Barbie World (Baby Doll Series) (18 page)

Hurt slips into his eyes for a flash of a second before his eyes go back to their steel color. He nods, but then he grabs my hand and pulls me to him, kissing me fast and hard on the mouth. “I will be waiting for you in the car,” he says against my mouth, however, before I can respond, Kai is jerked sideways pulled to the ground with an angry Dylan on top of him.

“Don’t flipping touch her again.” I hear Dylan say as he lands a fist to Kai’s side.

The boys begin to roll around in a mess of flailing limbs and grunts. I am yelling at them to stop, but they don’t hear me. Third comes tromping over holding on to his pants.

“What do I do?” he calls over the heap of boys.

“Stop them,” I scream. Third pauses and looks at them, assessing the situation “NOW!” He sighs before joining the pile of boys. He starts to grab onto shirts, trying to separate them.

“Oh, my God.” Roxie bounces around the fight.

Third eventually emerges with Dylan in a headlock. Third’s pants are around his knees. Good, now maybe next time he will wear a belt.

Kai stands up, wiping at a trickle of blood on his chin. “I will be in the car, waiting for you.” he says out of breath and leans down to kiss me.

I push him back, “I will be there in a moment.”

Kai’s ego is hurt. “Don’t be long. We have a lot of highway in front of us,” he says to Dylan.

When Kai is at a safe distance I turn and glare at Dylan who is still in a head lock by Third. “God, Dylan, what are you thinking?” I try to catch my breath, but my chest is still heaving. “God, why don’t you just pound on your chest and beat the ground with your fists.” Third snorts at my analogy of the situation. “Let him go, Third, and pull up your pants. Dylan, what are you thinking?” I ask again as Dylan straightens up.

“Oh, I don’t know. I am trying to protect you from that guy. He is a douche. There is only one reason he wants to take you on this trip.” Dylan fixes his shirt the best he can, but the collar is torn and it hangs limply, exposing his chest. “Do you really think he is just taking you across the state out of the goodness of his heart?” he asks, but does not let me answer. “No, he is only taking you because he thinks he is going to get something from you.”

My cheeks burn. “Oh, that’s right. That is the only reason a boy would like me because I am easy.” My anger evaporates and I feel tired, defeated. I don’t want to fight Dylan anymore.

“No, that’s not what I meant.” He reaches out for me, but I flinch away from his touch. “God, I hate that dude. What do you see in him?” Dylan sighs.

“That is not any of your concern,” I snap. Who does he think he is, coming here like this? Like he cares.

“Why didn’t you ask me to take you?” He yells at me. “
Because this isn’t about you. This is about me.” I yell back. We stand in silence seething at each other. He is the one to speak again.

“How did things get so fucked up?” he says out loud what I am thinking.

“I know,” I say, “but what other choice do we have?” He lets out a growl from the back of his throat and leans his head back like the answer might be in the sky. He turns to me and runs his hands through his hair, making it puff up on the sides; my hand itches to fix it. “Dylan, I have to go find out where I came from. I need to know why my momma is the way she is.”

“Fine, you want to go on a missing person hunt? Fine, I will take you. Just please don’t leave with him.”

“Dylan, we already agreed… “ I let my words trail off because we both know that we agreed that we are only friends. He knows we can never be together. Besides, all we seem to do is hurt the other. I need to keep Everett safe and if that means that we cannot be together, then that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.

“Don’t go.” He sounds so desperate I almost falter and give in. “Please.” The hurt in his eyes make my chest ache.

“I have to,” I exhale, my voice barely a whisper. Kai steps on the accelerator, the vibration rattling my already frayed nerves. It is as if he is asking me the same question, what do I choose? I look back at the red impala; the sun is shining off the cherry red paint, blinding me.

“Barbie, I am begging you not to go.” This time the desperation drips off his words. I swallow around the lump that formed in my throat and slowly back up.

“I have to.” I pivot so he cannot see the tears that threaten to fall.

He is asking something of me that I cannot give him. That I am not willing to give up for him. I have to go. I have to find out where I came from. Why my mother is the way she is. I need to find out what my history really is.

