Chapter 1
Tori
“Remember, since you’re living here now, you’ll have to follow the house rules,” Liv says, mocking her parents and I chuckle. “And the first rule is that you have to go out with me whenever I want you to, and tonight I want you to.”
“Olivia Rene Hunter,” I mock her back playfully. “I’m pretty sure your parents meant I had to follow their rules, not yours.”
Liv stands in front of a mirror that hangs on her closet door, brushing mascara onto her thick black lashes, her long dark-brown hair straightened and framing her pixie features. She’s still in her silky bathrobe. I laugh inwardly as I watch her apply blush across her cheeks, the exact shade of pink as her bedroom walls.
Liv loves pink. The day she took me shopping for paint she blithely ignored my preference for "eggshell" and "ecru," labeling them "fancy words for beige" and picked a color that matched her own personality. Her choice, "foxy pink."
She eyes me roguishly through the mirror as I lounge on her bed. As I flip through the pages of a shiny new gossip magazine, I do my best to ignore her. I love the smell of a new magazine. Not quite as much as the smell of a new book, but close. She spins around on one toe and tosses the tube of mascara onto her dresser.
Liv skips across the room to the bed, and lies down gracefully next to me, posing like she should be modeling inside the magazine. The two of us side by side on her bed underlines how completely opposite we are – me with a squeaky-clean face, in cotton shorts and a cami-tank and Liv with her impeccably applied makeup, dressed in silk
“Victoria Marie Preston, are you listening to me?” Liv starts off sounding parental but giggles out the last three words.
I narrow my eyes at the brat when she peeks up at me with a sweet-as-candy grin.
“Don’t call me that!” I snap. I rarely shout at Liv, so my tone visibly surprises her. Her nervous eyes meet mine
“All right, jeez, Tor. I’m sorry, but you need to get over him already.” She wraps long strands of shiny brown hair around her fingers and somehow makes twisting them into a bun behind her head look effortless.
By him she is referring to my ex-boyfriend, Jake. He’s the only person who calls me Victoria. Even my parents call me Tori or Tor, never Victoria.
I sneer at her playfully.
“We were together for three years. I lost my virginity to him, and he broke my heart, as I’m sure you remember. It’s a lot to get over,” I remind her, and swat her with the magazine. It’s only been a year,” I add, trying not to sound defensive, and start looking at pictures of celebrity dogs again.
She bolts upright and folds her skinny legs in front of her. Elbows on her knees, her freshly manicured hands dangle in front of them. The floral scent of her hand lotion tickles my nose. “It’s been a whole damn year already! Yeah, you definitely need to get over him. That’s why you have to go out with me tonight, pretty please.”
Really? She threw out a pretty please? While keeping my eyes on the magazine, I say, “I don’t want to go out. I’m exhausted. I spent all day unpacking.”
She pulls on the top of the magazine, and I toss her a dirty look. “You just moved in today. You could have waited until tomorrow to unpack. So tough if you’re tired, you’re going out with me.”
God she’s tenacious.
I yank the magazine from her grasp, and flip to an article about a heated celebrity breakup. “I needed something to do to take my mind off the fact that my parents sold the home I grew up in and abandoned me to move to Minn-e-fuckin-sota.”
She stands, thrusts her hands onto her hips, and looks me up and down. Her previously tied hair slips out of its knot, and falls perfectly back into place. “Okay, drama queen. They didn’t abandon you. You should be happy for your dad. He got a sweet deal to transfer there. You could’ve moved with them if you’d wanted.”
Oh, boy. Liv is about to go into “mommy knows best” mode. I have to stop her before she analyzes me further. “That’s the point, — I didn’t want to. I’m happy for my dad, but I love Pacific Beach. All my friends are here, including your sorry self. Besides it’s freezing-ass-cold in Minn-e-fuckin-sota.”
Liv laughs and rolls her eyes. “They do have a summer in Minn-e-fuckin-sota, ya know?”
“Yeah, well, I like it here in sunny-ass San Diego, where it’s always summer. I’m a toes- in-the-sand kinda girl.” I smirk.
As she shakes her head, a lock of her perfect hair sticks to her glossed lips. She pulls the hair from her mouth and smiles. “My parents were thrilled you agreed to stay, by the way. It’s like you’re the daughter they never had.”