Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,79

have?” Isabel asked.

“Do you hate cilantro?”

Isabel laughed. “That one is much easier to answer. I hate it with a passion.”

“Me too. I thought I was the only Mexican in the world who didn’t like it. Do your thumbs bend back?”

Isabel held out her thumb and bent it into a weird angle. Ava raised hers and did the same.

“Are you artistic?”

Isabel smiled like the question brought up something bittersweet. “Not at all. That you get from your father.”

Her father. Ava had wondered about him before. Though never with the same intensity that she thought about Isabel.

“I haven’t talked to him in more than a decade. Last I heard, he was working as a graphic designer at Electronic Arts. He’s so talented. But nothing like you. Lynn has sent me a lot of your work.”

Ava could feel the emotion in her throat. Like a giant ball. She steered the conversation to something safe to keep it from leveling her. “Favorite subject?”

“Science and math.”

Ava shook her head. “Not me. Art and English. And history.”

Ava asked a few more questions that didn’t really matter. She was working her way up to the big one, the thing she really wanted to know. “Do you get sad sometimes?”

Isabel put her hand to her heart. “Oh, Ava. Oh god. Yes. Not a day goes by that I don’t feel sad about the choice I made.”

Ava looked down. “Oh. I didn’t mean… I mean, thanks. But I mean do you ever get sad. Like… for no reason.”

Isabel took the hand that had been on her heart and set it down on the table. She drew small circles with her index finger. “I guess you got a lot more from me than just your eyes.” Isabel sighed again. This one was the most complicated of them all. “Yeah. I have depression. It’s a lot better with medication. But I still have bad days.”

“Me too,” Ava said.

“I’m really sorry you got that from me.”

“It’s okay. I think I got some good stuff too.”

Isabel looked over Ava’s head, and Ava could tell that she was looking at the clock.

“I guess you probably have to go.”

Isabel nodded. “I work out of two hospitals, and I have a second shift starting pretty soon. I volunteer here because it’s my community. They’re really underfunded. That’s why it doesn’t look like much.”

“The junky hospital,” Ava said.

Isabel eyed her curiously. “Yeah. That’s what my neighbor calls it. How did you…? Actually, back up even further. How did you find me?”

“A guy at school helped me out.”

“Wow. Nice guy.”

“Yeah. I think maybe he is.”

“Well…” Isabel stood. “I’m not really sure how we end this. If you want, it doesn’t have to be the end. You can contact me with more questions or anything else.”

“That would be nice.”

The table was between them so a hug seemed awkward, but everything about this had been awkward, so they leaned over and gave it a shot anyway.

Isabel left and Ava waited until she was gone to text Jordan and CJ. They walked through the door of the cafeteria thirty seconds later.

“We were right outside,” Jordan said.

“You okay?” CJ asked.

Ava could tell that her friends were trying not to pounce. She could also tell that they really wanted to. “Yeah,” she said. “I’m okay. I’m… good. Let’s get out of here. I’m ready to go home.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE GIRLS returned from their Stanford trip late in the evening on Sunday. The next morning, Ava woke up in one of her Griselda moods. The emotion of the weekend combined with the exhaustion was simply too much. She wasn’t scared this time. Well, not as scared. She knew she would get through it. She also knew that she needed to ask for help. She found her mom in the kitchen and said that she couldn’t go to school today and that she needed to see Dr. Clifford. Everything else tumbled out pretty quickly after that. Logan Diffenderfer’s offer. The real reason for the Stanford weekend. Isabel Castillo.

Her mom’s eyes got pretty wide, but she didn’t freak out. At least not on the outside. She told Ava that she would call the school and let them know she was sick and then she’d call Dr. Clifford to book an appointment for as soon as possible. She did suggest that they make it a family session and Ava thought that seemed like a good idea. Ava crawled back into bed while her mom made the calls.

Not long after that, there was a light knock on the door.