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“Of course.”

“That friend who is always around your brother...”

“Ivan?”

“That one!”

Kendra looked at her knowingly.

“What do you think of him?” Jaz seemed hopeful about my answer and, unfortunately, I wouldn't know how to answer properly.

Did I know who Ivan was? Yes, he was the best friend among my brother's college classmates. More information than that? I had no idea. Every time I saw him or spent time with him, the boy was a pure mystery. He was very reserved. Few words, but there was something that made him charming. Oh... and he spoke a little Spanish, as well as riding a motorcycle.

I told her everything I knew, including what Derek said about not letting my brother see the photo as a form of care.

“Or he could be a pervert and liked your photo…” Kendra suggested, but she didn't think that was the case.

“Or you just distrust everyone around you,mami.”

“Mami?” Kendra asked, confused. Jaz had understood, but the blonde seemed oblivious and so I had to explain the nickname.

“It's an affectionate nickname, that's all.”

Kendra considered my statement for a moment. She seemed to try to look at it as a good thing.

“Hm, so now you are affectionate with each other?” Jaz teased.

“We're trying to be cordial and potential friends, okay?!” I replied, being sincere.

“Besides, thisshortyowes me a secret, so we better be friends or I'll really have to kill her.” Kendra added.

Jaz was curious about the secret, the question was written all over her face, but she held back.

After stretching, Karlee called some people to the mat and requested some movements and acrobatics. Between jumps, somersaults and spins, as well as attempts at pyramids, she took notes.

I felt tired, but I still had a wide smile on my face. When our coach finally ended practice, I could see Kendra talking excitedly with Zorah. The two looked ridiculously close after tumbling as a pair and it made one part of my brain shut down while the other just sent waves of hatred through my body.

There were too many smiles and touches between the two.

And I was hating every moment I had to watch all that interaction.

I didn't want to go back to Chamberlain, in fact, that was the last thing I wanted. But I knew my mother and defying her was simply stupid. I was no longer fifteen to be a rebellious teenager, after all, it was the kind of thing that took too much work. It was easier to give in at times, this way it bothered me less, so on Friday afternoon, my main task was to pack my suitcase to travel on Saturday lunchtime.

I had my cell phone playing Troye Sivan while I was folding and choosing clothes to take for a weekend putting up with my parents along with Colleen. I knew that my mother had already taken care of arranging the clothes for the event itself, but I didn't intend to spend more than six hours in an evening dress and stilettos.

I got so distracted by my tasks that I barely noticed the time.

It was around 6:30 pm when Sid and Jaz came to invite me to have dinner with them, but as I still had a lot of things to do, I ended up declining the invitation. I continued on my mission until I finished everything, around 9pm at night. I was exhausted at that point.

I took the suitcase off the bed and left it on the floor, but before I could just throw myself on my bed, someone started pounding on the bedroom door. I went out into the common room between the three bedrooms and stared at the wood of the door for a few seconds.

“Kendra, open the door!” It was my cousin.

I took a deep breath and went there, being greeted by his soft smile.

“Hey, I ran into Jaz and Sid in the lobby eating dessert and they said you hadn't had dinner yet...” Colleen started saying. “I want to go to the new Chinese restaurant that opened downtown, do you want to go with me?”

Honestly? I didn't want to. I was tired and just wanted my bed, but I ended up accepting because I knew that this subtext was Colleen's way of being my big sister, even though she wasn't. She was just taking care of me, making me do a simple task, which was to feed myself.