Ocean (Damage Control 5)

“Kay… You don’t understand.”

“You don’t love this guy. He’s a douchebag. Why are you with him?”

“See? You don’t get it.”

Heat unfurls along my neck, seeping into my ears. “Jeez, sis. I’m not stupid, okay? You’re unhappy with him. Leave him. Find someone you can be happy with. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best.”

“Your stupid cards told you that? That’s not reality.”

“Isn’t it?” I gather up the cards angrily and shuffle them again. “They don’t tell me anything I don’t know, they’re not about unicorns and rainbows. They only spell out my worries and my hopes.”

“It’s just a stupid game, Kay.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s like dreams. They are reflections. Symbols. Our brains are working things out, things our conscious minds haven’t grasped yet.”

“Oh, shut up.”

Then she starts to cry.

Holy crap… Biting my lip, a weight settling on my chest, I scatter the cards and lean back against the couch.

“Allie, listen,” I tell her. “We may not always get along, but anything you need, anything I can do for you, I’ll do it.” I listen to the sniffling sounds at the other end of the line, and wish I had the right words for this. “I’m here for you. You know that, right? Say the word, and I’ll drive over to visit you. Or you come and visit me. We’d go out. You’d meet my friends. They are awesome guys. And girls. And—”

“Ca

n’t.” She clears her throat. “Can’t leave Brad. I’d let Mom and Dad down. I’m their oldest. They depend on me.”

“To do what? Ruin your life?”

“I have to go now,” she says and hangs up.

Leaving me worried and sad and defeated.

Defeat. Were the cards about me, not Ocean? Endings. Resolutions. Change.

Christ.

Allie’s unhappy. No, not unhappy. She’s spiraling. She can’t see that by pleasing our parents she is destroying her soul. I need to see her, talk to her.

But how can I force her to see me if she doesn’t want to? Like Ocean’s brother, Raine, refusing to see him.

And I shouldn’t be thinking about Ocean, who has been ignoring my phone calls and texts since yesterday. Besides, my brother talks to me. It’s only my sister I’m worried about.

Anyway. Resolutions.

I need a plan. I’m going to call my brother, and we’ll decide what to do. Together. And if he doesn’t think I should interfere, then… Then I’ll talk to Allie again and see.

One way or another, I have to try. Not because I know much about happiness and how to get it, but I know unhappiness when I see it.

When in doubt, change. Change is what the cards are telling me to do.

And stop worrying about Ocean. Don’t even answer the phone if he calls. He had his chance, right?

Okay, so the cards aren’t telling me that, but hey, if he wanted to see me again, he’d have texted or called back, right?

So of course right then my cell starts ringing and dancing on the coffee table with a call from Ocean.

Goosebumps. I’m covered in goosebumps, and at the same time my face goes hot and my heart starts racing.