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Three
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Amanda Samuels hadn't the foggiest idea how to flip a grilled cheese sandwich, April decided, watching her bestie scoop and turn over the bread slices with a spatula. She might not have been a decent cook herself, but at least she watched hack videos.

"You're doing it wrong," she teased, going around the island to where Amanda was holding the skillet. There was a flat white plate beside her, heaped with those she had cooked before April joined.

"Now watch," she said, grabbing another spatula. She inserted it flat under the sandwich and lifted it. With her other hand, she lifted the pan, turned it over the bread, then set everything down at once, the undercooked side now facing the pan.

She took a mock bow like she usually did during kitchen breakthroughs, feeling like half a chef. "I did it," she smiled at Amanda.

"Yeah, congrats. Please move." Amanda meandered her way to the opposite side of the kitchen to check on the bread in the toaster.

April grimaced. What was her problem?

"What's wrong?"

Amanda replaced the bread in the toaster and shrugged. "Nothing."

April sighed. It wasn't uncommon behaviour for Amanda to act like there's something wrong, only to reply with things like 'it's fine' or 'It's okay' when asked. They had been friends for ten years, briefly dated each other's brothers and been through enough for April to know when something was on Amanda's mind.

"Okay, spill."

"Spill what?"

"You're acting weird."

She flipped the sandwich her own way, set it down and turned the flame off on the burner. "I said I'm fine."

"Then why are you acting like you can't see me?"

"You mean like you didn't see me yesterday?"

She quirked her brows. "What?"

Amanda transported the sandwiches to the island. "Bet you're as good as flipping sandwiches as you are at dancing huh?" She murmured.

April was still confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Yesterday, at the party," Amanda replied, turning around to face April. "It was quite a show you put on."

April rolled her eyes. If anyone should have the right to wake up with regrets over dancing, it should be her, not Amanda. "Last I checked, you were the one who asked me to go."

Amanda dropped the ceramic on the marble counter with a loud clink. "That's not what I mean."

"Then what do you mean?" April raised her brows, hating the direction of the conversation. A fight with Amanda was not on her list of problems she wanted to encounter.

"Maybe I like expressing myself in other ways than putting myself on display," Amanda said, snatching a piece of paper towel. "Maybe you like dancing in public, but that's your thing, not mine."

"Are you seriously mad at me or are we on one of your rollercoasters because I'm already tired of whatever this conversation is supposed to be." April's voice came out flat as paper. There was nothing she hated like a ruined morning. "What are we talking about?"

"You don't know."

"Explain it to me."

Amanda set down the plate of sandwiches before turning to face her. She folded her arms. "You pulled me in to dance with you yesterday," she complained.

"Yeah, so?" April folded her arms too.

"You just jerked me in against my will. And then that pool table guy came over and you just left me alone to dance and make a mess of myself like you didn't even know I was there anymore." She continued. "After that, I came looking for you and you had disappeared." She dragged in a breath and huffed in exhale before turning back to her food.

April's hands dropped from her chest as she instantly remembered last night's party and what had happened. "Mandy, I'm so-"

"Sorry, yeah you are! you're always sorry to me, that's not a new thing. Why didn't you show up when Malia started insulting me? You put me in trouble and just left. And apparently, you promised that guy a dance and then vanished."

April bit her lip, stuck at a loss for words. There was no way she could tell Amanda—or anyone—where she had been last night.

Amanda began clearing the counter of the used utensils, going back to pretending like everything was okay. April didn't like it when she threw tantrums like this, but it was who Amanda was. They'd practically grown up this way.

"Amanda—"

"Where were you?"

"That's not important."

"Don't lie to me, I'm already angry."

April sighed. It was best to avoid a fight if she wanted this vacation to go hinge free. Amanda wouldn't tell, anyway. "Alright, fine. After I left the party, I was on my own until I heard—"

The two way door was pushed in by Nathan, interrupting her. His hair was horribly tousled and his eyes were barely open but he walked in anyway, dressed in a Lakers vest, black shorts and flip flops.

"Morning," he greeted them, sauntering in. He rubbed his eyes, opened them, then closed and rubbed them again as he took a seat on the counter.

"Hey," April nodded absently. "Orange juice?" She asked with a point toward the glass cabinet. It was a truce to show that she was not in for his judgement, especially concerning last night's dancing.

If he wondered why she'd offered him juice, he didn't indicate as he took out one of the glasses in the cupboard. "Hey, Amanda."

"Good Morning," she replied and turned around to flip the sandwich. This time, she hissed sharply, sending the pan and its content tumbling onto the floor.

"Oh my gosh, did it burn you?" April asked her, but she didn't reply or look back as she groaned, grabbed a napkin off the island and stomped out of the kitchen.

"Is she in a bad mood?" Nathan asked as April reached him with the carton of juice.

"She'll cool off," she replied, grabbing his glass.

"Good morning, family," Hannah greeted in a singsong voice, joining them in all smiles. In one hand, she held the flaps of her big, pink robe and the other towed Paige, still groggy from sleep. Even her hair was in a knot-filled, messy bun.

"Morning Hans," April smiled. "How's the hangover suiting you?" She directed the question to Paige.

"I can feel my own brain moving," Paige answered, throwing herself into the seat beside Nathan, who had been staring out the window.

