Reeling

Chapter 1

"Are you almost ready?" Mom called.

"Yeah," I yelled back. My stomach churned as reality set in. Everything started tonight.

Mom appeared in the doorway of my bathroom. I applied waterproof mascara to my eyelashes, placed the tube back in my makeup bag, and rubbed my palms on my shorts.

"You're nervous," she said.

We made eye contact in the mirror. "Wouldn't you be?" I broke her gaze and zipped up my bag, placing it in my drawer. "What if I can't do what they want me to?" I dared to look back at Mom.

She stepped into the bathroom and pulled me in a hug. "You don't have to do it, you know. They could find out other ways."

"You heard what they said. He knows what he's doing, if it's him. This method brings little to no suspicion." I pulled back from her embrace. "I promise I'm okay with it."

She sighed and reached for the baby hairs not included in my ponytail, twisting them in her fingers. "And you promise to say the word if it becomes too much."

I nodded once. "I promise."

The doorbell rang throughout the house.

"That's Maddie," I said.

Mom stepped out of the way and I made my way to the front door to greet my best friend.

"Hey there hot stuff," she said when I opened the door. "Looks like all those sweaty days at the gym payed off."

I laughed appreciatively. "Thanks for noticing. Let's go," I said, closing the door behind me.

Cool air still stood in her car from her drive to my place.

"What do you want to listen to?" she asked. "We do have an hour drive."

I smiled. "Something summer-y and upbeat to get me in a pool party mood. I could go for Disney."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh perfect." She hit play and we spent the entire ride to the party harmonizing with one another.

For the ride there, I almost forgot the legal task before me. As soon as I heard the crunch of the gravel for the long driveway to the lodge, however, the nerves returned. I took several deep breaths and forced an excited smile. Time to turn on the flirt.

We walked in the front door to a mostly empty room with a map. Signs pointed to three different pool areas we could choose from. Maddie chose the leveled pool on the right side of the lodge. She is an extrovert, and that pool would certainly hold the life of the party. Another sign showed a large rectangle pool, a small circle hot tub, and a bigger L-shaped hot tub all to the left. I loved hot tubs and would definitely head that way later tonight.

The front door opened and I heard a voice that made me cringe.

"Hey there Spongebob."

The voice belonged to Travis Wesley- a rugged handsome guy that dripped arrogance. Travis so kindly nick-named me Spongebob our freshman year when my braces created a gap between my front two teeth. Even though the gap had been gone for months and my smile was now braces free, he let the name stick.

I turned around with disinterest in my eye. "Hey," I managed to muster. He gave me the once over; I hate it when guys do that. "Stop looking at me like I'm a piece of meat," I said irritably. I turned on my heel before he reacted and walked out the door straight ahead of me. The sign said that this way was the lazy river- the one place I knew Travis wouldn't come if his friends were around. I took a deep breath. He was not going to ruin tonight for me.