Read Online Mia's Heart (The Paradise Diaries) by Courtney Cole - Free Book Online Page B

be?
    “Yes,”
she answers coolly in a voice that borders on hatred.  “Were you expecting
someone else?”
    I
shake my head. “No.  I just wanted to sure.”
    Elena
smiles a frigid smile that reminds me slightly of a piranha.  I don’t know
why because her smile is gorgeous and perfect.
    And
cold.
    Just
like the rest of her.
    “Ah,
yes.  I forgot.  You can’t remember anything.” 
    She
doesn’t look disturbed by that at all.  She seems ambivalent,
actually. 
    Even
though she hasn’t invited me, I walk inside and sit in the chair next to her bed.
She has fashion magazines everywhere, so I move them to clear a space.
    “My
mother told me that you and I have a misunderstanding and that I should clear
it up,” I tell her.  “But I don’t remember anything.  So it’s hard to
know what to say.”
    Elena
studies me with interest.  “You truly don’t remember anything at all?” she
asks.  “Not a thing?”
    I
shake my head.  “Not much at all.  I remember my car.  And I
don’t know why.  I remember scuba diving.  But I don’t remember my
friends.  I don’t remember my parents and I don’t remember myself.”
    “So
you don’t remember me?” Elena asks, her lovely head cocked.  I shake my
head again.  “You don’t remember growing up with me?”
    “No. 
I’m sorry.  I don’t.”
    And
she laughs.  I am startled by this and stare.  It definitely wasn’t
the reaction that I was expecting.
    She
muffles her giggles and then stares back.
    “I’m
sorry,” she says.  “It’s not funny.  It’s ironic.”
    “How
is it ironic?” I ask suspiciously.  I don’t know what to make of this
girl.
    Elena
giggles again.  I’m not sure if she’s laughing at me or with me or
what. 
    “You’ve
always worked so hard to portray an image… the image of a girl who doesn’t care
about who she is.  And here you are now… you don’t remember any of it.
 You truly don’t know who you are. Don’t you find that funny at all?”
    And
suddenly, I kind of do.
    I
laugh with her. 
    “If
I remembered it, it would be funnier,” I finally tell her.  “But I
don’t.  I saw pictures—of my hair and my clothes.  I guess I was
trying hard to prove a point.”
    Elena
nods.  “You definitely were trying to make a point.”
    I
look at her and try not to look at her bandage.  But it’s hard. It might
as well have a sign on it that says Look at me.   My eyes keep
gravitating toward it.  I force them back to hers. 
    “I’m
sorry,” I tell her. “For whatever part I played in the accident.  I’m told
that I didn’t know what was going on, that I was tricked along with everyone
else.  But if there were signs that I should have seen and didn’t, I’m
really sorry about that.”
    Elena’s
nose tilts up and I wonder if this is the moment that she’s going to let me
have it.  She’s got a certain bitchy air about her…she’s definitely a girl
who knows what she wants and how to get it.  She doesn’t mess
around.  I may have amnesia, but even I can see that. 
    And
she is silent for a long, long moment.  I think she’s trying to make up
her mind. 
    “I
was pissed at you,” she finally admits to me.  And she sounds surprisingly
candid.  “But I was pissed at everyone, to be honest.  I know that it
wasn’t you who did this to me.  It was Nate Geraris and Vincent
Dranias.  It’s just difficult to be mad at people who aren’t here.  I
seem to need something- or someone- that I can focus my aggression on.”
    “You
might want to take up target shooting instead,” I tell her wryly. She laughs.
    “I
don’t think anyone wants to see a gun in my hand,” she admits.  She seems
more honest than I was expecting.  Although I don’t know why I had any
expectations at all.  I don’t remember her. 
    OhmyGod.
I’m so tired of that phrase .  I don’t remember. I get it already.
 I’m clueless about everything.  
    “Were
we friends?” I ask curiously.  “My