The Perfect Ruin - Page 34

When we made it there, I lurched out of the car and out to the humid Florida air, escaping Keke’s chatter about how expensive day care was for her daughter. She was the one who decided to have a damn kid. She needed to shut the hell up about it already and deal with the burdens of it.

We carried our bags to one of the charter buses, where two men were working to store the bags. I handed mine to one of the men and then met up with Lola. Two more women had gathered around her, and I knew on sight—and from stalking Lola’s social media—that they were Arabel and Faith.

Arabel had shoulder-length, relaxed hair with blond highlights. She was just like Keke, in a dress and heels, only her heels were a bit shorter than Keke’s and seemed a little more comfortable. The diamond on her ring finger screamed I’m married to a millionaire.

Faith was an average-looking woman, nothing spectacular about her. She was on the chubby side, with too much makeup and long, black hair that I knew wasn’t hers.

I remembered these women from a photo on Lola’s Instagram. They’d met at a book club and bonded over some romance novel they really loved.

“Arabel, Faith, I want you to meet Ivy. She’s the young lady I told you would be rooming with us at camp.”

Arabel took my hand and shook it. “So nice to meet you, Ivy! I saw the shoot you did for the charity shirts—love them, girl! Lola gave me a little sneak peek!”

I smiled. “Thank you.” I didn’t get a damn sneak peek. I glanced at Lola, who simply smiled, like the comment Arabel had just made meant nothing.

“I loved them too,” Faith said, giving me a lukewarm smile. I could tell she didn’t like that I was staying in the cabin with them.

Despite Faith’s halfhearted compliment, she and Arabel were two women I felt I could actually deal with. Even though they were looking at me like I was some stray, adorable cat, at least they weren’t completely snobby and codependent upon Lola, like Keke. These women seemed more concerned about themselves—in fact, they probably didn’t give a damn about this charity but were around for show and to support her cause.

“Say cheese!” A camera shuttered as we all turned, and Xena was there, her black camera in front of her face. She’d changed her hair, and had fresh black-and-pink-ombré braids now.

“Xena!” Lola waved a playful hand at her. “I told you to hold it until we get to camp, girl! That’s where all the fun will be!”

“Don’t even worry! I have so much space on my memory card for the week. We’ll have so many good pictures this year! Oh, hey, girl!” Xena rushed my way, hugging me with one arm, her camera in the other.

What do you think her reaction would have been if I’d accidentally knocked that expensive camera out of her hand? Bet she wouldn’t run to hug me anymore, and I would be cool with that. “I’m so happy to see you!” Xena went on.

I told myself to be nice. Be the chill girl who went with the flow. “So happy to see you too!” I said back, with as much enthusiasm as possible. I swear, I wasn’t going to be able to take much more of this. I am not a people person, Marriott.

When it was time to board the buses, I released a sigh of relief. I made sure to stick close to Lola, but as we walked up the steps of one of the buses, Keke lightly bumped against me and stood in front of me, thinking I wouldn’t notice, but I did.

That was strike two now.

Strike one was her talking too damn much in the car.

Lola took a seat in the very back by the window. Keke excused herself as she brushed past a few volunteers in purple shirts to get to the back and took the seat right next to Lola.

I took the seat on the opposite side, by the window. I still needed to appear independent—like I didn’t want to be in Lola’s way, but still garner enough attention from her so she could check in with me here and there.

Faith took the seat next to me, and Arabel sat in the aisle in front of Keke.

“I swear, that girl isn’t gonna let Lola breathe all week,” Faith mumbled, rolling her eyes.

I glanced at her, but her focus was on Keke, who was already talking Lola’s head off and moving her hands animatedly.

I laughed. “Lola’s probably used to being around her.”

“No, honey. Trust me, she isn’t. No one can get used to someone so self-absorbed. Plus, we can all tell she uses Lola, but Lola is too damn nice to see through her crazy mess. Lola loves to pick up strays, honey. Oh—no offense to you or anything. I’ve heard good things about you.”

Tags: Shanora Williams Thriller
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