You're Invited(54)

I sat down on the side of the bed and held my head in my hands. I should just go back to LA. I’d walked away before; I could do it again.

I kept my eyes closed and tried breathing deeply, just like Dr. Dunn says. One deep inhale. Hold it for five counts. Then exhale thoroughly for five. One deep inhale.

Something grabbed my ankles from under the bed and pulled.

I slid right off and crashed down onto the floor, a scream escaping my chest.

It had come for me.

I kept my eyes closed, bracing myself to finally meet my demons.

After so many years, it had finally caught up to me.

“Please . . .” I pleaded.

Pleaded for what?

But I just heard giggling.

Huh?

I was in a heap on the floor. Prying my eyes open, I looked across to the bottom of the bed.

It was Nadia, curled under the white frame, giggling hysterically.

“What are you doing?” I asked. I still had the wind knocked out of me and hadn’t recovered yet.

“I was waiting for Kaavi Akki,” she gasped, giggling harder. “She loves this prank.”

“Oh.” I didn’t have words. My breath was coming in short gasps now, and I willed myself to calm down.

It was just a prank.

I took a deep breath.

Just a prank.

It was also my first time alone with Nadia.

I used this moment to really take a look at her.

Nadia, who I’ve never had the chance to get to know.

“Do you need help getting out from under there?” I asked, offering her my hand.

“Okay.” Her smile was so pure. Who did it remind me of?

I reached in and she held on to my palms. It was getting hard to breathe again.

“On the count of three, okay?”

She nodded.

“One. Two. Three!” I tugged and she shimmied and somehow landed on top of me, still giggling.

This kid was way too trusting. It hurt my heart.

I heard footsteps rushing toward Kaavi’s room.

“What’s going on here?!” Mrs. Fonseka yelled. Her face was pale and she clutched onto the door.

“Nadia? Are you okay?”

“Ammi!” The little girl shrieked, running up to Mrs. Fonseka and reaching for her. Mrs. Fonseka picked her up and held her close.

“What are you doing?” she hissed at me.

“I—I’m sorry. I was just leaving—”

“I don’t want to hear it, Amaya. You just show up here, unannounced. Creep around this house. Spread vicious rumors about Spencer—don’t tell me it wasn’t you!”

I had tried to interrupt but she practically hollered over me.

“We had an arrangement, Amaya. My husband may be too soft to enforce it, and my daughter might have been misguided enough to invite you to her wedding, but that still doesn’t mean you are welcome here. You were supposed to stay away, so stay away. From me. From my husband. And most importantly”—she held Nadia tightly to her chest—“from our daughters.”

“I’m sorry.” I was trembling. “I didn’t mean to—I didn’t know she was—”

“You need to leave. And while I can’t uninvite you from the wedding celebrations, please know that you are not welcome in this house.”

And with that she left, leaving me a quivering mess on the floor, thinking of all the horrible, painful ways she could die.



* * *



—

I WAS SUCH an idiot. Of course I should have known better. I should have known better than to go snooping around that house. Trying to fill in the gaps of the lives I’ve missed, the moments I could never be a part of.

I tried taking deep breaths to steady myself. I did everything Dr. Dunn said—I did my counting exercises, I gave myself a little pep talk, I thought about how someone I admired would handle this situation and tried to emulate that in my thoughts. None of it seemed to work. What Mrs. Fonseka said, though it didn’t really surprise me, well, it broke my heart.

Luckily, no one else seemed to have witnessed her outburst. I gathered myself off the floor and picked up the box of photos, stuffing it into my bag. I was so silly, bringing them in here. I should have just gotten rid of them. Gotten rid of them like the Fonsekas had gotten rid of me. I made my way out of Kaavi’s room. I needed to get home and take a long shower and crawl into bed. Maybe I’d message Beth. I know it’s still the middle of the night for her, but maybe she’d be awake if I was lucky enough. I needed to do something to feel better. Maybe I’d message Alexander?

The hallway was still deserted since everyone was downstairs having tea, thank goodness. I had made it about halfway down when I heard whispering and a loud sniffle, like someone was crying. I peered off the staircase banister to see who it was.

If Mrs. Fonseka saw me still around she would probably physically drag me out of this house and I’d never live that down. As a matter of fact, it was best if I wasn’t seen at all. Especially not by Spencer.

But it wasn’t Mrs. Fonseka under the staircase. It was Laura. She had her phone pressed up against her face tightly, and her eyes darted around like she was hiding away from everyone.

I paused, leaning away from the railing so she couldn’t see me if she happened to look up. What had she been trying to tell me earlier? I’d been too distracted wondering if my ridiculous plan had worked to care. She’d thought the fight had been about her. But why?