I don’t look back. Instead, I open the heavy metal door of the Impala and climb in the front seat. Kai lets the car lurch forward, sending a cloud of dust behind us. I try not to look, but my eyes meet his dark ones in the review mirror as we jet forward. Dylan stands in a defeated pose, his hands hanging limply at his sides as he watches us drive away, and something happens to me that I didn’t think was still possible, my heart breaks a little more.

Chapter 25.
Dylan

I pry a piece of wood off the wall from the dark room in my grandfather’s barn. I drove straight here and worked through the night on the darkroom. I glance over my shoulder for the millionth time, waiting on her to walk through those doors, to see the morning sun dancing off her skin. I slam the hammer against a rusty nail.

“Dude, I don’t see how fixing that crap shack is going to help you get Barbie back.” Third is posted up on some mildewed hay.

“I told you, it just will.” The nail bends, sending rust particles to sprinkle to the ground.

“Whatever you say. I hope your tetanus shot is up to date. Oh wait; I forgot who I am talking to. Your mom probably has you vaccinated against everything possible to be vaccinated from.”

I give him an annoyed look, but it is the truth. “You are one to talk; who dressed you this morning? Your mom?” Now that I am looking at Third, he is dressed different; he looks like his mom really did dress him. He is wearing a tight, green, plaid shirt that is tucked in skinny white jeans. Tan loafers are on his feet and his gold teeth are replaced with large Buddy Holly framed glasses. He doesn’t wear contacts, does he?

“Look, I can’t help if the fashion bus blew past your house, and stipend at mine.” He takes in my attire with a disgusted look. “We are in the midst of a fashion movement and I am riding the bus.”

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, whatever, I don’t see how what I am wearing will help me get her back. She is halfway across the state with that dickwad and there is nothing I can do about it.” I go back to hitting the bent nail.

“You know what; I am sick of hearing you whine about Barbie. I am sick of this whole boo-hoo, woe is me song you are singing. You had an amazing girl, you screwed it up and so what are you going to do about it, boy?”

I spin on Third who manages to duck just in time. “Look, I am not throwing myself a pity party. There is nothing I can do about it; I am just stating a fact. I tried everything and nothing worked. Maybe I should just give up and move on. She is.” I drop the hammer once again and go sit on the bale of hay.

“I am only telling you this because you are my best friend. Do you love her?”

Of course, I do. I have never expressed it to her, really, but hell yes, I love her. “Yes!”

He nods. “Well, I see it two ways; you can keep whining about it or you can man up and go get your girl!”

“Man you’re lucky I don’t have that hammer in my hand.” I shake my head.

“Well?” He throws his hands up, exasperated. Could it be that easy? Could I just go and get her back like that? How would we even find her? It’s not like I can just call her and say, ‘hey where you at? I am coming to get you because I am madly, deeply in love with you and I have never been more in love with anyone than I am with you.’

I stand up. “Let’s go and get her!”

“Hell, yes! Let’s go get our women!” Third thrust his hand in the air.

“Women?”

“I mean, let’s go get your woman.” He grins.

“Okay, but there is something I need to do first.”

###

We both head home, pack and meet up an hour later.

Now, I ring the doorbell of someone I really don’t want to see and wait. Two minutes later, the door is pulled open and Katie is standing there. Her hair is a mess, not in her neat pony tail, and it looks like she might have been crying.

I automatically go to her. “What’s wrong?”

She wipes at the back of her nose with her hand. “Nothing really. It’s just my sister.” She sighs, stepping into me.
Shit.
I wrap my arms around her thin figure.

Nuzzling into my chest, she asks, “Why are you here? I thought we were taking a break?”

I sigh because this is really going to suck, breaking up sucks period, but this is more. I am not only telling her we are really over, that we are not getting back together when she obviously is having a crappy day, dealing with a family issue, but it is going to suck because for so long I watched her from a distance, for so long I thought she was the girl of my dreams until I met Barbie and realized my real dream. There is something bittersweet about saying good-bye to your childhood crush. She will always hold a small piece of me, but I have to say good-bye if I want to be with Barbie and, dammit, that’s all I want. Even now, with another girl in my arms, all I can think about is how Barbie feels wrapped in them.

