I get texts today again. I don’t have the strength to deal with that anymore. If Ve wants to do stupid shit, let him do stupid shit. It’s his life. Today they outdid themselves.
Nobody likes you here. Bridget is better. Connor should be with her instead! Don’t call him!
Fuckwits! I’m so scared they’ll make him go to a party and get him involved in something he’ll regret. Or make him take speed again. If he does, it’s the end. That’s a line I won’t let him cross.
Everybody went to the club, and I’m sitting in my room with Ivy. We’re supporting each other. We both have our boys’ T-shirts. Comical. Life used to be so easy when we were single! No limitations, no stress. That doesn’t mean I regret anything. I couldn’t care less about parties and booze, but the stress makeslast year’s camp seem so much better. We were both free and had lots of fun at parties. I even met a handsome Italian boy, a real treat, and he seemed to like me too. One time at the club we went outside and made out. Acounselor caught us and gave me a pretty hard dressing down. I thought about it differently then, but he was right. I didn’t know the boy. He could have taken me somewhere. Though I still think I’m somehow protected, that I can sense other people’s intentions. Anyway, Mattia—that was his name—took my address and kept sending me letters afterwards. He even sent me photos of himself. He was pretty handsome, a bit like Roger. He rode a bike and had a sports car. I’m pretty sure his family was rich.
Today the sun has come out at last. Sadly, only for a moment. We’re going to Barcelona. I love that city. I adore the fountains at Montjuïc, near the Plaça d’Espanya—the view is incredible, unforgettable. I love fountains in general, especially those with music and light shows. They’re fantastic! A place like that is the perfect spot for a proposal.
We go everywhere—the longest bench in Park Güell, Sagrada Família, Camp Nou. I even buy my brother an original FC Barcelona T-shirt. I also snap hundreds of photos. The views here are straight out of a fairytale. Located by the sea, Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. It’s warm here for the majority of the year. Only I’m not sure if I’d like to live here. I’d prefer an English-speaking country. LA and Miami are definitely on my to-do list. I’m sure I’m going to fulfil that dream one day, though both those cities aren’t strictly English speaking—Spanish is popular there too. Who knows, maybe someday someone will make a movie. I’ll be the producer and screenwriter. That would be a great mix of all the things I love: traveling, photography, movies, and writing. Who knows!
Chapter 33
Abby
“Come on, girls!” The boys offer us a pipe.
Vicks breaks first. Iris follows in her steps.What the hell,I think. I’m in a gloomy mood.
“Send this shit my way.”
Vicky passes me the pipe. I take a few drags. Ivy refuses. She’s not missing much. I don’t know what the whole craze is about. Nothing gets to my head. Everyone is laughing maniacally and fooling around. Me? Nothing. I must be resistant.
Today I had a realization. If I want to catch Ve at home, I need to call him early in the morning. Is that the answer to my question of what to do? Yes, the universe never fails. It always answers your call. You only have to switch to receiving and listen.
When my first chance comes, I rush to the telephone booth and dial Connor’s number. My instincts were true—he picks up after a couple seconds.
“Hello?”
“Ve,” I say, stifling tears. “Honey, it’s me!” I can hear my voice breaking.
I tell him about the text messages, but he doesn’t know anything about them. He also seems sure it couldn’t be his friends who wrote them. Yeah, sure. I’m the bad one. There’s a strange note in his voice. Something’s wrong. I know it.
“Myro showed me the texts you sent him,” he says.
“Now I’m even more lost.” If he saw them, he should know how much I miss him and how sad I feel.
“What don’t you understand?” he asks.
“Nothing. Never mind. Take care,” I snap and hang up. I’m heartbroken! I want to cry.
I return to my room, and the cellphone in my hand vibrates. Fuck them! I’m about to delete the text without reading it, but I notice it’s from Ve, sent from Myro’s phone.
I’m clean since you left! I haven’t taken anything, I had no alcohol, and haven’t even smoked pot.
If it’s the truth… he’s sweet. I feel better already. But as soon as my spirits go up, another text arrives.
You are such a bitch! Why did you have to go and cry to Ve?! He won’t be with you anyway! You know how sweet he looks with Bridget, cuddling on a bench at the park?
Just fucking great! I’m instantly apoplectic. To calm down, I smoke two whole cigarettes. People go to the club again in the evening, but I stay in the hotel. I don’t feel like having fun. Maybe I’ll go to the disco on the last night, but would that make sense?
Ivy and I go to town. We buy ourselves some clothes. That’s our thing, a bit of a tradition of ours. We spend all our money on them, which means that we’re the only ones wearing outstanding outfits you can’t get back home very often.
Today the sun’s out at last, so we go sunbathing. In the evening, we come up with a genius idea—we’re going skinny dipping in the sea! Why the heck not? We find a secluded, dark spot at the beach. Ivy has a change of heart and leaves her underwear on, but the rest of us plunge right in topless. Ivy snaps photos. Wow, we’re so wild!
With the water photoshoot out of the way, we move to another spot where we can pose with spectacular effects—the rocks. We climb to the top and are doing some modeling, when a sound reaches us. Moaning. We stick our heads out and look down. Some guy is fucking some chick. Damn, that’s crazy!
Drained by all the fooling around, all four of us take a moment to cool off on a bench. We’re debating on how to say “lighter” in Spanish. Meanwhile, a guy on the bench across from us is fingering a girl. This city never ceases to surprise. We’re back at the hotel before midnight. On our way, we luckily managed to communicate our need for a lighter to a passerby.
