Attracting Trouble

Chapter 17: A Marine Biologist

It's true that I don't have a clue where we're going to eat. It's also true that my sister has been replaced by some alternate version of herself and I am being kidnapped.

Maybe this alternate version of Tori is also determined to make my life awful, and also force me to deal with my problems head-on, because she pulls her car into the Carter's driveway.

I look over at her to see if she's completely lost her marbles.

"What are we doing at Hannah's house?" I ask through gritted teeth.

"We're here for dinner," she says, looking me like I've lost my marbles. "Why? I thought you and Hannah-"

"You thought wrong," I snap and cross my arms over my chest like a five-year-old would after not getting her way.

"Mrs. Carter is already expecting us," Tori says as she fixes her dark red lipstick in the rear view mirror.

"I can walk home." I push the door open and slam it behind me before I begin walking down the driveway.

"Jessa," Tori calls after me, but then I hear another voice that's coming from the Carter's front door.

"Girls!" Hannah's mom exclaims in her usual excited voice. "Come in! Dinner is almost ready." With that, she disappears back inside and I am left with no choice but to pull on my big girl panties and deal with it.

*

When I get to the dinner table, all eyes are on me. Tyler gives me a wary smile, Hannah's dad smiles as if nothing happened between his daughter and me, and Hannah just looks surprised to see me.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume she hasn't told her parents about our argument. And that's weird, because Hannah usually tells her parents everything. They have that kind of safe relationship that I wish I had with my own mother.

I'm the last to sit, and the only place left is a seat between Hannah and her mom - most likely arranged by her mom. It's the place I used to always sit at when I came over for dinner, which wasn't that long ago, but it feels like years.

As we take our seats, I find that Tori is sitting diagonal from me, so I'm still able to give her dirty looks.

Tyler takes the head of the table opposite of his mom. I look between his anxious face and Hannah's worried one, then Tori's. Her face is contorted into a mask that's hiding something. It doesn't take long to figure out that some of us are out the loop.

"Dig in!" Mrs. Carter says, and we begin to pass the dishes around of amazingly smelling food.

It's awkward between Hannah and me as we pass the dishes to each other with polite smiles. I want so badly for this night to be over with.

"So school is going well, Tori?" Mr. Carter asks as he takes a large bite of steak. I stifle a laugh at him and he winks at me. He reminds me of my own dad.

Tori looks from Tyler, to me, and back to Mr. Carter before answering. "Yeah, it's going well."

I can tell she wants to add to it, maybe to make it sound more convincing than it did, but she doesn't. Instead she just shoves a piece of potato in her mouth.

"How about you, Jessa," Mrs. Carter adds. "We haven't seen you around here in a while. Hannah says things are getting busy as your senior year comes to an end."

I give her a nod and a sweet smile, ignoring the fact that Hannah lied. "It's been busy, yeah. Lots of prepping for college."

"Oh? What are you planning to be?"