Kylie Cantrall's Arc

Chapter 31 of 78

Malia's three words sat on the screen. Kylie's thumb hovered over the reply box. But another problem pushed past that one. The ship docked in two days. When she and Arianna walked off, cameras would be waiting at the port. Kylie had a house, but she had never prepared it for two people the world now watched. She had planned for a secret. She had not planned for this. "We have a bigger problem than her," Kylie said. She put the phone away and turned to Arianna at the rail. Below them the colorful hull glowed under the deck lights, gold trim shining on the water. "When this ship reaches the port, they'll all be there. Reporters. Fans. I don't have a place ready for us. My house isn't safe anymore. The drone already found it." Arianna crossed her arms. "So make a plan. But this time, out loud. With me." Kylie almost pulled out the old habit. Book something quiet under her mother's name. Route them past the crowd. Decide it all herself. She stopped. "I don't want to plan our first day home in secret. That's the thing I keep doing." "Then don't," Arianna said. "What do you actually want?" Kylie thought. She wanted to walk off the ship and not hide. She wanted her own front door, the one with Arianna's key already in it. "I want to go home. My real house. Not a rented estate. Ours." "The house the drone filmed," Arianna said. "Yes. But it's the house where you have a key. Where the piano is. If we hide again, we teach the world we're something to hide." Kylie's chest was tight, but her voice held. "I want us to drive up to my door together. In front of them." Arianna studied her. "You're sure? That's four hours from the port with cameras following." "I'm sure. But I won't decide it alone." Kylie took her hand. "Do you want that too?" Arianna nodded slowly. "I do. I'm tired of the back doors." Kylie called her mother back. She spoke while Arianna listened on speaker. "When we dock, don't hide us. We're driving straight to my house. Both of us. Have the car at the pier. No decoy. No estate." Her mother was quiet. "There will be a crowd at your gate. I can't clear it." "I don't want it cleared," Kylie said. "I want them to see us walk in together." "Then I'll have the car ready," her mother said. "And Kylie — Malia's still asking to talk. She'll be part of the crowd's questions." Kylie ended the call. The plan was set, out loud, with Arianna beside her. In two days they would walk off this ship into every camera at the port. No hiding. But Malia's message still waited, unanswered, and the crowd would carry her question straight to Kylie's open door.