“Miles?” I ask, confused at the new name.
“He’s a brat. He was yelling at the teacher, and he got sent to the principal’s office. When he left, Alex and me were laughing.”
I turn to glance at her. “Didyouget in trouble for laughing?”
She rolls her eyes. “No. Mrs. Marshall didn’t even notice.”
I frown. On the one hand, I should probably tell her it’s not nice to laugh at people, but hey… if he was being a little brat and yelling at the teacher, heshouldget in trouble. This must be what they talk about when they tell you to pick your battles.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t get in trouble,” I say, turning to face the front just as Salem’s bus pulls up.
He’s the first one off, and he keeps his gaze on the ground as he makes his way toward us.
Nora sighs. “Salem’s in a bad mood again.”
It seems like he’s always in a bad mood these days. I’m still working on finding a therapist to talk to, but part of me wonders if I should find a family therapist so we can talk to them together.
Salem is not the kid he used to be, and while that’s partly my fault, it’s also my job to help him find himself again. I thought for sure this would be easier, that he would settle in quickly. That he would feel safe.
If anything, the opposite seems to be true. He retreats into himself a little more each day. He gets snappy with me and with Nora. He ignores my attempts to get him to open up, and he fights me every time I try to talk to him.
After climbing into the back seat of the truck without a word, he slams the door shut behind him.
Well, so much for my hope that today was a better day.
Fuck.
Jasper seems completely put together and unbothered by the whole thing. As soon as he pulls away from the curb, he glances in the rearview mirror. “Did you have a good day at school?”
I want to look at Salem and see what his facial expression is, but I’m too worried about setting him off, so I don’t.
“Fine.”
“Just fine?” I ask, unable to help myself. “Did anything fun happen? Did you make any new friends?”
He snorts. “What am I? Five?”
I frown, finally glancing back at him. “No, but friends are important at any age.” Salem falls silent, so I turn back around in my seat. “What about you, Nor? Other than Miles getting in trouble, did anything fun happen?”
The ride from the school to our house is short, but Nora talks the entire way home, her voice animated and bubbly.
When we pull into the driveway, she jumps out of the truck right away, waiting for us to get out too. The second we’ve all piled out, she looks up at me. “Can I go play in the backyard?”
I glance at Jasper. “Probably not, right?”
He shakes his head. “I want to take you all to dinner tonight.”
“What kind of dinner?” she asks.
Salem starts to walk past us. “Hey, wait a second. We’re talking.”
He stops in his tracks, then slowly turns around to look at me. “You were talking to Nora. Not me.”
“We were talking to both of you.”
Salem frowns. “No. Nora asked a question. You answered her. Had nothin’ to do with me.”
“Itdoeshave something to do with you. Jasper wants to take us to dinner.” I raise an eyebrow at him. “That includes you.”
