The Sister Code (D.O.R.K #2) (13 page)

Chapter 21

September 25, 2015

The Week From Hell

This week I’ve been ping-ponging between playing the devil’s advocate and standing up to the devil herself. The minions say they’ve never seen Raven so irritable. She’s been lashing out at anyone who dares to address her personally, so now people are just waiting for her to bark her orders at them instead of approaching her about things. Being her sister, I’ve taken the brunt of her anger more than once this week. I’m learning not to let her words get to me. She may think she can break me down with her cutting remarks, but actually I feel like I’m getting stronger every day. When it comes to verbally assaulting me, Raven’s bark is worse than her bite. She can threaten with whatever she wants, but I know she’s never going to act on it. She needs me too much for our rise to the top.

The thing that bothers me the most is watching the other girls suffer. I’m starting to realize that none of them actually want to be her friend. Raven’s power drew them to her in the beginning, and now they’re ensnared in her trap and they feel like they have no escape. I can’t figure out any other reason why people unrelated to her would put up with her abuse. Her fame and money are the only thing keeping her friends right now, plus the fear of turning their backs on her.

The only bright spots in my week were playing
Battlefield
with Gio twice after my homework was done. It felt just like old times—competing for who could get the most kills while talking on the headsets and catching up. We didn’t say anything about still liking each other, but he did flirt with me a little bit, and I hesitantly flirted back. I’m still irrationally nervous that Raven might find out about our fun times together. Playing games with him is innocent compared to what we used to do, but she probably won’t see it that way.

I’m always forced to choose between the guy I like and my sister. Damn that code…

If I had just been in L.A. where I was supposed to be my whole life, my prince would have fallen for me first and we could have lived happily ever after.

But I guess this is my luck. What more could the Basket Baby expect, right?

Ttyl,

Mads

***

Saturday morning, I practically skip inside the rehearsal studio, letting the struggles of the week roll right off my back. Nothing could be more important right at this moment than getting together with these guys and giving birth to our sound. Dalton, Logan, and Max join Dad, Cass, and me shortly after we get there and everybody gets pulled into a huge circle hug in the middle of the room. Max teases after the other two hold us a little too long:

“Hey Dalton, stop squeezing my ass. No offense dude, but I don’t swing that way.”

Dalton playfully punches him in the shoulder, which turns into a childish slapping fight. They jab and laugh as if they’ve been friends for years. Logan and I just glance at each other, chuckle, and shake our heads in dismay.

“Okay boys, break it up,” I tease. “Let’s get this show rolling.”

After we unpack our instruments and tune them up, Dad and Cass coach us through some warm-ups and sound tests. We start with a cover to get inspired and into the groove. After that, Dalton shows us some of his songs and I play and sing my originals. Logan shows us the beats he’s been working on, and Max even has some new stuff to contribute. All in all, our sounds are pretty similar. Now we just need to work on blending those ideas into something we can all get behind.

With Dad and Cass’s help, by the end of the rehearsal, we have two original songs started and a couple of covers down pretty solid. All of us are feeling good when we pack up our instruments. We’re not riding any highs yet, but according to Dad, that will come later. Right now we need to focus on finding our niche and not giving up when things don’t exactly run smoothly or fall perfectly into place on the first try.

Logan waves at me to get my attention as I’m about to leave. I smile and go over to stand by his drum kit. His smile mirrors mine.

“Mads, I just wanted to say your original music is amazing. You’ve really got the song-writing gift. Dalton’s music is great, but I think your talent is going to make this band.”

“Aw, thanks!” I try to keep the delight out of my voice. His approval makes me blush from the roots of my hair all the way down to the tips of my toes.

“Are you free to play WoW tonight?” he asks.

I nod and lean against the wall beside him. “I should be free after I finish my homework. I’ll let you know when that is.”

“Okay, great. Claire’s out of town at her friend’s bridal shower tonight, so we won’t have to worry about her making our ears ring.”

I laugh a little too loud. Thank God he at least notices her whining. I was starting to think he was partially deaf.

“I’m glad to hear that. No offense to your girlfriend, but WoW is a lot more fun when she’s not around.”

He grins knowingly. “Agreed. Just text me when you’re done.”

“Will do.” I wink and turn around to walk out the door.

***

I feel a pang of guilt when I’m sitting in front of my desktop at home, waiting for Logan to log on, and I get a text from Gio.

Gio: Hey, no parties going on tonight. You wanna hang out on BF or maybe at SM?

Santa Monica. I haven’t been there with Gio since July. I remember the last time I walked down that strip of beach with him as clear as day.

***

The roar of waves crashing on the shore surrounded us, enveloping us as we dug our toes into the sand and gazed off toward the pier. Whenever he stopped during one of our walks, I knew just what it was for. I lifted my lips expectantly, waiting on his butterfly-inciting, electrical-sparks-shooting kiss. Instead, I was met with a pair of concerned silver eyes.

“Why do you have to meet with them? Hasn’t Jess hurt you enough?” he asked.

I sighed and dropped my gaze to the sand. I kicked at a broken conch shell as I responded. “It’s complicated. Jess made a promise to me the night of the premiere. I need to see if she plans to make good on that promise.”

“You know you can’t trust anything she or Raven say, right?” He leaned down in an attempt to catch my gaze. When I gave no response, he sighed and took hold of my shoulders. “Madness, promise me you won’t let them talk you into anything you don’t want to do. I worry about you.”

