The Intern: Vol. 3 by Brooke Cumberland

and Cora again feels like home. It’s comforting to be with my two best friends again, but also painful. So much is changing so fast and there’s nothing I can do about it except embrace it and enjoy our time together.
    I end up getting a job that summer as a cocktail waitress. I take whatever position I can find that gets me out of the house most nights. Cora takes a hostess position so we can spend more time together, and Simon visits us just to annoy us. But it was perfect, nonetheless—I get to be with the two people that really ground me.
    Not knowing answers to my dad ’s case still haunt me. I anticipate being able to open my dad’s lock box in two years. It feels like forever, yet I know it’s not. It’s sooner than never knowing at all, and I can wait since I know that I’ll find out his secrets soon—hopefully.
    Simon and Cora hookup once at the end of summer—kind of their way of saying goodbye, I guess. I try to not question it, but my mind spins at all the times they’ve taunted each other all summer. But then again, it makes complete sense.
    Saying goodbye was the worst part of the summer. Simon transferred to a school in Florida after his study abroad. The romantic in me thinks it’s so he is close to Cora, but both of them deny it.
    Casey comes home for the Fourth of July and looks completely different. Her hair is short and dyed bleach blonde with pink underneath. She’s lost a good twenty pounds and wears sunglasses as big as her face. She’s gone complete diva. But I love her and spending that short amount of time with her was amazing.
    Mom and I still don ’t talk much. She continues working a ridiculous amount of hours, and when she is home, we rarely make eye contact. A part of me knows she’s nervous being around me since I know some of dad’s secrets. Soon they’ll all be out, and she won’t be able to deny anything. Until then, our relationship will continue the way it is.
    I look around my room that I spent the last three months in. It looks the exact same as when I came home from college. I didn’t put up any new pictures or even change the color of my sheets. It still doesn’t feel like my room anymore.
    I load my car with my luggage and a couple boxes packed with my things. I had a feeling I wouldn ’t be coming home anytime soon, or at all, once my second year was completed. I’d probably look into an off-campus apartment or something.
    “ I love you,” my mom says quietly as she stands by my car. “I’m glad you came home.”
    I swallow as I stare expressionless at her. “I love you, too, Mom.”
    She leans in and we awkwardly hug goodbye. I wish I could say what I really want to say, but it ’s not the way I want to leave things with her. For now, it’s just awkward silence and glances, which is better than fighting with each other.
    “ Drive safe. Text me when you arrive, okay?”
    “ Sure.” I flash a weak smile at her. I open the driver’s side door and get in. I sit down and look back at my childhood home that’s filled with secrets and tainted memories.
     

 
    Part Three
     

 
    Chapter Nine
    Bentley
     
    I walk out of the gym, dripping wet with sweat. I chug my bottle of water before getting into my car and throwing the empty container on the passenger seat.
    Working out four to five times a week has made for an isolated, structured routine. It’s definitely different from my corporate job I worked two years ago—working relentlessly ten hours a day.
    I spent my first-year and a half of my modeling career traveling worldwide for exclusive photo shoots and magazine interviews. It was an amazing experience, but I needed to stabilize my life more. I’ve opted to traveling out of the country once every month or two now instead, leaving a lot more time for working out and more national shoots.
    However, I was taking the majority of the summer off. She was able to move my press appearances for early fall.
    Kickboxing has become a constant in my life. Maya