Chapter 30
Carmen
These chairs weren’t meant for sitting. The illusion of is just that, an illusion. I shift in the chair, wondering when I’ll see Eli. She is in good shape. They’ve given her fluids, and she’ll most likely be released within the hour. My Aunt Shelly is in the room with her. The two women wanted to talk alone. I’ve been here for twenty minutes now. Eli called Chelsea to pick her up. Who knows how Shelly found out that her daughter was getting out of the hospital?
“Nasty coffee!” Chelsea sarcastically cheers as she walks back into the waiting room. Since she couldn’t sit still anymore, she had to get some drinks. She bought a bottle of lemonade along the way. I feel bad that she’s been pulled away from Peter. Eli instructed for us to leave him behind. Something must be going on.
“Thanks,” I say before grabbing the Styrofoam cup from her. The brew isn’t too bad. I take slow pulls through a straw and am relieved that something warm is in my stomach. It’s 10:30 in the morning and I haven’t eaten a thing. It was hard to sleep last night. I guess in between telling Chelsea about her mother and Eli’s excessive drinking, a lot weighed on my mind.
“What’s up?” Chelsea looks bored. There aren’t that many people in this particular room, just an old couple, a random teenager and a middle-aged man. We are all seated in our little clusters. Never shall the plains meet.
“What does Eli want with us?” Chelsea shrugs, which send tendrils’ of her caramel colored hair into her face. She forcefully pushes the strands back and mumbles something under her breath.
“I have no idea. How do you feel about having to spend the whole night with Dom?”
“At least it isn’t Jake,” I respond. Chelsea chuckles.
“You dodged a bullet with that one. That would have been awkward since you permanently put him in the friend zone.” Chelsea is still on the fence about this idea. She isn’t one to give advice about love. I think that’s what I love about her most.
“I know,” I respond, shivering at the thought of running into him again.
“What do you think of Jill?” I sigh.
“She’s really nice. I was kind of hoping that she would be a Gorgon. But…”
“What’s a Gorgon? Is that some sort of vampire?” I laugh, and before I can explain what the creature is to her, Shelly flies out of the corridor. She is red-faced and angry. I wonder what her daughter told her. After she leaves, Chelsea and I stand and make our way to Eli’s room.
She’s sitting up in bed when we arrive. Eli doesn’t look sick. If anything she seems well rested. Her brown hair is a tangled mess though, and she does look ridiculous in her black party dress.
“Hi guys.” I smile at her but Chelsea crosses her arms.
“You wanted us to come get you?” Chelsea asks, barely concealed aggravation in her tone. Eli’s blue eyes flash.
“I see that my mother followed you two,” Eli pointedly says.
“She has a mind of her own,” I point out, trying to figure out how I’m supposed to react here. Am I supposed to be angry, stoic, or cheery that my cousin is all right? Where are we? Am I supposed to pretend as if Eli hasn’t ditched me over these last weeks? Or maybe I’m supposed to comment on it.
“I’m free to go,” Eli announces, which is like music to Chelsea’s ears. She finishes chugging her lemonade and tosses it in the trash can. The bottle clangs when it hits the bottom of the waste basket. The sound causes me to wince. I’m not done with my coffee yet, and take a sip of the cooling liquid.
“I asked you two to pick me up because I don’t want to face any of the girls that I partied with. I might have taken things a little too far. And I…”
“You didn’t even bother inviting us,” Chelsea hisses. “You made sure that Carmen and I were completely left out. Just…” I interrupt Chelsea with a hand on her shoulder.
“Everyone saw what happened, Eli. Bridget put it all on Instagram. I’m sorry.” She doesn’t have a clue what I’m saying. That’s evident by the way she stares at me.
“What are you talking about?” Eli asks. Chelsea groans.
“Your escapades were all photographed by Bridget. She put all of the pictures online. You were passed out drunk, Danny was topless, and Stephanie was making out with random men. Stephanie’s father is running for office. Don’t you understand now?” Eli shakes her head, then winces. She may look fine, but she still has a headache.
