West Coast

Chapter 4: Grace

It's clear that Amalia wasn't planning on using her new closet space in an effective way. The closet itself is probably one of the biggest walk-ins I've ever seen. And her room-her suite- is sick. The walls,though white, look like they're made of heaven. The bedspread custom made silk imported from Italy. The bathroom fully equipped with a gigantic bath and even a ledge to hold a wine glass while you soak. The television in the main area practically takes up the whole wall. A crystal statue flaunts the back corner of the wall, resembling a woman who might be Amalia's mother.

"Okay, open up the first box." Aly says with that determination to work prevalent in her clear brown eyes. I plop onto her king sized bed next to Aly and crack my knuckles, ready to go. Aly turns the cardboard box over in her hands and pretends to gag. "Is this box labeled 'winter clothes'? Please tell me you plan on getting rid of this." She says nervously. 

"Why? Isn't always good to have some sweaters?" Amalia asks with big eyes.

I look dumbfoundedly at her. "No!" I scold her. "This is California. We don't have winter."

"Uh-okay." Amalia agrees with hesitation. "I guess that makes sense." Aly stands up and places the box gently on the carpet as if she doesn't want to disturb a single fiber, resisting the urge to sneak a peek in the floor-length mirror by the coffee table. 

She clears her throat to get Amalia's attention, who's dazed off looking around the room at all the other boxes. "Okay, trash pile will be this side of the room. If we happen to find something decent," She snorts, like it'll never happen, "then they'll go right into the closet."

"Okay." Amalia mutters.

"Sounds good." I say, adding a little more enthusiasm to the room. Aly starts rifling through things and eventually starts tossing boxes in the trash pile without even looking at them first. 

"What are you doing?" Amalia shrieks. "Your not even looking at them.

Aly grunts politely in the back of her throat with a grin. "I don't even have to look, sweetie." Amalia finally excepts defeat and lets her belongings be ransacked, down to the last god-awful tennis shoe. After another hour or two, I toss a green plaid scarf onto the top of the mountain with a sense of resolution. "And that everything." Aly concludes, wiping her hands together like she just built a birdhouse or something. 

"Alright. Amalia, where's your credit card?" I ask nonchalantly. She looks confused. 

"Credit card?" She repeats. "I don't have a credit card." Grace and I gasp at the same time, shocked and surprised.

"Well then at least go get some money from your mother." Aly sighs. "We'll be in your car."

Amalia gives us a sad smile and we prance back out down the front hall to the driveway.

"Do you think she's a virgin?" I grin, tossing my hair out of my eyes and looking up into the sun. Aly bursts out laughing and nods in agreement. "Well, I mean it's probably pretty hard to get laid in those pants she's wearing." I add hysterically.

"We're going to make her change before dinner right?" She asks anxiously.

I give her a knowing look. "Oh, god yes." I assure her. She punches a button on the dashboard and the radio beams to life. "Turn it up!" She rolls the dial all the way until the sound is blasting so much that the car itself is booming.

Amalia finally comes out the front door with a small, hand-woven bag slung over her shoulder. "What is that?" Aly asks disgustedly.

"A bag. I needed somewhere to keep my wallet." She shrugs like its nothing or something.

I speak positively through my freshly whitened teeth anyway. "Did you get money?"

"Yeah..." Amalia trails off awkwardly. 

Aly looks impatient. "And?"

"She said don't spend more than a thousand." Amalia looks crazed. "I don't know how anyone could spend that much in a day unless they're buying a car or something." She states.

I groan exasperatedly. "Please, Lia. These shoes alone cost me 600." 

"Why would you pay so much for a pair of shoes?" She asks me, sliding her key into the ignition and putting the car in reverse.

"Because!" Aly shouts. "They're gorgeous!"

"Whoever said beauty was easy and cheap was obviously ugly." I tack on.

Amalia turns the wheel on a sharp turn and I jostle around in the back seat, laughing as I readjust my posture. 

"Gracie, honey. Pull your dress up!" Aly warns and I giggle as I look down and see that half of my bra is no longer being covered.

"Why, so all the boys can see my ass?" I joke, making Aly crack up as well while Amalia just sits in the driver's seat uncomfortably like Aly and I are a couple of lepers.

"Where am I driving to specifically?" Amalia asks softly, like she's embarrassed to be asking.

"Go down Rodeo. We'll figure it out from there." Amalia mutters an okay and swerves into the other lane, cutting off a bright red Volvo in the process. 

"So." I ease into the subject of choice. "Do you have your eyes on anyone so far?"

"What do you mean by 'have my eyes on' exactly?" She asks.

"Boys." Aly says with a roll of her eyes. "Do you have your eyes on a hot piece of man yet." She clarifies with a duh sort of attitude.

"Oh." Amalia says, drawn aback. "No."

"Why not?" I ask openly, like she must be insane or something.

She shrugs sheepishly. "I've only been here for a day. I've only really met you two." She says. "Well, and that guy Sean, but he seemed pretty stuck up."

Aly screams for Amalia to stop the car and tears her sunglasses off of her face, mouth hanging open.

"Sean?" She gapes. "Sean who?" She demmands and I sigh, waiting for the I-still-love-Sean pitty party that I know is coming. 

"Candor." Amalia states. "Why?"

"You. Can. Not. Talk to him." Aly spews out so rapidly that I half expect her lipgloss to jump off her face and bite Amalia in the nose.

"They dated. She wants him back." I fill her in.

Amalia looks extra nervous now. "Really?"

"Yes really." Aly confirms. 

Amalia's eyes suddenly light up like a Christmas tree. "Then why don't you come by when he's at my house tomorrow."

"What?" Aly's face looks hot and I'm sure that soon a vein might burst inside her forehead if all of this doesn't stop soon. One more surprise plot twist and Aly might just explode right here all over Amalia's car.

"We're doing a project. We have to work on it over the weekend, so he said he would come over to my place." Amalia explains.

"Hell no." Aly growls. 

"Wait." I pipe in, making a freak discovery. "What's on your palm?" I ask Lia cautiously.

"His number." She says extending it out for us to see. 

Aly looks on the verge of tears. "Girls. This is war." She takes on a sudden determination. "We need a plan. Now."