April turned her attention to Hannah, who was tasting the spilt cheese on the cooker with her pinky finger. "I may have a new craving! April did you make these? They're delicious!" She commended.

Nathan quickly shook his head. "April didn't make them."

April shrugged and took a gulp of orange juice. Of course she didn't, because she couldn't cook, blah blah blah. Nathan could really make a girl feel useful.

"They're Amanda's, not yours," he pressed.

"I know. I never said they were mine, what is your problem?"

"Calm down, I was only kidding with you guys, I know whose they are." Hannah said and tapped her cheek with her index finger. "Where is Amanda, though? She did great!"

She pursed her lips as she remembered that her friend probably hated her gut.

"She got pissed off," Nathan answered with half a glance toward his sister.

Paige moaned. "What happened?"

"No idea what April—"

April pushed herself off the stool, immediately sick of her brother's constant blame. He didn't even understand the situation, yet was ever quick to point the finger. He could suck it, though. She was going outside.

The slightly salty air enveloped April like a warm hug, lifting her bad mood to give way for peaceful breathing. At least she had nature to save her from Nathan.

A glance far east brought to sight the second beach house, which they had talked about the previous day. Javier's parents had ended up renting it, which meant that he was in there right that moment.

What could he be doing? Pushups?
Or cooking, probably...he loved to cook. What was he cooking? Vegetables? He still loved living like a rabbit, didn't he?

Why did she care? He wouldn't be thinking about her, or would he?

This was tough. She had always known it wouldn't be easy being around him without closure from their past relationship but with the events of last night, she was even more confused as to where it left them.

"You're gonna trip if you don't look where you're going."

She snapped her head to the side in shock, exhaling only when she found Amanda seated by the shore on a bunch of rocks.

"Who were you expecting?"

April shrugged. "I was shocked to see anyone at all."

"So you came after me," Amanda deadpanned, picking up a pebble from the pile beneath her. "That's a shocker," she added, catapulting it toward the water.

April sighed internally. She was doing that annoying thing again. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she said truthfully. "But you're not making it easy to fix that."

Amanda shrugged. "How am I not making it it easy?"

"You're seriously asking that? Your entire body language screams that you want to kill me."

To April, what had happened the previous day did not equal the amount of bad energy she was receiving. Who got this mad over dancing? Unless Amanda wasn't mad at that.

"I don't want to kill you."

April sat next to her and mumbled "Of course you don't." She gave a little time, in case her suspicion was right. "You know, I don't even think you're mad at me."

They kept on staring out into the open air. The sun was still young, sharing a soft, warm orange. It would make a really nice filter for instagram photos...not that the mood was right though.

"What do you mean? I am pissed at you."

April shook her head. "I think you're not mad at me, I already apologised. There's something else you're mad at and you can't pin that on me."

Amanda hugged herself and sighed, confirming April's suspicions. April wasn't much of an empath but if it bothered her best friend, it bothered her.

"Amanda."

"Hm?"

"Will you tell me what's bothering you?" She asked, leaning in.

"Remember when we saw that novel with a long author's name?" Amanda blurted.

April nodded. "Yeah, I think I do...why?" They'd been looking for novels or story books to donate to a local library a certain spring. They had only found adult themed books in April's house so they'd gone through Amanda's mother's shelf. One of the books they found was 'Purple Hibiscus'. It was written in English, but the author and character names were African, so had taken a while to learn to pronounce.

"What about it?"

"The novel's Nigerian...and it turns out my mom named me after her favorite novelist."

April squinted in confusion. "So what?"

"I know there's other versions and meanings, but my name, 'Amanda' is a short form of the name we saw on that book."

April cocked her head. "So you have a Nigerian name. What's bad about that?"

"It's a native name..."

"How spooky," April deadpanned.

"You don't get it, do you?" She shook her head. "I'm Nigerian too," Amanda finally blurted, ending the game of 'connect the pieces'. "I was born here, but my parents are both Native Africans. My mom is part American but it doesn't change anything, I'm still Nigerian."

She'd never asked Amanda of her roots, despite their being friends since childhood. She'd never thought it such a big deal back then, so she'd just never asked. Amanda was hands down one of the prettiest people she knew. She had deep, olive toned skin that she took care off better than anyone, thick, curly hair that usually required gel or pins to hold into tight buns and curves that turned heads. It wasn't remotely a problem, if you asked April.

"How long have you known? Are you upset about it?" She asked.

"I've known for like two months. I was so upset when I found out they kept it a secret from Lyle and me. Lyle didn't really mind it when I told him but come on, we have an entire history, possibly family we know nothing about."

April had dated Amanda's younger brother, Lyle, in ninth grade for a month and three days for a 'publicity stunt' he'd wanted to do. She wasn't surprised he hadn't taken this as seriously as Amanda had.

"So now you're missing family you don't even know? Like your step...third cousins?"

Amanda laughed. "Stop talking."

"No, I need to understand it," April laughed. "You're bitching on me because you miss your ninth cousins in-law?"

"No, I bitched on you cause you were being an asshole to me at that party."

April pouted. "I'm sorry."

"I forgive you."

She smiled and placed both her hands on Amanda's shoulders. "Now let's go find your long lost grandma."

Amanda laughed. "Fuck off."