AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She has a lot of crystals, and her favorite movie is Practical Magic.
When I kissed Marty Buchanan by the mulberry tree, she knew. Instantly. After releasing my wrath upon Brant, I stalked inside—and Mom twisted around on the couch, raised that infamous eyebrow, and told me I was too young to be kissing boys.
When I fell through the ice, she knew. She said the moment it happened her skin chilled and her blood froze. She obsessively called my father, insisting something terrible had happened.
The night of the prom…she knew.
Mom told me there was a pang in her chest all night, from the moment we stepped out the front door. She couldn’t stomach dinner. She couldn’t concentrate on her crochet work.
She sat on the couch with her cell phone in her lap all evening, until she got that call from Brant. The one that informed her I was in the hospital after collapsing at the dance from an asthma attack.
She never expected Theo, though.
She just knew something was wrong.
Like right now.
Something.
Her lips purse with concentration, as if she’s trying to pull brain waves out of my mind and pick them apart with her sorcery.
Good luck, Mom. I don’t even know what I’m thinking.
Unable to get a read on me, she sighs heavily. “You seem flustered. What are you not telling me?”
I hope she’s not shining a light on my inner psyche with her laser-beam eyes, because I’m currently replaying that kiss over and over, detail for detail. My cheeks redden like traitors. “Nothing, Mom. I was on my way down to talk to you, and I was nervous. I thought you wouldn’t approve.”
“Why wouldn’t I approve? He’s your brother.”
I falter. I don’t have an answer for her that doesn’t implicate us for our indiscretion, so I focus on the situation itself instead of Brant. “I didn’t want you to feel abandoned. If I leave, it would just be you and Dad, and it hurts my heart to think of you both all alone in this quiet house.”
Tears blanket my eyes as my own words sink into me.
My mother lifts up from the doorframe with a sympathetic smile, stepping toward me and curling my hair behind my ear. Her hair shimmers with a sprinkling of silver threads beneath the hall light. “All birds have to leave the nest eventually, June. There’s no good time or right time. They simply fly when their wings are ready.”
I shift my gaze to the bluebird canvas above my dresser, sniffling through a nod.
“Take a few days to feel out the situation, and if it’s a good fit, I’ll talk to Dad and we can help move your things over.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Mom lowers her arm, her smile still in place. “If you’re going to stay with anybody, I’m glad it’s Brant. He’s always had your best interest in mind.”
My hand slips into the pocket of my hoodie where one of the spare keys to Brant’s apartment rests. Mom and Dad have the other.
I send my mother a strained smile, gripping the key in a tight fist. “Okay…thank you,” I tell her, stepping backward and bending down for my two bags, jam-packed with clothes and toiletries. “When Dad gets home from trivia night, can you fill him in for me? I’ll stop by and talk to him tomorrow.”
“Of course, sweetheart.”
“I love you.”
She returns the sentiment and leaves me to finish gathering my belongings. Before I retreat from the room, I hesitate briefly, my eyes skating up to the bluebird painting.
I worry my lip between my teeth.
Then I snatch it off the wall and stuff it into one of the bags.
Two hours.