I lifted my head to look him in the eyes earnestly. “I want to do this, okay? Is it really so hard to imagine I’d want to meet the twin sister I’ve never known?”

A mixture between a scoff and a grunt escaped his kissable lips. “If she were a normal human being, no. I wouldn’t blame you at all. But I’m telling you, she’s bad news. You shouldn’t have anything to do with her.”

I jerked away from his grip and narrowed my eyes into slits. I wasn’t a girl who liked to be told what she can and cannot do, especially by a boy.

“Gio, I understand you don’t want me to see them, but I am going to see them. You need to get that through your head. I’m not some mousy girl you can order around.”

“I’m not ordering you around; I’m trying to protect you,” he insisted, taking a step toward me. “There are things you don’t know about her. You need to listen when someone gives you a warning like this—”

“Just stop, okay?” I took two steps back and balled my hands into fists. I was going into fight mode and flight mode all at once. He was constantly trying to keep me away from my mother and sister, and I’d had enough. “I don’t like how possessive you’re getting over me. You’re not my boyfriend or my father. Stop trying to control me.”

He sighed, giving up, and rolled his eyes. Turning toward the parking lot, he barked over his shoulder:

“Fine.”

***

After that incident, we didn’t talk again until I went over to his mansion to break things off. I assumed since he was so adamant about me not meeting with them that he was hiding something. Raven telling me the relationship was real only confirmed that suspicion. Now I feel terrible for blowing him off like that. He obviously wasn’t trying to control me. He was just concerned, trying to show how much he cared about me, and I completely messed things up.

Now I have a dilemma: Go to the beach with Gio and fix things, or meet Logan as I promised. As if on cue, Logan comes online on WoW and messages me.

Logan: Hey you! Ready to conquer Ashran tonight?

I gnaw on my lower lip. Logan’s alone tonight, and I promised him I’d play. However, he’s with Claire and I already know I’m pissing her off just by being anywhere near her boyfriend. If she ever decided to go public with her jealousy of me, it could be a bad day. I don’t know if I want her coming home from a bridal shower to see Logan playing games with another girl behind her back.

Me: Actually, something came up. I’m really sorry. Some other time, okay? I’ll see you next week.

He messages me right back:

Logan: No worries, I’m watching HIMYM on Netflix so I’ll just catch up on some Lo-time. Lmk if you’re on later.

“Lo-time.” That’s adorable. Dammit, why does he have to be so cute?

Me: Will do. Thanks Logan!

Logan: Have a good night :)

Me: You too :)

I chuckle as I log off, secretly wishing I was over at his apartment. Watching HIMYM with Logan sounds almost as fun as going to the beach with Giovanni Abate.

Almost.

I text Gio back.

Me: SM in 20?

Gio: See you soon Madness ;)

***

When Gio’s Maserati pulls into the parking lot at Santa Monica Beach, my mouth becomes drier than a desert. I panic and start scanning the area for any evidence of Raven or her minions. She could have spies locked onto my every move, for all I know. The paparazzi have to be watched for too. Meeting in public is a very risky move. I hope Gio doesn’t have any plans to get physical. I’d hate to have to shoot him down, but I value my life more than a kiss on the beach, even if they are amazing.

I step out of my vehicle and slam the door shut to get Gio’s attention from where he’s standing beside his car. His head snaps in my direction. My heart flutters when a sweet grin takes over his face. He’s happy to see me in spite of the last memory we made here. It’s almost as if the waves of the Pacific Ocean washed it all away.

We step down onto the sand at the same moment and meet without holding hands like we used to. My hand suddenly feels empty without his. We smile at each other and walk in silence until we get about five feet out from the ocean, and then he speaks.

“I’ve really missed coming here.”

I smile at the meaning behind that sentence. Gio doesn’t miss coming to Santa Monica. He comes here every week with his friends. In fact, he was probably here yesterday afternoon after school. What he really misses is coming here with
me
.

“Me too,” I say, watching our feet as he matches my shorter strides. “It’s too bad I had to stop coming here when I did. I think I managed to get a slight hint of a tan here.”

Gio nudges me with his elbow. “You could have kept coming to Santa Monica if you wanted. The beach doesn’t belong to me.”

My stomach gets a little queasy. The reason I didn’t come here is because I was afraid I’d see him with someone else. I don’t want to admit that, though.

“I got really busy once Raven sunk her talons into me,” I tell him.

“Yeah, I saw that. She really ran you down, didn’t she?”

“No joke. I slept for almost a whole day when we got back to L.A. Part of that was jetlag and being in my own bed again, but a lot of it was her. I’ve never been on such a rigid schedule before.”

“People don’t realize how busy the life of an A-list celebrity is,” Gio says.

My eyes widen. “I’m A-list?”

He snickers at me. “Yes, genius. Why do you think the paparazzi descend on you like a flock of vultures every time you leave your house?”

“But…I haven’t done anything.”

He stops and arches a thick black eyebrow at me. “Are you kidding me? With all the scandals you’ve been involved in, I think you’re almost a bigger deal than Raven now.”

Heat rises in my cheeks. “Lovely.”

“That’s a good thing.” He smiles reassuringly. “The bigger you are now, the more popular your band will be. Dalton talks about you guys all the time. I’ve never seen him this excited.”

Warmth enters my soul at the mention of the band and Dalton. “I’m excited too. Our sound is amazing. I really think we’re going to be a big deal, and not just because of my notoriety.”