Life of a Little Sister 3- Available on Amazon Kindle Unlimited!

Chapter 36

Happy Reading :)

We are perfect for each other.

But one thought gnawed at me all day.

I had graduated, I had quit, and now I was supposed to go on my European vacation.

I had been planning for this for nearly four years, saving up every penny to be able to travel around for five months without a worry.

Was I gonna be the girl that didn't go on a trip because now I had a boy— whatever the hell Anthony is?

I guess he was my boyfriend? We already said 'I love you', I'm pretty sure that comes after you're boyfriend and girlfriend. Fuck. We had gone full-blown rom-com mode. We confessed our love to each other after a crazy adventure of tattoos, Statues of Liberty, and ex-boyfriend encounters.

"What the hell do I do?" I asked Bernie and Anita.

We were in the apartment, drinking the world's strongest coffee from a tiny cup. Anita liked reading our fortunes this way.

"Flip your coffee over, and I'll tell you exactly what is going to happen."

"Don't listen to her. She hasn't slept in three days."

"I love him," I said, bringing the conversation back on track. God knows we could spend seven hours talking about Anita's sleeping habits. "What the hell do I do?"

"I can't believe you guys actually said it," Bernie laughed.

"Stay here and get married. You're getting old!" Anita shouted. "At least that's what my grandma tells me."

"I am almost 23," I nodded sarcastically. "My eggs will be drying up soon."

"Go on your trip! Forget him and go!" Bernie countered.

"Is there a happy medium we can reach? Or is that out of the question?" I huffed and threw a pillow at Bernie.

"Lydia, you just graduated college after working your tail off for four years for this trip. I don't think I've ever seen you out after midnight unless it's for work," Bernie said.

Well, I did go out once, and that ended up with Greg almost shutting an entire business down. I didn't mention that but nodded at Bernie to continue.

"You deserve to have fun."

"You've worked your entire life," Anita agreed. "It's time for you to go on an adventure."

It was true. I was bussing tables at my parent's restaurant before I was even legally of age to work. Then I went off to university and had to work to afford an apartment and tuition payments.

Who knows what next year would look like, grad school wasn't known for giving people a lot of time to see the world. I deserved to have my trip.

"You're right," I agreed. "I just have to tell him now."

"He seems like he's been a pretty understanding guy up until this point," Bernie said, reluctantly giving Anthony some credit.

"If his previous behavior is any indication of what he'll do, he'll be buying a plane ticket to Italy next week."

"Shut up!" I laughed. "But you're not wrong, he does have a habit of following me around."

Thankfully tickets to Europe from New York were not nearly as expensive as from California. I secretly hoped he would show up.

"Okay ladies, give me your cups."

Bernie handed her cup over to Anita and she gasped dramatically.

"Oh my god!" 

"What, what?" Bernie said alarmed, she pretended like she didn't believe in this stuff but clearly, she did a little bit.

"Oh, oops," Anita smiled sheepishly and blinked her eyes roughly. "I thought I saw your impending death but it was just a floaty thing in my eye."

"Oh, for fucks sake," Bernie huffed and grabbed the cup back.

"Read mine!" I handed Anita my cup and she looked at it.

"I see..." She studied it hard, turning it left and right. "That someone didn't finish drinking their coffee so half of the reading is fucked." She said with gritted teeth and I giggled. "I see an airplane, meaning your upcoming trip. And I see something that could be a heart, or also your impending death. This could mean you have love coming to you on your upcoming trip."

"Or impending death," Bernice said cheerily.

"Okay, that seems a little too obvious. Are you sure you can actually read fortunes?" I laughed and grabbed my cup back.

"Bernie," Anita said, examining Bernie's cup again. "I see, hmm, a little bodega cat."

Bernie stiffened.

"A heart, and a very handsome brown man with curly hair and sexy tattoos—"

"SHUT UP!" Bernie shrieked and snatched her cup back again.

"Excuse me? Does Bernie have a boyfriend?" I screeched.

"She sure wants one!" Anita smirked.

"I'm going to kill you little girl!"

"What's his name?" 

"Rafael!" 

"You little rata!"

"Hey, I know that word!"

The rest of the night was spent teasing Bernie about the guy who apparently worked at the corner store.

"Anita, when are you going to make your grandma happy?" I asked jokingly.

"When I'm married and have seven kids," she said with a grin. "Is your brother single?"

"Which one?"

"I'm not picky."

"With my brothers? You should be." I shook my head. 

"I'm going to visit family back home this summer, I'm sure they can find me a good husband," she said with a shrug.

"I think I need to go home too, at some point."

"Really?" Bernie asked.

"I don't know. I left in such a hurry after what happened with Lexi."

The girls nodded, I had filled them in on how I left. How Lexi's friend told me that she was just hanging out with me to see Melvin.

At the time it had enraged me enough to leave again. Now that I had some time to think on it, I think I made a rash decision in the heat of the moment. I think I need to hear from Lexi's mouth what happened that night that her friend left us.

After realizing what an insane game of telephone me and Anthony had been playing these past few weeks, I couldn't help but think, what if that's what happened between Lexi and me? Maybe she didn't leave us for dead, in the hopes Melvin would come get her.

They had always had a tricky relationship, but I had to hope she was mature enough to not put us in that position on purpose. 

"You're gonna give her another chance?" Anita asked.

"Yeah, I think I am. Just to explain herself. It's the least I can do for a 14-year friendship."

I had forgiven my brothers for far worse, it was time to talk to Lexi and get everything out on the table.

"I think that's a good idea."

"If I can forgive Felix, why not her?" I shrug.

"Doesn't mean you have to be best friends. But you can at least be on good terms."

"Yeah, exactly," I sigh.

"Maybe after your trip," Anita suggested.

"Definitely after," I agreed.

"Now enough stalling, go home and tell Anthony you're leaving him for 5 months."

I love the girls <3

Two more chapters until Loals 3 is over, it's fine, everything is fine.

Anna <3