Homewrecker

32 - 𝓼𝓲𝓶𝓹𝓵𝓮

The Solidays were all in the backyard when Indie drove us back to the lake house, the scent of warmed charcoal and grilled meats already starting to drift around to the front of the house as I gathered my shopping bags in the crooks of my arms, the weight of at least fifteen shirts, eight jeans, and three pairs of sneakers digging into my skin. I dumped them all in the bedroom, hoisting them over the railing and onto the mattress before heading outside where the Solidays were.

David was standing at the grill, holding a pair of meat tongs and closing the lid, actually wearing an apron with Netflix and Grill over the chest. Amy was sitting in one of the Adirondack chairs, sipping from a glass of wine as she looked out over the backyard, at Danny running off the dock and jumping into the water. Andi and Taylor-Elise were standing in front of the patio table, where an assortment of vegetables, opened bags of chips, and buns were set out. They were talking to Kimberly, who was chewing on a carrot stick as she looked down at Andi's phone, nodding and gesturing to whatever was on the screen.

Jason was walking around Indie with an armful of sodas and cups against his chest, saying, "Whoops, excuse me." And Natalie was sitting at the table, reaching into a Doritos bag and trying to look over at what was Andi's phone.

"Hey, girls," Amy said, glancing over at us standing in the doorframe and smiling. "How was shopping? Did you see anything you liked?"

Indie nodded, walking through the threshold of the opened doors and onto the patio, and reached for a stalk of celery and dunked it in a bowl of ranch dressing. "I got a couple of new tank tops," she remarked, like her question wasn't really just about seeing how normal I was, if I could go out to the mall with a friend and act the way she thought a teenager should. "Bronwyn bought, like, the whole mall, though."

Amy's tentative smile broke out into a grin when she heard this, and it struck just how different everyone was around here. How spending loads of money could be seen as a good thing. Back in Shiloh, if your parents found out you spent even just a hundred dollars of their money at the mall, it was something you got in trouble for. It was something I never even thought of doing before with my mom. Whatever money she received from social programs was spent on food, things like dollar shampoo or toilet paper, bills.

I couldn't even remember the last time before today that I had actually bought clothes new, instead of at a thrift store or from a friend. But here it was, making Amy beam with pride like I had actually done something other than take the twenties she gave me out of my pocket.

"You did?" she said, her eyes trailing me as I nodded and grabbed a carrot stick. It didn't even look like the kind I used to buy in the grocery stores back home. It was shaved and cut, unprofessionally, like someone bought the carrots at a produce stand. Something we also couldn't afford. "What all did you get?"

I chewed, stalling. "Just a couple of tops, some pants. New shoes."

Indie nodded, plopping down into one of the chairs at the table beside Natalie. "Yeah, American Eagle was having a huge sale on their jeans."

Taylor-Elise's eyes widened, pointing at Indie. "I love their jeans. They're seriously the most comfortable. No one else gets my weird hips," she remarked, not noticing David as he glanced over his shoulder at her from the grill, his brow furrowing in a somewhat confused frown.

"Can I see what you got?" Natalie asked.

Now Taylor-Elise frowned. "You mean my hips?"

She shot her a look, embarrassment starting to turn her cheeks into a deepened shade of pink. "No," she told her, exasperated, and then gestured over to me. "What Bronwyn bought at the mall."