The Year I Became Isabella Anders (Sunnyvale, #1)(24)

Laughter bursts from my lips, and Indigo quickly joins in. It’s the silliest moment ever, but I’ll cherish it forever. It’s because of moments like these that I’ve made it through this trip without sinking into a pit of despair over what I learned about my mother. Yeah, I know that soon I’ll be back home and I’ll have to finally deal with the truth. But I’ll always have these memories, even if some of these moments are really awkward. Through the good, bad, and painfully embarrassing, this trip changed me. Made me stronger. More confident. And hopefully that’ll help me when I get home.

I’m laughing so hard by the time we arrive on the main floor that my ribs actually hurt. “So what do we do now?” I ask as I stumble out into the vacant lobby.

Indigo’s gaze skims the front desk, which the receptionist has abandoned, then her eyes land on the pool sign just to our right.

“I have an idea,” she says, dragging me toward the doors with a wicked glint in her eyes.

“But I don’t have my swimsuit,” I protest, digging my heels into the floor. “And it’s after hours.”

“So what?” She swipes the keycard through the slot then tugs open the door. “There’s no one here to stop us, is there?”

She’s right. There’s not a single person around. But why would there be, when it’s four o’clock in the morning?

The door bangs shut behind us as we step into the faintly lit room that smells like chlorine. The pool gently ripples in front of us, begging to be dipped in.

“What about swimsuits?” I tentatively inch up to the edge, slip off my heels, and dip my toe into the lukewarm water.

“Swimsuits are for amateurs.” She shimmies out of her dress and kicks it off to the side. “Besides, you can’t cross skinny-dipping off your list if you’re wearing a swimsuit.”

“Skinny-dipping isn’t on my list,” I say as she cannonballs into the water, wearing nothing but her underwear and bra.

“The water feels so nice,” she remarks as she floats on top of the water, her hair spread out like a veil.

She looks so relaxed and the water so inviting.

“Oh, what the hell?” I peel off my dress and wade into the water.

She’s right. The water does feel fantastic. And while the moment is relaxing and not as heart-pumping as dancing in a club or kissing guys on Ferris wheels, it’s one I’m glad I lived.

An hour later, we climb out of the pool, dry off, and slip into our dresses. We don’t go back into the room, instead, heading out to the park across the street, where we watch the sunrise.

“I can’t believe we have to go home in a few weeks,” Indigo says as we rest against each other on a bench near a section of trees.

“I know, but at least we got to experience it, right?” I squint as the sun peeks through the morning haze and lights up the sky.

“I’ve taught you very, very well, young grasshopper. I feel like such a proud mama right now.” She pats my head and we both giggle.

Then we settle against each other and simply watch the sky. I feel so at peace right now with myself, yet afraid at the same time that I won’t have this feeling ever again. Suddenly, I find myself digging out my phone and snapping a photo of me with wet hair and slightly smeared makeup, the sunrise as my background. I have a content smile on my face and actually look fairly decent.

This was who I was once, I type then hit send.

I have no idea why I chose those words, other than I’m still a little high on such an amazing night. A minute later, I instantly regret it, but now there’s no going back.

I spend the rest of the morning with Indigo, waiting for Kai to reply.

He never does.

I’m not sure how I feel about it. Thankfully, I don’t have too much time to wallow over it, because hours later, Indigo and I are moving on to our next adventure.





“OH. MY. GOD,” Indigo groans as she stuffs her face with a double cheeseburger. “I missed you, my dear, sweet hamburger, even though you treat me poorly and go straight to my thighs.”

I giggle in the backseat of Grandma Stephy’s car then pop a fry into my mouth. “The food wasn’t that bad over there,” I say.

She narrows her eyes at me with a drizzle of grease dripping down her chin. “Dude, are you fucking crazy? It was terrible. Everything was either burnt or topped with some weird sauce.” She sets the burger down on her lap and dunks a fry into a cup of ranch. “Good God, I’ve missed ranch on my fries. I’m seriously about to have a foodgasm.”

“No foodgasms in the car,” Grandma Stephy says as she turns the car off the main road.

I set the fry that I was about to eat down as I suddenly lose my appetite as we get closer to my house. We’ve been back in Sunnyvale for a couple of nights now, but this will be the first time I’ve been home in three months. And it’ll be the first time I’ve seen my family since I discovered the secret about my mother.

It’s crazy that I managed to hardly think about it the entire trip. Now that I’m back in the states, it’s all I can think about twenty-four seven.

Time to get some answers.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me for a little bit longer?” Grandma Stephy asks me for the millionth time.

“I wish I could,” I say truthfully. “But my senior year starts in a couple of days, and I need to get stuff ready.”