Kendall & Me [discontinued]

15 | No More Shrubbery

We were headed to Ashlynn's house again, and this time we weren't going to hide behind anyone's shrubbery.

My legs bounced nervously up and down as I stared out the backseat window of Elijah's car. The closer we got to Ashlynn's house, the faster my legs moved, and by the time we reached Ashlynn's street, Kendall had to put a hand on my knee to settle me. "Iz, you're going to put a hole through the floor," she said, her voice soft. "Chill."

I crossed my legs in an attempt to still them and folded my hands in my lap, teeth digging into my cheek. My legs refused to steady themselves, however, and moments later they were on the move again. I couldn't help it. We were on our way to Ashlynn's house for another confrontation. If I screwed this up, there was a chance we'd never get Ashlynn to admit what she did. And if that happened...

My eyes locked on Falice's house, and my lips tugged upward ever-so-slightly when I saw Falice and Arabelle pressed against one of their windows, clearly watching out for our arrival. As the car passed, the girls smiled and gave us thumbs-ups. Diana and I gave small waves in return.

"I'm gonna miss them when we go back to Willow High," Diana said.

"Me too," I replied.

Elijah pulled over in front of Ashlynn's house, and we all got out, staring at the simple, one-floored home without a word. Diana led the way, her heels clacking determinedly on the pavement as she stormed up the driveway. I wished I had her bravado, but I didn't, so I shuffled behind her, stomach rolling as my mind stumbled through how this was probably going to go down. Elijah and Kendall walked on either side of me, their paces matching my own. I'm pretty sure Kendall would rather be walking at Diana's speed, but out of sisterly obligation, she stayed by my side.

By the time we reached the door, Diana already rang the doorbell and was tapping her foot impatiently on the welcome mat in front of the door. When no one came to the door in what she felt was an appropriate amount of time, she jammed her finger into the button again. I fiddled with my thumbs, casting anxious glances all around me as I waited for Ashlynn to answer the door. The longer we stood there, the bigger the pit in my stomach grew. How was Ashlynn going to react when she saw we were the ones at her front door? Would she let us in, or would she slam the door in our faces? Would she-?

The door opened, and my questions died.

"Oh," Ashlynn said, eyes widening when she saw me, Diana, and Elijah standing there. Kendall crossed her arms irritably over her chest, looking pissed that Ashlynn couldn't see the lethal expression on her face. "I-what are you doing here?"

Diana looked back at me, but when she saw that all words had erased themselves from my vocabulary, she returned her gaze to Ashlynn and cocked an eyebrow. "Hello to you too," she said.

"I was wondering if I could use your bathroom," Elijah interjected, putting on the expression of someone who had to go-bad. All eyes went to him as he began to fidget uncomfortably. "I've been holding it all day."

Diana and Kendall shot him what-the-hell-are-you-talking-about looks, but I instantly understood what he was doing. If we brought up the fact that we were here on Kendall's behalf, Ashlynn would never let us inside. Entering on a different pretense would at least get us into the house. From the expression on Ashlynn's face, however, I didn't think she bought Elijah's story. Not that I could blame her.

"Please," Elijah continued when Ashlynn didn't answer. "I'm pretty sure she"-He jabbed his thumb in Diana's direction-"would be pissed if I crash the car just because I didn't pee before leaving school."

Diana caught on and nodded. "I'm not about to die because this kid doesn't know how to use public bathrooms. Seriously, what a stupid, stupid, stupid-"