Tell Me What You Hate About Me

46: A Good System, Part 2

I was a completely different person than the Lindsay my mother once knew. I didn't miss that version of me very much, but there were still a few of her skills that I had in my back pocket since there was no talisman taking up space in there.

But with the lull in conversation in the kitchen, I took that as my cue to make my own conversation. "Remember when I duct-taped the living room couch cushions together to make a fort, and then Jess tattled on me?"

"You did what, Lindsay?" Dominic asked, but I ignored him.

My mother laughed. "I do. You were a giant pain in the ass as a kid."

Nothing much had changed in that department, of course, so maybe old Lindsay's spirit wasn't completely dead.

"And remember when I got on academic probation for failing a few classes and you stopped paying for my school?" I continued. I knew for a fact that she remembered this one. It was relatively recent and relatively hard to forget.

She hesitated for a moment. "What did you do this time, Lindsay? Is this your way of telling me you flunked out?"

"Oh, no. I'm not failing anything now. Not even ASL." I glanced over at Dominic for a moment. Thanks, babe. "I just wanted you to remember those times."

This time, she didn't respond. I wasn't sure what kind of reply I was hoping for anyway.

Another awkward silence fell over the kitchen, but there wasn't anything I had to say to anyone, so I kept my mouth shut. Dominic and I would be back on our way to Tillamook to steal back what was rightfully mine. I could be outsmarted, yes, but I couldn't be taken advantage of.

The whole time, it had been us against everyone else. Even though Dr. Reed, Butterfly, Jack, and Sierra were helpful in their own special ways, it was time that we got back to the real story with the talisman—how it somehow brought Dominic and me together, very much against our will.

When Dr. Reed mentioned a small jar of seashells, another conversation started up about how my mother bought it in Aruba because they were just so much better than anything she could find on the West Coast. I wasn't even sure why she bought the shells in the first place. There were free ones on the beach anyway.

Dr. Reed mentioned her time in Turkey for her excavations, but since that was work and not a vacation, my mother changed the subject back to the time we went to Japan for a couple of weeks.

Dominic looked over at me. I held up a finger and hoped that he would know that we just had to wait out the bragging session to get food and run away right after.

Hopefully, our connection wasn't entirely based on the missing talisman. Otherwise, there was no way he was picking up on my thoughts.

Sierra, Butterfly, and Jack were by far the friendliest people in the kitchen, and when Mom started to explain an Egyptian artifact she was planning on buying from eBay to Dr. Reed, the three of them struck up a conversation about astrology or some fake magic. I didn't pay them any attention, though. My mind was in a million other places.

First, no wonder I made my escape from the uncomfortable air in this house. It was all I wanted for years.

Second, how did I get wrapped up in a curse with these people as my allies?

Third, why am I screaming internally all the time anymore? When did my life get so stressful when I specifically designed it to be as easygoing as possible?

I didn't have much to say as we ate, and once I offered to clean up, my mother suggested that she take everyone else around the house to show off. But before Dominic could follow along with the rest of the group, I grabbed his sleeve and held him back.

"What? She was talking about a super cool vase that I wanted to see," he mumbled as everyone else walked toward the living room.

"Maybe another time, Dominic," I said. "I think we have more pressing things to worry about right now."

He nodded. "We definitely do, but—"

"No."

"Of course, now you decide to be focused on what's actually important in life, right when it's inconvenient for me."

I responded to that with a couple of blinks.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Don't we have a magic talisman that somehow connects us to go save from your best friend's bandmate?" he asked.

A smile snuck upon my face. "We do."

There was something about him and his presence that made me feel like I wasn't a complete screwup, even if he probably still secretly thought that about me. It was my fault the talisman was gone, but we were going to fix it together.

The talisman certainly knew who I was all along, from the moment I picked it up out of the mud. I just didn't know myself.

With no one between us and the front door, we made our dash out to the car, and before anyone could figure out that we were not coming back, I backed out onto the street and on our way back to Tillamook, where the disaster had started.

As much as I hated it, I couldn't run away from my problems anymore. This time, there was a little more riding on what I chose to do with my life.

"Everything is finally just like it should be. You and me, Lindsay. That's it," Dominic said.

I nodded. "Well, I wouldn't mind having the others here, but when the talisman speaks, I think it's best if I just listen at this point."

"I don't really like Sierra that much though. Or Butterfly. Or your mom."

"You don't like anyone, Dominic. You barely like me."

He smiled. "I wish that was true."

I knew he definitely didn't wish it were true, and I didn't either. We may not have had much going for us, but we certainly had more when we worked together.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for reading! I've really been struggling with keeping a schedule lately, and I'm so sorry that this book has been the primary victim of that nonsense. New relationship, new responsibilities at work, trying to maintain good friendships and failing miserably, blah blah blah. I need to finish this badly. I would feel so much better about myself. And yet, here we are. Good job, me.

Once again, I have discovered that I get really overwhelmed just by the thought of working on two books at once, and this time, I'm actually going to learn my lesson and put SOL on hold until I finish this. I just wanted to let you all know about that executive decision. Once I finish this book, though, I'll pick up where I left off!

But that's enough about me. I'm really not that exciting. So how are y'all doing? What's new? What have I missed? I'd love to hear about what's going on with your life.

So for today's question, if you could magically become fluent in any language, which one would you choose?

Obviously, I speak English, and I know enough Spanish that I wouldn't die if I were stranded in a Spanish-speaking country, so I would probably pick another language that people all around the world speak like Arabic or something. That would probably be one of the more beneficial choices for me (and it seems really difficult to learn, so it would be super cool to not have to try haha).