Cali Boys by Kelli London

they wind up fast and loose,” he stressed, then shook his head and walked away. “Women. I tell ya,” he muttered as he made his way down the hall with her mother and five-year-old Hunter on his heels.
    Sundresses and halter tops pervaded her mind while she discreetly did her chest exercises. She couldn’t wear the clothes her mom wanted her to wear if she couldn’t fill them out. Especially a bikini, she thought. How was she supposed to impress Shooby with mismatched breasts? “To the east. To the west. To increase your breasts. To the east. To the west. To increase your breasts!” she sang, pulling on the ends of the pillowcase, making her chest muscles expand and release. “Please, God,” she began, then stopped. Her mother had said she was starting to fill out, hadn’t she? Jacobi looked down at her breasts and her eyes widened. Sure enough, they looked fuller. They hadn’t grown grown, as in a new cup size, but the smaller one was trying to catch up with the bigger one. “Thank you, God. Now, if you can just ...” Jacobi began, whispering.
    A knock on the door made her swallow the rest of her prayer. “Who are you talking to in there?” her mom asked.
    â€œUh, no one. I was just singing under my breath,” Jacobi lied.
    â€œOh, okay. I just wanted to be sure. You know our neighbor is a doctor. I thought I’d have to have her refer you to someone,” her mother said, then laughed.
    Yes, Jacobi knew what Alissa’s mom did for a living, and she was no doctor. She was a nutritionist. Alissa had told her that when she questioned whether Jacobi had an eating disorder. “You wanted something else?” Jacobi asked.
    â€œOh. Yes. I forgot to tell you we’ll be riding with Alissa and her mother to the mall. Your dad’s using the car to take Hunter to a birthday party, and Diggs will be doing whatever it is that Diggs does. So that means it’s just us girls. Yay! Girl shopping and girl power,” her mother sang, clearly too excited for Jacobi’s taste.
    Â 
    Jacobi struggled across the lawn, carrying a box filled with cookbooks her mother had selected for Alissa’s mom. Her camera hung from her shoulder like a purse, swinging to and fro with each step, knocking against her side as she made her way to her neighbor’s driveway. With every thump she grimaced, watching her prized video camera. Her mother dedicating herself to teaching Alissa’s mom how to cook was fine with her, but having Jacobi carry the full load was too much. Her camera was precious, more precious than any of the recipes she was almost sure Alissa’s mom hadn’t asked for. If anything, Jacobi bet, Alissa’s mom had probably shown some interest in a dish or two, and her mother was taking her teacher role too far. She was barely into her first semester of culinary school, and already thought she was a professor.
    â€œHey ... weren’t you supposed to call me?” Alek asked from the driveway.
    Jacobi moved her stare off the camera and onto him. Her eyebrows lifted. “Huh?”
    Alek smiled. “You were supposed to call me,” he said matter-of-factly, then made his way to her.
    Jacobi crinkled her nose in thought. She didn’t remember telling him that. Or had she? He’d asked her to have Diggs call him, or was that Malone? She was starting to mix up the brothers. Not a good thing. “I was?”
    Alek reached out and took the box from her. “Yes. That’s why I gave you my number, in case you needed me. And it seems like you need me now; otherwise you wouldn’t have been carrying this, Ms. Don’t Gotta Boyfriend,” he teased.
    Jacobi laughed, moving the camera from her arm and looping the strap around her neck. “Oh, I’m sorry about that.”
    â€œSorry that you really don’t have a boyfriend, or sorry that you’re one of my brother’s up-and-comers?” He