The Year I Became Isabella Anders (Sunnyvale, #1)

“That little tracker thing that lets you know where your phone is,” Grandma Stephy gets up and heads into the bathroom to take a shower.

I flop down on the bed and stretch my arms and legs out. “So does it lessen our fun that she’s known this whole time what we’ve been up to? Because that whole we’rebeing-so-rebellious-and-it-makes-this-so-much-more-fun speech you gave when we snuck out to go clubbing seems pretty insignificant now.”

“Nah, we still had fun, didn’t we?” she asks with her head tucked down as she rummages through her bag for the perfect outfit.

“That we did,” I agree, sitting up. “So what’re we doing tonight? Or is it another surprise?”

She looks up at me, grinning as she throws a shimmery black dress at my face. “Tonight, we’re going to find you a guy.”

I set the dress down on the bed and run my fingers along the glittery fabric, smoothing out the wrinkles. “I don’t need to find a guy.”

“Liar. You so need to find a guy, so you can get over that Kyler dude.”

During a drunken conversation, I told Indigo about Kyler. She wasn’t a huge fan of my crush on him, and said I deserved a guy who actually tried to spend time with me. I wanted to argue that we technically have spent time together, but knew my point was probably moot, since a few weekends doesn’t really count.

Knowing there’s no point in arguing with her, I get up and wiggle into the dress then curl my hair. I apply some dark red lipstick and kohl eyeliner then add a drop of eye glitter, just because I love looking sparkly sometimes. Since I’m a newbie at the hair and makeup thing, I make sure to get Indigo’s approval.

“You look fantastic,” she says, admiring my handiwork as she douses her hair in hairspray. “Seriously, you’ve caught onto this whole makeup and hair stuff way faster than I expected you to.”

“Thanks.” While I appreciate her approval, there are times where I still feel like the girl with shiny brown and green hair, wearing the glittery, probably too short dress isn’t me. That I look ridiculous and everyone around me knows it.

My phone suddenly buzzes from the nightstand. Indigo and I trade a quizzical look, because the thing never goes off.

I hurry over and pick it up, worried there might be something wrong at home. But my confusion only deepens when I see the message is from Kai.

Kai: U haven’t sent me any pics yet :( At first I thought maybe it’s because u forgot all about your cute, sexy neighbor next door, but then I realized how impossible that could be and started worrying that maybe something bad happened to u. That’s it, right? Something bad happened to u?

Me: So you’re saying u would rather something bad happen to me?

Kai: Ha! I knew that’d get u to respond.

Me: Whatever. I was never ignoring u, since this is the first time u sent me a message.

Kai: I didn’t want to seem too needy. But then I realized it wasn’t about me. It was about your wellbeing.

I roll my eyes. I can almost picture Kai smiling as he texts me, totally amused with himself.

Kai: So where’s my pic?

“You should probably send him the one we took at the top of the Eiffel Tower. You looked amazing in it,” Indigo says, reading the message from over my shoulder. “But first, you have to explain to me who Kai is.”

“He’s Kyler’s young brother who loves to annoy me,” I say, sinking down on the bed.

She coils a strand of her hair around her finger. “Annoy you, huh?” She seems wistful about something. “Because from what I read through the text, he seems like he’s flirting with you.”

I laugh so hard I almost pee myself. “Kai isn’t flirting with me. Trust me. He’s just made it his life mission to annoy the crap out of me.” I start to send Kai the pic Indigo suggested, but then stop myself.

I don’t fully understand why. Part of me whispers that my hesitancy is that I don’t trust him. But the other part of me whispers that I’m just not ready to take these moments overseas—this fantasy world I’ve been living, where I feel like I can be anyone and do anything—and share it with my old life.

Me: Don’t have any cool pics yet. Sorry.

I leave it at that and put my phone away. He doesn’t reply. I don’t know why I’m surprised or a tiny bit disappointed, but I am. The sucky part is I don’t know what I’m more disappointed about—Kai’s silence, or the fact I was too afraid to send him a damn photo.

I shake the feeling off, though, and focus on tonight. I focus on my next life experience, because that’s what I should be doing.