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afford my own place.
    Lexi was out of the question—she had enough on her plate—but I didn’t feel the same reluctance when it came to family. I dug through my bag for my cell phone but couldn’t find it. It wasn’t on my dresser, or inside any of my other purses.
    I poked my head inside Beth’s room. She was lounging on her bed reading a magazine. Shelby sat on the divan at the foot of the bed with her knees up to her chin. She was painting her toenails bright yellow.
    “Beth, have you seen my phone?”
    Beth didn’t look up. “It’s on my dresser.”
    I walked over and grabbed it. “Why is it on your dresser?”
    “Because it rang earlier. I answered it for you.” I opened my mouth to again ask her why when she cut me off. “You’re welcome .”
    Yes, I was really grateful that she’d probably gone through my emails and voicemails and used up my lives in Candy Crush. I checked the call history. The only call from this morning was Aunt Rose. She would call again. I retreated from the room, dialing a different number.
    “Hello?” I heard on the other end of the line.
    “Hey, Mari.”
    “Ava?” My sister’s voice sounded rather nasal. “Took you long enough to you call.”
    I hadn’t known I was supposed to call her. “Why? What’s wrong?”
    The nasally tone got worse. “I’m so sick. My head hurts, my body aches, my throat is sore. I feel really hot. I think I have a fever.”
    “You were fine a couple days ago.”
    “Yeah, well, I’m not now,” she snapped.
    “Did you take something?”
    “I’m not going to just take some random drug when I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” Mari said. “I think you brought something from New York. Or maybe I have the bird flu. Or West Nile! I did get a mosquito bite yesterday.”
    “I’m sure it’s not any of those,” I said, grateful that she couldn’t see my eyes rolling.
    “What if it is? Or something worse?”
    Back in my room, I landed on my plushy chair. Only then did I realize Beth had followed me from her own room. “I’ve got an idea,” I said to Mari. “Why don’t I come take care of you? I need a place to stay for awhile anyway.” Beth made a tittering noise but I ignored her.
    “That’s the best idea I’ve ever heard,” Mari said, and it sounded like she meant it.
    “Dad and Beth are moving out in a couple days, I won’t be able to come until then.”
    “Can’t you come sooner?” she begged. “I’m sick. I need you now.”
    “Why don’t you go to the doctor?”
    “You know how much I hate doctor’s offices. They’re so dirty and full of sick people.”
    “Hold on a sec.” I turned to face Beth who was standing right behind me, her ears cocked to my conversation. I put the phone against my shirt so Mari couldn’t hear. “Do you guys need me here?”
    “Since when are you queen of the world?” she said. “Besides, I’ve got Shelby.”
    “You’ve got Shelby for what?”
    “She’s coming with me to Malibu.”
    I didn’t like the sound of that. “Shelby’s going to live there?”
    “Yeah.” Beth examined her fingernails. “She’s just getting over her divorce, you know, and she needs something to cheer her up.”
    “But…”
    “Oh, get over it, Ava,” Beth snapped. “You don’t need to be so jealous of her.”
    I watched Beth stalk back to her bedroom, her hips swaying unnecessarily. Jealous? Of Shelby Clay? Doubtful.
    Mari’s pronounced fake coughing echoed from my cell phone.
    I put it back to my ear. “Sorry, Mar, I was just talking to Beth.”
    “Oh, sure. Chat it up with Beth while I lay here on my deathbed. Nobody ever cares about me.”
    I ignored that. “I think I can be there tomorrow.”
    “Awesome!” She went on to plan everything we would do when I got there, all nasal tones completely gone.
    After I hung up with Mari, I started repacking my suitcases. My boxes from New York still hadn’t arrived so there wasn’t much to do. Truthfully, I could’ve left for Mari’s