriously impressed.
“That and more.”
“Impressive. You think of everything.”
“I try,” she said proudly. “Remember that, next time you call me a shopaholic.”
