Read Online Fish Out of Water by Natalie Whipple - Free Book Online Page B

the kind of people who vacation in Carmel, the kind of people Olivia and her mom take care of at Pebble Beach Spa.
    And that’s when it hits. Dylan is not just rich, he’s loaded. Or was? Clark’s words suddenly make a lot more sense.
    “The lady up front told us Dylan Wainwright works over here,” says the girl, who has warm brown hair and bright blue eyes. “Do you know where he is?”
    “He went home already,” I blurt out. “Sorry.”
    The guy frowns. “Damn.”
    “Well, do you know where he lives?” the girl asks.
    “Nope. I don’t know much about him.” Except that he’s the laziest person I’ve ever met.
    “Clearly.” The girl looks me up and down. It feels like she deems me lacking in every possible way. I hate admitting Dylan was right—I don’t want her around at all. “Can you at least tell him that London and Brock stopped by?”
    “Sure.”
    The guy, who must be Brock, leans on the island and smiles at me. “Maybe we’ll see you again…” Nametag glance, and also a boob glance. Lovely. “Mika. What a pretty name.”
    London rolls her eyes. “You really will hit on anything with boobs, won’t you?”
    Brock doesn’t look at her. “Ignore her. She gets jealous of girls who are prettier than her.”
    “Oh please.” London shoves him, then gives me a glare that seems to prove Brock right. “If Dylan wants to see us, we’re staying at the usual place. He’ll know what that means.”
    “Okay.” I try not to glare at them as they leave the store. My time is up for the day, so I head to the back to get my stuff and clock out. Dylan is there, lounging in the break room with his feet on the table.
    “Are they gone?” he asks.
    “They said you can meet them at ‘the usual place’ if you want. Oh, and the guy tried to hit on me.” I grab my bag, punch my card. “He seems like a keeper.”
    He frowns. “You’re joking, right?”
    “Nope, not at all,” I say in my best sarcastic voice. “You owe me.”
    “I do.” He puts his hands behind his head, smiling like he just got away with murder. It makes me wish I’d turned him in to those people. “Thanks, Mika.”
    I leave, refusing to react to his first real show of gratitude and decency. He won’t win me over that easily. He obviously has plenty of other girls hunting him down. I refuse to add myself to that list.
     

Chapter 11
     
     
    A few days pass, and Mom and Dad still haven’t gotten rid of Betty. Every time I come home and see her still there, anger flares inside me over our last conversation. I’ve refused to talk to her since then. If my parents don’t decide where to put her soon, I might lose my mind, too.
    “I don’t want to go to bed!” Betty’s voice is so loud I can hear it through my bedroom door. “I’m not a child!”
    “I didn’t say you were…” Dad’s tone has grown increasingly aggravated over the last few weeks. This “family crisis” has put back their grant work, since they can’t start without Dad. It’s made us all even crankier, knowing we’re missing out on valuable research time. Their bedroom door shuts next, so I figure that’s Mom signing out.
    I turn up my music.
    As I look over Olivia’s newest string of beautiful pictures on Facebook, I can’t help being distracted by the search bar at the top of the page. All I’d have to do is type in Dylan’s whole name and…
    I close the tab before I go there. I won’t be a Facebook stalker, because that would mean I actually care and I don’t.
    Sighing, I watch my fish and try not to feel like I’m trapped in my own aquarium. Ever since Betty got here, I’ve been hiding out in my room more and more, like avoiding the problem will make it go away. Truth is, so much about her scares me. Not just her disease, but who she was before and what she can do to us now.
    My computer starts ringing, and I check to see who it is. I smile at the icon and click “accept.” Olivia’s very tan face and bright white smile appear on