i'm only given clues

Chapter 6

Back then, even at eight and ten and thirteen, it felt like Dinah was the only thing that was missing from this place. The swing set in the yard didn't quite swing right and one of the beds always seemed too empty. The pool seemed too large and there was always a space spare at the table for every meal.

And now Dinah's here and the entire place seems right for the first time ever. The fact that everyone else is here doesn't matter. All that matters is that Dinah is and that, of all the promises she's made to Dinah, she actually managed to keep this one.

/

There's a pile of suitcases and bags in the middle of the kitchen fifteen minutes later. Normani leans against the center island, phone in hand, typing out a lazy text to her father to tell him they got there okay.

Everyone else runs around the house, skipping and jumping with annoying amounts of excitement as they discover all its hidden secrets and everything it has to offer. Normani doesn't need to; she remembers it better than her own home. It's one of the few places she actually feels safe in.

That's the thing. That's why she's hiding out in the kitchen while they all explore. They've all seen her house in Lima – few of them have been inside of it, but they know where it is and what it looks like – but having them here makes her feel vulnerable in ways she can't handle.

This place isn't like her house in Lima. She's the only grandchild and the walls of this place display that proudly. Back home, her house is void of photographs that aren't family portraits taken for Christmas cards, or of her dressed in her uniform.

But her grandma still has a picture of her covered in spaghetti from when she was two that sits on the mantle in the den, and another of her smothered in ice cream when she was five on top of her dresser. She hasn't checked yet, but there's usually a photo album of her development as a human being sitting on the coffee table, for Christ's sake.

She's not a just a dancer or a bitch or a slut here, she's Normani: the only grandchild and the pride and joy of the family. People like her here and the idea of her friends discovering that about her scares her. Her grandma always says that Key West is where you come to be yourself and she knows that it's going to make it harder to keep that from them.

So she hides out in the kitchen and prays to God that nothing ruins her plan.

/

"It's not fair!" Cordell shouts. Normani rolls her eyes because he always manages to look like a toddler throwing all his toys out of the pram when he's angry. It makes it really hard to take him seriously.

Austin steps up next to him, fists balled at his sides. Normani gets the urge to protect every chair in the house just in case he kicks one. "Why do you three get your own rooms while the rest of us get stuck in the damn pool house! That's not how this team works!"

Ryan scoffs. "Yeah. This team works in the way that wherever we go, everything always has to be about you and Camila," she says spitefully. "Well guess what, as we keep reminding you, this isn't a damn trip for this group club. This isn't something you can take over like you do everything else. This is Normani's grandma's house and it's Normani's rules and she sat there and decided this arrangement because that's how she wants people to stay here. These are not your choices to make."

Normani stands up then, just so that Ryan doesn't kick Austin in the nuts or something. Normani knows she would if it was her.

Keith scoffs. "But Dinah wasn't even on the trip until the minute we left. Why does she get one of the big beds? I just want somewhere I can take the ladies."