“It means that the media cares about what happened, Eli. Stephanie is important, which makes you important. And it doesn’t help that the trials are starting up in a couple of weeks,” I tell my cousin. She finally understands what we’ve been trying to say. Bridget has deliberately betrayed them on purpose.
“Oh, no. Dom must be heartbroken!” Seriously? Eli is thinking about Dom in this situation? I guess this does make sense since the guy had been stuck to her like glue over the past weeks.
“Let’s just go,” Chelsea snaps. Evidently, Eli had said the wrong thing. We make our way out of the hospital in relative silence. Eli frowns when she spots the Buick that Peter and Chelsea have taken to driving.
“It’s less conspicuous,” I softly tell Eli and she nods. I take shotgun and Eli slides into the seat behind us. Nothing is said until Chelsea has driven a block away from the hospital.
“Are you hungry?” Chelsea reluctantly asks Eli.
“Not really. I’m stressed, mostly. I’m an hour behind on getting ready,” she explains.
“It won’t be a big deal. You’ll make it,” Chelsea says. Her words are stiff, and I want to tell Chelsea to chill out. But I can’t, because I’m not sure if I would be doing any better.
“Carmen, who’s Dom going to escort?” Eli asks.
“Me,” I answer.
“Jake’s not going to participate in the wedding?” Eli seems horrified by the idea.
“Jill is going to fill in for Bridget. They are the same size,” I add, and Eli groans.
“I don’t really like Jill. She’s too perfect. It seems unnatural,” Eli huffs. For no reason in particular, her comment grates on my nerves. Jill may be the one that Jake chose, but she still is doing Eli a favor.
“She’s doing you a favor, Eli. You should be more grateful,” Chelsea snaps. Eli laughs so hard that she has to smack the back of my chair to control herself.
“Chelsea, she isn’t doing me a favor. She wants to get closer to my brother. Think about it, Jake hasn’t exactly been receptive to her,
“Eli begins. I think about the kiss that I had spotted in the hallway last night and want to disagree. The pair is getting along rather well. I don’t have the heart to verbally participate in this stupid discussion. It’s difficult enough excepting the fact that Jake is actually falling for Jill. Though, that part is all of my fault. Jake had only been dating Jill until his uncle’s campaign ended. But I had made it clear that he couldn’t come back to me when it was all set and done. Was that a mistake? Probably not. Jill is a kind girl who is drop dead gorgeous. There is no way that she wouldn’t have stolen his heart. So what I did was to protect my heart. Waiting for Dom had been painful and lonely, and I’m not prepared to do that again. “He will be miserable at the wedding. Who was stupid enough to pair them together?”
“Your mother,” Chelsea answers after an awkward silence. I shift in my seat and suddenly wish that I hadn’t gone with Chelsea. Hearing Eli talk about Jake like this is so painful. This only serves as a reminder that we aren’t close anymore. Part of me hungers to confide in my cousin, but I can’t. We might as well be in two different decades for all that would do.
“Of course, Mom loves the theatrics. Luckily the programs aren’t supposed to be printed until this morning. I can only imagine how all of Mom’s friends are going to talk about how cool it is that America’s darling is in my wedding,” Eli muses. This conversation is so ridiculous because Eli is talking about Jill as if she’s a chess piece. But then I remember that she actually is and keep my mouth clo
sed.
“When are you and Nathan going on your big road trip?” Chelsea asks, after catching a glimpse of my expression.
“Next week. I’m so excited. I contacted Dana and she says that there is an inn right by her house that has the best food. Nate and I will make a reservation as soon as I get my inheritance. There’s no need having Mom figure out what we are doing.” I want to tell Eli that this ill thought out plan is reckless. Ever since Alex has joined the picture, I’m beginning to think that Dana isn’t who she says she is. In fact, I’m willing to bet that Alex came to Massachusetts to escape her mother. But Eli is too far gone now. She won’t listen to a word that I have to say.