“What?” Kai shouts. A smile tingles at my lips. “She can’t abandon you when you’ve just been kicked off the soccer team.”
“Not to mention this whole getting kicked out of school thing.”
A frustrated grunt flies out of Kai. “Isn’t Maddy supposed to be your guardian? The parental figure? And she just wants to fly off for a vacation when your world has done a one-eighty? Nope. You have to fight her on this.”
“I tried,” I whine, falling back on the bed. “But then your brother opened his big yap, helping Maddy find excuses to leave me.”
“Wait, Milo did what?”
“Aunt Maddy was figuring out how she could leave when I’d be home alone, so Milo blurts, ‘Why doesn’t she stay with us?’”
Kai sighs. “Well, that’s a no-brainer. Of course, you’d stay with us.”
“But I didn’t want Maddy to realize it. She could’ve squashed the whole idea right then. But no. Milo was here.”
“He barely adds to conversations,” Kai replies. “Why would he start then?”
“Exactly!” I whine, sitting up. “You are in trouble. If you hadn’t forgotten him, he’d never have been here.”
Kai laughs. “Sorry. It’s not like I truly forgot him. I was just doing something better.”
“Something better?” Better than having another excuse to see your best friend?
“Tabby texted me that she and her friends were shopping. Parker made us turn the cars around because, you know, he has a thing for Yvette.” A nervous laugh puffs out of him. “And an excuse to see Tabby again took little convincing.”
“Oh.” My hand squeezes the phone and the other cramps into a fist. “So, you were on Main Street the whole time?”
“Mmm. Part of the time. Wait, are you mad? You sound a little mad.”
“No.” I blow out a breath, hoping to relax and change my tune. “Like I said, it’s your fault Milo was still with us. If you’d just answered your phone or returned a text saying you were on Main street, it would’ve been cool to leave Milo waiting.”
“What can I say? When I’m around Tabby, my phone is the last thing on my mind.”
“Oh.”
“Chill out. I’m not ignoring you. Hello, we’re on the phone right now.”
I smile and an awkward laugh fumbles out. “Yeah, I know. Guess I’m just on edge after fighting with Aunt Maddy.”
Kai blows out a breath. “How can she not think about your needs? No wonder you’re pissed.”
I rub the side of my head. “It’s all giving me a headache.” I peer around the bed and spy the diary on the floor. “And then I found something super weird.”
“Huh? What is it?”
“My mom hid a diary in the baseboard.”
“Whoa. How’d you find that?”
“I slammed my bedroom door and then kicked the wall. In all the room shaking, the baseboard fell off the wall. My mom must’ve jammed it inside.”
“Did you know she kept a diary?”
“Nope. I’m guessing no one did, or she wouldn’t have hidden it.”
“Are you going to show it to Maddy?”
“With the way I’m feeling right now, I’d rather keep it from her.”
