She laughed and I hoped that was a good sign. “It sounds like fun, but I don’t feel right taking your money.”
“You’re not taking anything; you’re just coming along for the ride. Pleeeeease.”
That made her laugh again. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll see if I can get coverage and then I’ll call you back.”
“Cool. Talk to you soon.”
Disneyland wouldn’t have been my first choice, but I think going there with Tiffany would be a blast. When I got back to the dorm, I immediately booked two flights for later tonight. They weren’t expensive so if we didn’t end up using them it didn’t really matter.
About an hour later my phone finally rang.
“Hey,” I said to Tiffany.
“Hey. It’s on. I got coverage and my boss basically told me to go,” she said, with a laugh.
“Cool. Our flight leaves in three hours. I’ll be there to pick you up in thirty minutes.”
“You booked the flight without knowing if I’d be able to go?”
“Yeah, I wanted to be prepared.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll see you soon.”
I hung up and grinned. I had a feeling it was going to be lots of fun doing this with Tiffany.
****
Everything went fine with our flights and we got a hotel close to the park. I’d paid for us to get in early so now we were waiting outside the gate. I don’t think Tiffany had stopped smiling since we woke up this morning.
“I can’t believe we’re actually here and I get to go to Disneyland,” she said excitedly.
I chuckled. Seeing her excitement made me feel like a kid again too. Once the gates were open, I had to run to keep up with her. There was so much to see I could tell she didn’t know what to do first. Finally, she picked a direction and off we went.
We spent all day Friday and Saturday at the park, and I don’t remember ever having this much fun. We acted more like elementary school kids instead of college students and it was great. We did everything we could possibly do in the two days and I think we saw almost the entire park.
By the time we got home Sunday afternoon, we were exhausted. I dropped her off and went back to campus. I showered and went to bed, sleeping until my alarm went off for class Monday morning.
Chapter 33
Karma
It was really hard to get up Monday for practice. My head was still on the beautiful island of St. Lucia. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to top that vacation. All the coaches seemed to be yelling a lot today, so I guess I wasn’t the only one who wasn’t ready to be done with Spring Break.
We ended practice early, which was a first. That gave me a little extra time to stop and get a coffee before I went to class. And because I was in such a good mood, I got one for Bodie too.
“Good morning,” I said, as I handed him a coffee.
“Thanks, and good morning to you, too. You seem extra chipper this morning. I figured you’d have a Spring Break hangover.”
I laughed. “I kind of do, but it was such a great trip that every time I think about it, I smile. What did you end up doing?”
“I worked most of it, but on Thursday dad told me to do something fun so Tiffany and I went to Disneyland.”
I almost choked on my coffee. “Disneyland? Really?”
“Yep. Tiffany had never been, so I decided to do something nice for her. We actually had a blast.”
“I’ve never been either.”
“I think you’d love it. Maybe we should all go as a group,” he suggested.
“Even Anthony?”
“Yeah, I guess he could come, too.”
I laughed at the tone of his voice. “You’re still not an Anthony fan, I take it.”
“Nope.” Was all he said.
I spent the rest of the day in a good mood. It had been late when I got in last night, so after practice Kayleigh and I had a chance to catch up. We had a good time telling each other what we did on the break. I ended up going to bed early since my body was still on St. Lucia time.
****
The next two weeks were busy, but in a good way. We were training hard for our next swim meet and most of my extra time was spent with Anthony. The laptop he’d given me was a lifesaver. I loved that I could be with him and still get my schoolwork done.
It was Friday morning. Practice has been intense since our next competition was tomorrow. Bodie was waiting in class with a coffee for me.
“You. Are. Awesome,” I told him, and took a big drink.
“Rough morning?”
“You could say that. Practice was a bitch this morning,”
Since I’d almost been late to class, we didn’t have any more time to talk before the professor started with the day’s lecture.
About halfway through class, a man and woman, both dressed in suits, came in and started talking to the professor. A few words were exchanged, and it looked like they showed him a picture. He pointed in our general direction and they started up the steps. They stopped at the row Bodie and I were sitting in.
“Karma Webster?” the woman said.
“Yeah,” I said.
“Can you come with us please?”
I had no idea what was going on. They looked official and the first thing that came to my mind was I hoped my parents were okay. I gathered my things and noticed Bodie was doing the same thing. We followed them out into the hallway.
“We just need Miss Webster,” the lady said, when we left the room.
“We’re friends,” Bodie said. “I don’t know what’s going on, but it looks like she’s going to need some support.” He crossed his arms I could tell it was going to take a lot to get him to leave.
“It’s okay with me if he stays,” I told them. “What’s going on?”
It was a man that spoke. “Are you familiar with Pagano Imports Miss Webster?”
“Uh … yeah. It’s my boyfriend’s father’s company.”
“Do you mean Anthony Pagano?” the lady said.
“Yeah.” I was really confused.
“Karma,” Bodie said. “Don’t say another word. I have a bad feeling about this. Who are you two?”
“I’m Detective Lance and this is my partner, Detective Martinez,” he said. “We’re with the San Francisco Police Department. Karma Webster, you are under arrest for grand theft and fraud. Please come with us.”
I heard what she said and started laughing because I realized it was April first. “Very funny,” I said. “You got me. Great April Fool’s Day joke.”
“This isn’t a joke, Miss Webster,” the female detective said seriously. “You can either come quietly or we can make a scene.” When she took out a pair of handcuffs, I figured out that she wasn’t joking.
I was in shock as they handcuffed me and walked me to a car. I was vaguely aware that Bodie was right behind us. All I could think about was that I was glad it was during class so there weren’t a lot of people around to see me like this.
“Karma,” Bodie said, getting my attention. “Don’t say anything to them at all. I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m going to call my dad and get you a lawyer or something. Just don’t say a word to them at all. I will fix this.”