Page 56 of Scandal
Chapter Thirteen
MERCURY
A couple of months ago, my brother added his girlfriend, Zara, to the sibling group chat. None of us minded, since we all love Zara and already consider her family. A few weeks later, Presley added Hollis, and it was like one big happy family in there.
Until my brother and sister had to go and ruin everything.
Honestly, it was mostly Hendrix’s fault.
It started with small things, like Presley asking what Hollis wanted for dinner. No big deal, right? It usually led to a conversation about everyone’s favorite meal, and then we’d all get hungry, and order takeout.
Or Hendrix would say something cute to Zara—or about Zara—and we’d all send gagging emojis…because if you can’t tease your lovesick brother, what’s the point of having a sibling?
But then there was the time he accidentally sent her an incredibly personal text in the group chat, which included some very scarring photos. Not sure how he mixed up the name of the group chat—No Creed Left Behind—with his girlfriend’s name, but it didn’t matter. The damage was done.
And Cash draws the line at dick pics. He made a rule right then and there—sibling chat was for siblings only. No significantothers and no spouses. Poor Hollis got the boot because my horny brother didn’t take the time to check who he was texting before hitting send.
Anyway, since then, in retaliation—Presley and Cash have what I would call a somewhat combative sibling relationship—Pres created a second group chat for the women in the Creed family. I’m not sure how that vindicates Hollis, since he wasn’t invited to the new all-female chat, but she insists it makes her feel better.
We’re still choosing a name. I haven’t really been involved in that, or much else related to the chat, honestly.
But hopefully they’ll forgive me for that, because I really need them to answer this FaceTime call, even though it’s—I check the clock on my phone and do quick mental math—eleven in LA. The sun is barely up here. But Asher is in the shower in the adjoining en suite, and I need a pep talk.
I hit the FaceTime button and hope they aren’t all sleeping.
My sister and Zara are the first ones to answer.
“Hey!” Presley’s chipper voice asks at the same time Zara asks, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” I assure Zara. I should have known she’d go straight into disaster mode. I still can’t believe my wacky brother is dating a doctor. “Did I wake you?”
“No,” they answer in unison, then laugh.
“Hollis is at the club tonight, so I’m waiting up for him,” Pres explains.
“We just finished a movie,” Zara says, right before I hear my brother shout from another room. “No, we didn’t!” Zara turns bright red, smoothing her frizzy brown hair. “Well, we’re about halfway. We, uh…got hungry.”
Hungry.Sure.
My sister snorts. “Okay. Anyway—” But before she can continue, someone else joins the call.
“Hey, guys,” a groggy-looking Elena says. Her dark hair is piled on top of her head, and she’s wearing a fuzzy robe over an old Manic at Midnight shirt. “Everything okay?”
“Oh, shit. Were you sleeping?”
“No,” she says immediately, then adds, “Sort of. I was reading Marisa a bedtime story and fell asleep halfway through. Zander left a little note that said I looked so cute, he just let me sleep. But that was over three hours ago. I missed dinner!”
Presley gasps, then giggles. “Not dinner!”
“We were going to order Chinese.” Elena pouts as she groggily moves through their massive kitchen. “Now I’m hungry and—” She’s the one who gasps, and it’s genuine. “Oh my god, I love that man!”
“Did he order it anyway and put it in the fridge for you?” I guess. Zander may be Hendrix’s best friend, but he’s more like family to all of us. The world may know him as Zander Tate, the famous rock star, but I will always know him as Zander Green, a big softie and the nicest guy around.
“He did!” She nearly weeps with joy. “Now I can’t decide what I want more—the food or to thank him for the food,if you know what I mean.”
“We all know what you mean, babe.” Zara laughs.
“While you decide, can we maybe focus on why I called all of you?”
