“Hey, Max, we’re heading down for the next load,” the gruff voice from earlier calls. We see a much taller man exiting Max’s bedroom, clearly related to him—perhaps an older brother.
“I’m right behind you,” Max replies, straightening to his full height and clapping his hands together. “Well, I guess I'd better get back to it.”
“Do you need any help?” I hear myself ask before I can stop it.
“Nah, I’ve got two big brothers and a stepdad here to do all the hard work. You get to rest from doing all this shit yesterday.”
I smile. “Cool. Yeah, we’ll hang more later.”
“Bet! See ya!”
I open my mouth to say that my father, unfortunately, ruined the phrase “bet” yesterday, but I decide against it. Max doesn’t deserve that. I must bear that burden alone.
Once Max and his brothers leave, I grab a granola bar, head back to my bedroom, and text Theo about the day’s agenda. We have one day left before college starts, but it’s already shaping up to be a busy one. We’re supposed to visit Harrison’s new dorm at Georgia Tech, grab groceries and supplies, get dinner, and be back in enough time for Caleb’s sister, Lola, to pick him up and take him home to Specter.
Maybe there’s time for just a quick little power nap before we need to leave.
One of my favorite parts about living at The Eidola Village is that we rarely ever run out of hot water.
Steamy showers are always a treat, but on a morning when I have hours to spare and no one else around, I especially like to take my time andenjoymyself. Lucky for me, I have fresh memories to revisit, too. The way Nikki sounds, the way she smells, the way she tastes—all easily recalled from the night before. Sometimes my imagination can be almost as good as the real thing if the mood is right. And, oh, how the mood is right today.
Eventually, though, the incessant rumble of my phone vibrating on the counter snaps me out of my steamy daze. Wrapping my towel around my torso, I step out of the shower and peek at its screen.
ONE MISSED CALL: MOM
I groan aloud as I read the notification. It’s a little early for her to be calling. As far as she knows, it’s my last day to sleep inbefore class starts, and she knows how important sleep is to me. She doesn’t need to know that my girlfriend woke me up early this morning to find her bra after we slept together last night.
It doesn’t matter, though. “Daughter” duty calls.
I toss on my housecoat and make my way back to the bathroom, leaving the door open to let out the steam. After popping my contacts in, I press the dial button and sigh.
Mom answers in two rings. “Good morning, DEADNAME. I didn’t wake you, did I?”
My whole body cringes at my dead name. I shouldn’t be surprised to hear it from her, but the more time that passes since I started going by Jude, the more alien that name sounds. “Hey, Mom. No, I just got out of the shower. What’s up?”
“I wanted to check in and see how the move went! Are you and Celeste all settled in?”
“Yep,” I answer, putting her on speaker and setting my phone on the counter so I can continue my skincare routine. “We got an early start so we were able to beat most of the crowd, and we finished around lunch.”
No thanks to you,I add silently to myself. Celeste’s mom helped with her things, but I was pretty much on my own until Nikki showed up.
“How nice!” Mom exclaims. “Again, I’m sorry your dad and I couldn’t make it, sweetie. But you’ve done all this before, so we were confident you could handle it on your own this time.”
“It’s fine,” I lie. She has a point—this is my second year living on campus, so the move-in process was far less intimidating than it was last year. Plus, I learned from my freshman mistakes and packed much lighter. But I still would have appreciated an extra pair of hands yesterday.
“Besides, your father was exhausted from his Bermuda trip, so he probably wouldn’t have been much help. Can you believehe’s already flying back on Tuesday? Apparently, this new client they signed on is quite demanding.”
“Wow,” I respond flatly, more focused on my skincare. “That’s crazy.”
“But I suppose that’s why he gets paid the big bucks!”
“Yep.”
There’s a pause. “And those big bucks are the reason you’ll never have to worry about student loans, DEADNAME. Never forget that.”
I freeze. “I know, Mom. I know, and I’m really grateful. Always.”
“Good,” Mom says, relieved. “I’m just making sure.”
