Page 28 of All's Fair in Love and Blackmail
“Juliet, where are the cupcakes?” Cyrus calls from the kitchen.
“On top of the fridge,” she calls back. Then she looks at me. “Yeah, India, why did you get this little guy? You just wanted a pet?”
I shrug. “Pretty much,” I say. “I was just thinking about…I don’t know. Things I was interested in.”
To be honest, a pet was the first item I wanted to cross off my list. I’ve wanted one for years, and somehow I just never made it happen. So it seemed like a good way to start this journey I’m taking—a simple, tangible step forward.
“And what you were interested in was fish?” Aurora says now. She joins Jules and me, bending down to look at Janis too. “Hi, little guy,” she says. Then she straightens up. “He’s a pretty color.”
“He is,” I say with a nod. “I really liked the iridescence.”
“Where’s he going to live? Your room?” Aurora says, and Juliet stands up.
“Yes, please!” she says. “Can he? Please?”
Aurora has her own room, but Juliet and I share. No one wanted to share with Aurora, and she’s happier this way too; she keeps things neater than I want to mess with, and Juliet is even messier than me.
I’m not a slob; neither is Jules. But Aurora used to run a business organizing peoples’ closets and pantries and garages. We can’t live up to that.
“I actually thought he might live on the kitchen counter,” I say. “Or on the table, like a centerpiece. Do you guys care either way?”
“I don’t,” says Aurora with a shrug. “Put him wherever you want.”
“Indy,” Cyrus says, strolling back into the living room with one cupcake in each hand, “should we be worried about you?”
I blink at him, surprised. “Worried about me?”
He nods and shoves an entire cupcake into his mouth. Aurora watches, her nose wrinkled in disgust.
“Please be civilized, Cy,” she says. “Chew your food.”
Cyrus chews the cupcake impossibly quickly; he ignores Aurora’s jibes and instead pins me with alook.
“I know you’re doing this list, or whatever,” he says gruffly, “but don’t make any huge changes just for the sake of changes. Think things through. Buying pets, dating?—”
“Dating?” Juliet says, her bright eyes widening. “Are you looking for a boyfriend, India?”
“What list?” Aurora adds with a little frown.
I glare at Cyrus for bringing this topic up, but he just shrugs unrepentantly and settles back down on the couch, unwrapping the second cupcake.
“I’ve never specifically beennotdating,” I say, a little defensive. “It just…wasn’t happening. So I’m planning to in the future. That’s all.”
“And what’s this about a list?” Aurora asks again.
Clearing my throat, I say, “Just a list of things I want to do. A bucket list, sort of.” I try to keep the words casual, but my voice is strained.
“Huh,” Juliet says.
“Is this a midlife crisis or something?” Aurora says, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinizes me. “A quarter-life crisis?”
“Not really,” I say, hugging Janis’s fishbowl closer to my stomach. “I just had?—”
I break off, but when I see everyone’s eyes trained on me, waiting, I sigh.
“Okay. But you can’t freak out, okay?” I take a deep breath and then tell them the truth. “I got into a little scrape on Betsy the other day. And it just—made me think. That’s all.”
“You crashed?” Juliet says. Her porcelain skin has paled, and I almost smile at how concerned she looks. Jules always has big feelings, and she always expresses them to their fullest.