I step out of the embrace, running my hands through my hair. “Katie-”

“You are officially breaking up with me, aren’t you? That’s why you are here.” She wraps her arms around her middle. “Katie, I’m sorry-”

She holds her hand up. “Don’t, Dylan. Don’t say you’re sorry because you’re not. You are not sorry. You have always been in love with her. I tried to ignore it and I tried to ignore the way you look at her. I hated that you never looked at me. Like each breath you took, hurt, because she was not with you. Dylan, I am mad and I think I kind of hate you… but I understand.” Her words sting, but they are the truth, more than she realizes. I guess I was not hiding my feelings as well as I thought. Or maybe it is that freaky girl intuition that all girls possess.

“Katie, thanks.” It is lame, but it is all I have to give her.

I try to hug her once more, but she stops me. “If you touch me, I am afraid I might deck you. Like I said, I understand, but it doesn’t make this any easier to swallow.” She steps back in through her door. “Good luck, Dylan.” And with that, she shuts the door.

Something in me is set free. I feel like a weight is lifted off my chest and my stomach is in knots like I am about to go on a roller coaster, anticipation flutters inside of me. I don’t know what is going to happen, but I know I am getting my girl back and whatever the consequences, we will face them. We will face them together.

“How did it go? Did she go all psycho on you?”

I smile. “Actually, just the opposite. She wished me luck.”

Third shakes his head. “Like I said before, one lucky S.O.B you are.”

Chapter 26.
Barbie

The stairs squeak under me as I take the green carpeted steps. I knock and wait. I nervously take in my surroundings. The small, pink trailer has overgrown grass peeking out of a corroded fence that encircles it. Grey flowerboxes sit under the windows holding fake pink and yellow faded flowers.

I look back at Kai, who is leaning against his car in a relaxed pose. I give him a small smile and he cocks his brows at me. Roxie sits on the curb in a long, black dress that drags behind her when she walks. Roxie woke up in a bad mood when she learned the town we were in had no Starbucks. Apparently, her bubbly, hyper personality is not natural; it is, instead, the result of several cups of a caramel macchiato latte with a double shot of espresso.

The trailer groans with movement on the inside and my stomach rolls. What will I say when she opens the door? Behind these doors, stands the lady that made my mother’s life a living hell. The door swings outwards and I have to jump down to the next step to avoid being hit.

A girl with long, curly, black hair sticks her head out and my breath catches. I am too stunned to say anything. The girl looks like she is about twelve years old and despite the black hair, she looks identical to Everett; everything from her small, thin, heart-shaped face, a small button nose that is lightly freckled, big teal colored eyes to long, gangly legs and arms.

“Can I help ya?” she asks with a southern drawl. I wonder if that is what Everett would sound like if he could speak.

“Look, whatever y’all sellin’, we ain’t buyin’ and my granddaddy taught me how to shoot that shotgun, so ya best be getin’.” she says, opening the door wider so I can get a good look at the shotgun she is talking about.

“No, I am not selling anything-” I hold up my hands.

“Yeah, well, we already found God, so thanks, but no thanks.” She begins to shut the door. “No, wait. My name is Barbie.”

She narrows her eyes at me. “Good for you.” She taps her cowboy boot covered foot, annoyed at my delay.

“Is Jewel here?”

“Who are you again?” She eyes me up and down, warily.

“Jewel is my grandmother… well step-grandmother,” I say and her eyes go round. “Is jewel here? Can I speak to her? I am trying to find my grandmother, Josephine, and I was wondering if she might have any information on her.”

Her shocked expression turns to a sweet smile. “Why she is at work. Come on back at seven and she will be more than happy to meet you and give you any information she can to help you find Josephine. Why they are practically sisters, they be so close,” she says.

“Really? Have you ever met her?” I ask

“Of course, we are super close. Grams and me are as close as bees and honey. Why just last week, Grams was down for a visit.” My stomach drops. “Oh, and by the way, I am your cousin, Roe.”

She steps out of the trailer and hugs me. I hug her back tightly because she feels just like Evie and she is the first of my extended family I have ever had the chance to meet.

“I have a cousin.” I smile as I climb back in to the car.

“That’s fantastic. Now can we pleasssse go find the closest Starbucks get out of this children of the corn town, before we all end up as sacrifices!” Roxie leans forward.