Kylie hadn't cleared the dining room door when she looked to see the name on her phone. Oh, crappers! It was Sara, her friend from home.
Sara, whose previous call and texts Kylie hadn't answered.
For a damn good reason, too. Kylie knew Sara wanted to talk about her suspicion that Kylie had done something to make her cancer jump ship.
Problem was, Sara's suspicion was right on target.
A targeted subject that Kylie had neglected to discuss with Holiday.
So what had compelled Kylie to answer this call without checking her caller ID first?
Oh yeah, so she'd have a reason to escape from the dining hall. Putting the phone to her ear, she hit the answer button.
"Hey, Sara," Kylie said, and decided to wing it. Not that it was altogether a good idea. She'd never been a good winger.
"Hi," Sara said.
"What's up?" Kylie asked.
"I'll tell you what's up. I've just managed to baffle every cancer specialist in Texas. I still have to finish my chemo, and do one bout of radiation, but they did tons of CT scans and there's not one tumor in this body! Can you believe it? I'm not gonna die, Kylie!"
There was so much excitement, bounciness, and pure hope in Sara's voice that Kylie's breath caught in her throat and tears filled her eyes. It reminded Kylie of the old Sara. Not the sex-crazed, alcohol-loving party girl who'd replaced her, but the one Kylie had been best friends with since elementary school.
And until this second, Kylie hadn't realized how much she'd missed the old Sara, either. "That's friggin' fabulous, girl!"
"Like you didn't know already," she said.
Think. Think. Think. "I don't know what you mean," Kylie said, deciding to play ignorant. What was the saying? Ignorance is bliss? She could really use a little bliss right now.
Della looked at Kylie and rolled her eyes. Kylie frowned, not so much because Della was listening in-she would have told Della about it anyway-but because Della then mouthed the word liar.
"Right," Sara said. "But that's not important. We can talk about that Sunday." She let a long pause linger on the phone, as if it were supposed to mean something. "Come on. Don't you wanna know why we can talk about it on Sunday?" Sara finally asked.
"Because you're not going to church and are going to call me?" Kylie answered, throwing out the first thing that came to her mind, but her gut knotted with a strange suspicion. But a suspicion of what? How bad could it be?
"Because I'm coming to see you on Sunday," Sara said, sounding really happy about it, too.
Okay, having Sara visit Shadow Falls could be phenomenally bad. But maybe that wasn't even what she meant. "Uh, I'm not at home, Sara. I'm at camp," Kylie said. "Remember?" Please let it be that simple.
"Of course I remember, silly! I'm coming up there with your mom. I just got off the phone with her."
Kylie's heart, poised to make the leap, did a nosedive right into her stomach. The thought of Sara coming to Shadow Falls sent a wave of shock to her brain.
Sara was from Kylie's old life.
Everything at Shadow Falls was part of her new life.
Old life and new life didn't go together. They were like peanut butter and hot dogs. The two were fine separately, but they should never meet.
Never.
Ever.
"Uh, Sara. You ... you..." She swallowed hard. "You can't just visit Shadow Falls. I mean, you have to ... have to get permission from the camp leaders, and they are very funny about-"
"Duh, your mom told me that. So I took the bull by the horns and called and spoke with a Mr. Burnett James about twenty minutes ago. He said it would be fine for me to ride up with your mom. I can't wait to see you, Kylie. And I can't wait to meet all those hot guys you told me about. We're going to have such fun. Oh, and what was the name of that really bitchy girl you told me about? DeAnn, no, wait, it was Della. We can tag team her ass."
Della's eyes widened. Bitchy, she mouthed.
Kylie's hand wrapped around the phone and started to shake. "Ugh. I never said she was bitchy, I said she was blunt."
"Same thing," Sara said. "And the other one with the weird hair? Tell me, are they the ones who taught you how to heal people?"
"I'm sorry." Kylie's heart started to jump beats. "I have to go. Someone just ... someone just called me." She punched Della in the arm.
"Hey, Kylie!" Della yelled out, and grinned as if she enjoyed playing a part in the shenanigans. Or not. "Oh, you're on the phone. We can talk later. I wouldn't want to be a bitch or anything," she said in her snarkiest voice.
"I'll call you later," Kylie told Sara. "Yeah ... later. Sorry." She started to hang up and then said, "But I'm happy about you being okay, Sara. Really happy."
Kylie snapped her phone closed and then looked at Della. Della, who seemed to be immensely enjoying Kylie's discomfort. Della, who looked part pissed off and part amused.
"So," Della said. "We finally get to meet Miss Sara, huh? Your oldest and best friend, who has always sounded like a self-centered bitch, if you ask me. You totally upgraded when you came here. Personally, I'd have let her die. But on second thought..." Della flashed her fangs. "Hmm, what type of blood does she have? Think I could talk her into donating a pint or two, maybe more? Tag team my ass!"
"Kill me," Kylie said, and brushed her hair back to expose her neck vein. "Just kill me now and get it over with!"
* * *
"So we get to meet Sara. Cool," Miranda said later that night as they sat around the kitchen table.
"Not cool," Kylie said, seriously unhappy about it, and gave a demanding Socks a scratch behind his ear.
"Why not cool?" Miranda asked.
"She doesn't want us to meet her," Della said. "We might find out what the real Kylie Galen is like."
Kylie scowled at Della, and yeah, she could pull off a pretty mean scowl, thanks to living with Della. "It's not that at all. If anything, you guys know the real me. It's just ... over-the-top weird to have her coming here."
"Why?" Miranda asked. "We've met your mom."
"And your philandering dad," Della added.
"That's different," Kylie said, and frowned at the philandering comment. Though she didn't know why she was offended, because it was true.