Read Decked with Holly for Free Online Page B

experimenting with rhythms outside on the verandah railing. The familiar feel of them in my hands, the consistency of the beats, allowed me to believe that if I just mainlined enough caffeine eventually the words would come.
    But the muse didn’t appear willing to join me.
    At least, not in the form I expected.

Chapter 5
    Holly
    Â 
    I f I had to hear one more crack about my weight, I was going to lose it.
    I was going to scream in the fancy restaurant and I didn’t care if the waiters forcibly removed me. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been dragged off in shame in front of my family. At least this time I wasn’t dressed like a slutty elf. That had to count for some improvement. And really, the humiliation of getting escorted to the door might be worth it if it liberated me from the presence of certain family members.
    But then my grandpa asked what I thought of the pie that I was currently butchering instead of eating. Well, he didn’t mention the fact that I was clearly venting my frustration by stabbing the helpless dessert repeatedly with my fork, but I’m sure it was pretty obvious. Of course, I had wanted to eat the damn thing when I ordered it. But then my aunt had calculated the number of calories and the number of hours I would have to spend on a treadmill to burn them off. That promptly killed my enjoyment of the treat.
    But it was still my grandpa’s birthday cruise and I didn’t want to spoil any of it for him. So even though my stomach felt tight and queasy, I took a big bite.
    â€œDelicious.”
    I don’t know if it was that last small act of defiance that made me feel decidedly sick forty minutes later, but regardless of the reason, I had to make excuses to go straight to the cabin instead of a juggling performance. The boys headed for the teen center, while their sisters picked a different socializing technique: drinking at the bar. At least that’s where I thought they were going with their casual, “Oh, just hanging out in the lounge for a while” response.
    Yeah, more like Oh, Grandpa, we’re going to flirt with any guy who can buy us a drink.
    Sometimes I seriously wonder if I could have been orphaned and adopted.
    At least I had the tiny cabin to myself while I tried to sleep off my nausea. I closed my eyes and said, “It’s okay, Holly. You aren’t moving at sea. Oh, no, you are actually lying still on something very stable like . . . a mountain. That’s right, an enormous mountain with no water anywhere nearby.”
    I sounded like an idiot and my stomach wasn’t buying a word of it.
    But at least Allison and Claire weren’t around to make fun of me.
    So I turned onto my side, thrust my head into the pillow, and tried to think happy thoughts. Only two more days at sea before I would have my feet on dry land. That was only forty-eight hours. Or . . . a lot of minutes. The exact number eluded me and I wasn’t about to force myself to do math when I needed to focus on not throwing up.
    I started mentally listing activities I might enjoy tomorrow, occasionally muttering them into my blanket. Sit out on the sundeck, listen to my music, do some more sketching. Maybe I’d even take some photographs and people watch. I could do all of that while avoiding everyone but my grandpa.
    It could happen.
    I was just lulling myself into a false sense of comfort when the light flipped on and the thoroughly tipsy Twins from Hell stumbled in, clinging on to the arms of two boys who didn’t appear to be of legal drinking age but must have gotten the girls drinks somehow, since they all were reeking of alcohol and laughing like hyenas.
    The smell had my stomach clenching as if the boat had just rolled. I rubbed my face tiredly, sat up, and told them the truth.
    â€œListen, guys, I’m sorry but I’m feeling sick. Do you mind hanging out somewhere else? I’d really appreciate it.”
    â€œIt’s only