person.”
“Why’d you do it?” Summer kept rolling, not sparing Arabella. She’d
always been very direct. Some people would call it lacking a filter.
“I don’t know. I’ve thought about that a lot. For a lot of reasons, I guess.
Because I was insecure back then. Jealous about others.” She looked June
in the eye. “I was jealous of you. You were always so effortlessly smart. I
would have killed to have your grades. And you were pretty. So, so pretty.
And just so unique. Everyone knew you were going to do something
amazing after high school. I wanted to be liked. I wanted to be popular. It
gave me a rush to be mean, and I’m completely ashamed of that.”
“It’s been ten years,” June said, her gaze shifting to Summer. She titled
her head like she was telling Summer silently to let it go. “We’ve all
changed.”
“But you applied at New Shooz 2uz for a reason,” Summer pressed.
June made a gurgling noise.
“I swear I didn’t know it was June’s company,” Arabella protested. “I
applied to lots of places. I hardly got any calls back. I was going to take
something totally not in my field if I had to. I needed to. My parents aren’t
working right now.”
“You’re supporting them?” Summer gaped at her.
“Summer, that’s enough,” June insisted sharply. “Lunch is going to be
here soon. I want to get everything set out before the horde of hungry kids
runs us over.”
Summer scowled at the interruption. She clearly wasn’t finished. There
was no way she was going to let Arabella’s past behavior go just like that.
Arabella understood. It would take a lot to forgive what she’d done. And
trust? She didn’t expect to just be taken at her word that she’d changed. All
of a sudden, Summer’s frown left.
“We’re going to our family cabin for a girl’s trip with my mom and
June’s mom. Tomorrow. Just for the weekend. It’s on Brookville Lake, an