After yanking Milo toward the table, their mother then wrangles Kai to the opposite seat. With a churning stomach, I forced myself to the table, taking the seat by Milo.
“Okay,” Mrs. Nelson says, taking a steadying breath. She stands at the head of the table with her husband uncomfortably standing by. “Now, let’s all take the hostility down a few pegs. Tell me what happened.”
“What happened?” Kai screeches, lifting off the chair to throw a condemning hand our way. “I told you, Mom. They were in his bedroom, sucking each other’s faces off.”
Concern dimples Mr. and Mrs. Nelsons’ faces. “Is this true?” Mrs. Nelson asks in a shaky tone.
“I wouldn’t put it like that,” I mutter, shrinking under her gaze.
Milo throws a pointed hand at Kai. “He’s making it sound ugly. Jamie and I weren’t doing anything wrong.”
“Son,” Mr. Nelson starts warily. “If you and Jamie were kissing in your bedroom, you know that’s against house rules.”
Milo rolls his eyes, groaning. “It’s not like anything more was going to happen. We could’ve been sitting on a couch in the living room.”
“My relationship with Tabby isn’t a secret, but I didn’t sneak her upstairs,” Kai jabs.
“Would you stop,” Milo snaps. “We weren’t doing anything wrong. It’s not like I held her any closer than you did when she was in your bed!”
Mrs. Nelson chokes on her gasp, clutching the back of the dining chair. She and her husband stare at me, disturbed and mortified.
My heart pounds like a heavy mallet, and my back aches from the tightening knots. I know exactly how they’re looking at me.
I kick the seat back and stand, slamming my hands on the table. “I’m not a slut!”
Mrs. Nelson clutches her chest. “No one said you were, dear.”
Mr. Nelson gently raises his hand. “Jamie, we…”
“Save it,” I mutter and B-line out of the room.
I hear Milo call out to me, but I hurriedly race up the stairs. Humiliation seizes me, feeling the grandparents’ eyes burning holes in my hunched back. Hating every millisecond of my weeping eyes filling with water, I run into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I dive onto the bed and hide under the covers, internally screaming. Every handwritten entry from my mother, cursing other women for calling her the s-word, spirals through my mind. Tears soak my pillow. She’d hate it if she knew people looked at me that way.
I collapse into a tight ball, clawing at the bedcover for protection. The voices in the dining room are so heated, I hear the agitated mumbles rise through the carpet. My knuckles crack and my palms cramp as I tug harder on the bed cover. It’s now too tight, but I don’t dare let go.
It’s a long while until I hear other noises. Hurried footsteps bound up the stairs, and soon there’s a knock at the door.
“Jamie?” Milo’s voice asks with tenderness. “Are you okay?”
A soft squeak escapes me.
“I’m so sorry about what happened down there,” he says through the door. “Kai can be an absolute jerk. I can’t remember the last time I yelled like that.”
My head sits against my knees. Can he just go away?
“I really hope you’re okay,” he says with concern.
“Milo,” his mother's voice calls from the stairs. “You leave Jamie alone. Either study in Kai’s room or come back downstairs.”
Milo grumbles and moves away from my door.
I grunt and throw off the cover, breathing in the fresh air. I sit up in bed, my hands flexing in and out of fists.
Now Milo’s banned from being near me? What makes them so afraid? Do they think I’ll kiss him into the dark side? Does it not cross his parents’ mindsthat we might truly be into each other on a deeper level? Kissing is just a bonus of what we share.
I stay in bed for the rest of the evening. It was already getting late before Milo and I started heating things up, so it didn’t take long for the rest of the household to turn in. I’d decided before I hearing the usual cleaning up sounds of Mrs. Nelson nightly routine. I can’t spend another night in this house. I’m not getting up in the morning to see their outraged faces. They might’ve branded me with such ugly words, but I don’t have to stay here and take it. When even my best friend turns on me, I can’t win.
I creep out of the bedroom and hear metal music seeping out from under Kai’s closed door. Beside me, light spills out from underneath the bathroom door. While both boys are occupied, I sneak downstairs with nothing more than my cell phone. I tiptoe into the kitchen to fish Aunt Maddy’s car keys from the bowl. Who cares about failing a driver’s test? I know how to drive, and I know I need to be home.
