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I rolled my head over to her and opened my eyes. And when I saw her, I sighed. She had her arms crossed over her chest. Her leg crossed over her knee. She stared down at the floor, her lips moving as she talked to herself.
“Allison, don’t let Michael ruin this night for you.”
She shook her head. “And what makes you think he’s the one ruining it?”
Her eyes met mine.
I scoffed. “I’m not the one ruining it. You were having a good time with a drink and everything before they found us in the backyard.”
She sighed. “Did you have to be so mean to Clint?”
“He wasn’t getting the picture. He never gets the picture.”
“Do you ever talk to him about the picture?”
“I talk to him plenty enough, thanks.”
Allison sighed. “What’s really going on, Rae?”
I shrugged. “You mean other than my mother stealing my money, wanting to keep me home as a permanent paycheck, and Clint not wanting to move anywhere near me? Nothing.”
She blinked. “Wait, what’s this about your mother?”
I shook my head. “Nothing.”
“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“It is nothing, okay? You know how my mother is. You give an inch, she keeps taking miles until you piss her off for good.”
“Does Clint know you want him to move with you?”
I closed my eyes. “If he really loved me, would I even have to ask?”
And when Allison didn’t answer, I knew I had mine.
22
Clinton
Mike put his hand on my shoulder. “She’s just drunk, man. You guys are solid.”
I barely heard his voice. I barely registered his touch. My mind reeled as I watched Rae storm off, her tense body falling away from me. She peered over her shoulder, casting me a look that could’ve buried an army six feet under if she had commanded it.
I sighed. “I should’ve seen this coming.”
Mike slipped his hand off my shoulder. “See what coming? The fact that she was going to get drunk and high at a party and lose her mind? Come on, you know the kind of pressure she’s been under.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I do. And she’s been pulling away. Nothing’s been the same ever since I told her I wasn’t applying to college. I know she resents me for that.”
“Dude, she doesn’t resent--”
“You mean after all those times she helped me with homework? All those tests she helped me study for? All the work she put in to helping me bring my grades up? And you don’t think she resents me for not going to college when she helped with all that?”
Mike snickered. “She helped you graduate. That’s all she wanted. It’s not her fault her mother started breathing down her neck around the same time.”
I shrugged. “Maybe so, but can you see why my mind is doing what it’s doing?”
“Sorry. Excuse me. I’m going to go get her,” Ally said.
