The Year I Became Isabella Anders (Sunnyvale, #1)(57)

Indigo: That’s how all true loves start.

Me: TTYL, matchmaker. I have to go take care of some stuff.

I put down my phone, feeling flustered over all the stuff she said. Kai may be cute and charming—and yeah, we shared that drunken kiss last night that made my body tingle in ways I don’t understand—but I’ve never thought of him in the way Indigo was implying until she implied it. Now my mind is all overloaded with thoughts of me and Kai doing more than just kissing. It makes me really confused about myself, what I want, and what the hell I’m doing.

“Dammit, Indigo.” I climb out of bed, grab a black shirt, a white skirt, and my gladiator sandals, and then head to the bathroom to take a shower and hopefully clear my mind.

By the time I’m all showered and cleaned up, I feel much better. But as I make it downstairs, my good mood goes kerplunk.

Hannah is in the kitchen, and she’s not alone. With her are Val, one of her friends from high school, and a beefy guy I’ve never met before.

“Oh look, it’s Isabella Smellera,” Hannah sneers as she slams the fridge door.

Val giggles as she collects a plastic cup from off the countertop. “Nice one, Hannah.”

“You know that nickname doesn’t bother me anymore,” I say to her quietly as I cross the kitchen and head for the backdoor.

“Keep telling yourself that.” Hannah removes the plastic off a vegetable tray and opens a cup of ranch dip.

I note all the alcohol bottles on the kitchen table and the shiny pink shoes and glittery black dress she’s wearing. “Are you having a party?”

“Yep. Sure am. And you’re not invited.” Hannah readjusts her boobs, and Beefy Dude grins as he watches. “So you better find someplace else to sleep.”

“You can’t kick me out of my own house,” I say, grabbing the doorknob.

“I can’t, huh? How about I just text Mom and Dad and find out how they feel?” She laughs snidely when I remain silent. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. So get your shit and get out of here.”

I fight every damn urge in my body to go back and ninja kick the crap out of her.

“Oh and Isa?” Hannah says, and I grind my teeth until my jaw hurts. “Did you find the present I left for you on your bed?”

I want to ask her why she gave it to me, what her motive was, but that’d be asking for more taunting and ridicule, so I shut my eyes and suck in a huge breath of air. Don’t let her get to you. Just walk away, Isa. I yank open the door and step outside, her laughter hitting my back.

I shove all thoughts of Hannah aside as I head over to the Meyers’ to return Kai’s phone to him. As I hike up the driveway, Indigo’s texts ring through my head and nerves bubble in my stomach.

“You don’t like Kai like that,” I mutter to myself as I march up the porch stairs to the backdoor. “You’re just friends. You’re just friends.” I knock on the door, and when it swings open, Kyler stands in the doorway.

He’s wearing dark jeans and a red t-shirt that brings out the color in his eyes. His hair is all crazy, like he’s been stressed out and pulling on the roots. He looks so sexy right now that I can’t stop ogling him.

“Hey, Isa.” He places his hand on his head and flattens down the crazy hair.

Hearing him say my name makes my heart thud deafeningly inside my chest, and blood roars in my eardrums at the sight of him.

“Is Kai here?” I want to jump up and down that my voice came out steady.

“You actually just missed him.” He braces his palms on the doorframe and I try not to gawk at his flexed arm muscles. “What’d you need him for? Maybe I can help.”

My fingers tremble slightly as I stuff my hand into my jacket pocket and grab Kai’s phone. “I’m not sure how it happened, but somehow during the mass confusion that was last night, I ended up with his phone.”

He takes the phone from me, his forehead creasing. “You guys hung out last night?”

“Yeah, we went to a party one of his friends had.” And then kissed in the driveway, but he doesn’t need to know that.

He glances up from the phone and at me, his confusion deepening. “You went to one of his friends’ parties?” he asks and I nod, puzzled, because . . . well, he’s puzzled. “Isa, I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but I don’t think you should be hanging out with Kai’s friends. They’ll get you into trouble.”

I don’t know whether I’m touched that he’s looking out for me or annoyed that he thinks I’m too na?ve to take care of myself. “It was just one party. I don’t really hang out with them.”

“Okay, it’s just that . . .” He massages the back of his neck. “You’ve never really hung out with Kai up until recently, so I just wanted to warn you that he hasn’t been making the best choices lately.”

“Thanks for the warning.” I start back down the stairs, surprisingly relieved to be getting away from the uncomfortable conversation.

“Hey, what are you doing for the next couple of hours?” he asks before I can make my escape.

I stop on the bottom stair and turn around. “I was actually going to head home and blog for a little while. Then I probably have to find a way to get over to my grandma’s so I can crash there for the night.”