All I've Never Wanted(76)

“An amusement park,” Zack repeated slowly. There was no amusement park in Valesca. The closest one was near La Terra.

There was no going around it. He had to call Adriana.

“Can you stay here for just one second?” He held up one finger to make his point as he speed-dialed his twin with his other hand.

Venice shrugged. “Sure.”

When Adriana answered, Zack quickly explained the situation. She didn’t react the way he expected.

“So why are you calling me?” Her voice crackled over the line.

Zack frowned. “Because, uh, I don’t know what to do now?”

Adriana sighed wearily. “Follow them, Zack. You follow them.”

“Follow who?”

“Maya and James, Zack! Maya and James! Follow them tomorrow and find out what’s going on between them!”

“Ok, fine. I was just asking. Jeez,” he huffed. She didn’t need to be so snippy.

“But don’t go alone. Take someone with you.”

“Carlo and Parker?”

“No, Carlo’s got enough to worry about and I don’t trust Parker to get the job done. You were talking to Venice, right? Take her with you. She knows Maya well, so she can read her actions better than any of us.”

“Oh.” That made sense. “Ok. What—“

“Sorry, Zack, I have to go. My manicurist just came in. Text me if anything new comes up, ok?”

“Sure.” Zack pouted. She never had time for him anymore.

When he made his way back to Venice, she looked at him questioningly.

He flashed her a dazzling smile. “Are you up for an adventure tomorrow?”

* * *

“You copied me!”

“No, you copied me!”

“No, obviously you copied me! Mine is a girl’s coat!” Venice tugged on the sleeve of her khaki trench to emphasize her point.

Zack frowned down at his almost identical trench. Except it was a lot manlier than hers, of course. “So? Mine’s Burberry!” That’s what Adri told him anyway.

He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at Venice. He thought it would clever to dress up as a spy detective this morning, like the ones in the movies. He’d worn the trench, the fedora, and the oversize sunglasses, and added a touch of casual with his old Levi’s.

And then Zack arrived at Venice’s house, only to find her wearing… a trench, jeans, fedora, and sunglasses.

“We look like one of those matching couples,” he complained. “That’s lame."

“Well, too bad,” Venice huffed, climbing into the passenger seat of his black BMW. He’d chosen to drive this today because Maya had never seen it, and because it was less flashy than his Porsche. “I’m not changing.”

Zack frowned, wondering when she’d changed from cute to annoying. He reluctantly pulled out of her driveway just as she flipped on the radio and turned it to a Taylor Swift song. Venice immediately started warbling the lyrics to “You Belong with Me” at the top of her lungs.

Zack flinched. The girl could not hold a tune to save her life.

This was going to be a long day.

Two hours later

“Ohmygod! Look at the roller coaster! It looks like so much fun! Can we go on it, pleasepleasepleaseplease please?"

Venice bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet as she pointed at the giant green roller coaster in front of them, her eyes wide and shining.

It made Zack tired just looking at her. He thought he had a lot of energy? Try Venice on a sugar rush.

I knew we shouldn’t have gotten that sixth cotton candy, he thought.

“We’re not here to go on roller coasters,” he pointed out, even as he stared the metal structure longingly. “We’re here to find out what’s going on between Maya and James.”

Venice pouted. “I don’t see why we have to follow them all day. They’re just friends.”

“Yeah, but they could—“


“Ooh, a puppy!” she squealed, racing after the tiny Pomeranian.

“Wait, stop!” Zack shouted, running after her, his coat flapping behind him. He saw people giving him strange looks but he ignored them. He’d gotten so many of those since they stepped foot in the park that they didn’t even faze him anymore. “They’ll see us!”

As if on cue, Maya and James, who’d been talking and laughing a little ahead of them, turned to see what all the commotion was about.

Panicking, Zack grabbed Venice’s arm and immediately yanked her behind a garbage can. In their haste, they ended up knocking heads.

“Ow!” Venice rubbed her forehead, her nose twitching. “Eew, it smells.”

His own nose twitched a bit. “It’s a garbage can.” He peeked cautiously over the top. “I don’t think they saw us.” He turned to Venice with a stern look. “Don’t pull that again, ok? If they’d seen us, we would be in big trouble.”

Venice looked abashed. “Sorry,” she squeaked.

“What is going on here?”

Zack looked up to see a beefy security guard scowling down at them, a suspicious expression on his pudgy face.

“Oh, nothing,” he chirped, pasting on his most innocent smile. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Venice do the same.