Page 28 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

“Theo, come on. I haven’t heard you talk about anyone like this in years.”

“That doesn’t mean I like her.”

“Yes, it does.”

“No, it doesn’t. She’s so sarcastic all the time, and almost everything she says is out of line. She keeps a vibrator in her bag, Rochelle.”

My sister laughed. “She sounds fantastic.”

I sighed, leaned into the doorframe, and watched my daughter. Kira was sitting at the reception desk, thumbing through the script instead of the book she was supposed to be studying.

“She’s… difficult. If it weren’t for those eyes and that hair, I wouldn’t think twice about her.”

“It’s a physical thing then?”

I turned back to my desk and cursed. “And she knows it, too.”

“Does she?” My sister sounded so delighted that I wanted to hang up on her without another word. “And what does Kira think?”

I blew out a breath. “She thinks I hate her teacher, and she’s mad at me for blaming Mia about the script thing. She barely spoke to me yesterday.”

I was glad to hear the sympathy in Rochelle’s voice. “That’s not great. After what she went through with Tash, the last thing she needs is you arguing with her teacher.”

“I know. I just need to keep my distance.”

She was hesitant as she asked, “Do you… need me for anything?”

I barked out a laugh. “Did that hurt to ask?”

“I just, you know… I haven’t seen her since the funeral.”

“She knows you’ve got your own shit to deal with.”

Rochelle went through a nasty divorce, and for a while there, I thought my sister might have permanently changed for the worse.

She went from one legal battle to another, and it worried me. So it was good to hear her voice now, to know she was still my sister underneath her fancy art critic lifestyle.

“But it would be good to have some help over here,” I told her.

I stared through the doorway again, hoping to see my happy little girl sitting in that chair, humming and kicking her feet as she flipped through the pages of her book. Instead, I saw a young woman weighed with grief. Since we moved here, all I managed to do was make things difficult for her.

It hurt to admit, but it had to be said. “I’m not doing great with her on my own.”

“Well…” Rochelle’s voice was slow and deliberate. “Is there anything I can do to help out at her school? You said she was in a play, right?”

“Yeah, she roped me into building the sets. You could paint them. I don’t think they’ve got anyone lined up for that yet.”

She pulled in a deep breath, like she was committing to something she never thought she’d do, and it genuinely confused me for a second. Rochelle loved to paint.

“Well, it’s not like I have anything else going on.” I took that as her way of saying yes.

Kira stood in the doorway, catching my eye. She had her pack over one shoulder, like she was about to leave.

“I’ll sign you up then. Kira’s here, do you want to say hi?”

My daughter dragged her eyes up from the floor, shaking her head. I gave her a look, but Rochelle just sighed and said, “It’s fine. I have to pull dinner out of the oven anyway.”

We said our goodbyes, and I hung up as Kira planted both feet on the ground and spoke with more confidence than I’d seen from her in a while.