Storms 01 - Family Storms

could her parents reject it?
    “Well, it sounds like you two are in for a great time,” Mr. March said. “I’d take you myself, but I’m having so many problems with this project in Oregon that I’ve got to work all weekend. I don’t know why I took on doing anything with Rick Stanton,” he said to Mrs. March. “His preparation is always so sloppy.”
    “I couldn’t agree more,” Mrs. March said curtly, “but not because of Rick Stanton. You’re taking on too much, Donald. We need you to spend more time with us.”
    The way she said “we” made it clear, at least to me, that she meant herself. He nodded and promised that he was going to cut back. He said he had already rejected two major projects. Kiera glanced at me as he spoke, a look of victory and satisfaction in her face. There was no other discussion about our going on Ricky’s boat. She was happy they had gone on to other topics. Secretly, I had been hoping that they wouldn’t let us go and my crisis would be postponed for a while, but I should have realized that there was little or nothing Kiera didn’t get the way she wanted.
    “I’ve picked out some things for you to wear tomorrow,” she told me after dinner. “Boyd’s picking us up at nine.”
    The outfit she had chosen looked more like a tennis outfit to me. When I put it on, I thought the skirt was too short, but she insisted that it was perfect. She gave me another watch to wear, with a band that matched the colorsof my outfit, and different earrings, too. This watch, like the other, had diamonds.
    “Now, don’t worry about becoming seasick or anything,” she said. “That pill I gave you actually helps prevent that, too. Don’t ask me how or why. It just does. Tomorrow’s your day, and we won’t permit anything to ruin it.”
    I felt as if I were on the high seas already when I went to bed. I tossed and turned, struggling to fall asleep. The conflicting arguments going on inside me were fierce. I was caught in an echo chamber. A strong part of me was screaming how wrong it all was. I was doing it for the wrong reasons, and I would regret it for the rest of my life. The other part of me kept reminding me of what I had now and what I would have afterward. For a girl who had had few, if any, friends most of her life and none during the entire past year, the idea of being part of a group like the VA club brimmed with great promise. I’d be included in everything. I’d have trusted friends in school and out of school. Boys would like me even more. And besides, I had already gone too far. I had the tattoo. I had lost any chance of having friends my own age. They all thought I was too snobby because I was hanging around with the seniors. If I didn’t do this, I’d be all alone again.
    Sometime just before morning, I fell asleep and slept so late that Kiera came rushing with panic into my suite.
    “You’re still in bed?” she cried. I groaned and turned over to look up at her. She was already dressed in her boating outfit. “It’s after eight! Get up. Get dressed. Get ready. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. You know my mother will make a big deal of us having a decent breakfast. C’mon.And don’t forget to take your pill,” she said, ripping the blanket off me.
    I ground the sleep out of my eyes, sat up, and then, still half asleep, jumped into the shower to shock myself awake with cold water. I was just putting on my boat shoes when Kiera returned.
    “Let’s go,” she said. “My mother is already wondering if you’re sick or something. If you don’t look good and full of energy, she’ll find a reason to stop us. C’mon,” she urged.
    I hurried out after her.
    Mrs. March was in the dining room waiting for us. “Are you all right?” she asked me immediately.
    “Yes.”
    “She just stayed up too late doing her homework. You know how she is about her homework, even on weekends,” Kiera said.
    Mrs. March looked at me suspiciously but said nothing. I had to eat more than I wanted so she wouldn’t think something was wrong with my appetite. At least, Kiera did most of the talking for us both, describing the day that lay ahead in Catalina and reminding her mother how much fun they’d had there when her father had taken them. She made the point of reminding her that Alena was alive then and loved the day.
    “Never mind all that. You’d better make sure both you and Sasha are wearing your life jackets on that boat,” her mother warned.
    “Oh, of course.