Page 66 of The Beta Test

He pauses, hands full, “Yeah?”

“How long are you and Mom going to be—” The word catches in my throat.

His eyes look sad, and all the anger I’d felt last night seems like ash that’s drifted away. Maybe the flames will be rekindled at some point, but for the first time, it occurs to me that maybe this isn’t what he wants. Plus, I don’t want to ruin the nice night we’ve had together.

“Never mind.”

I set my questions aside and help him load the dishwasher, then start it.

While he's rinsing a plate, a question surfaces that's been sitting in the back of my mind. “Dad, are you going to want the Corolla back? Now that you're home?”

He looks at me, surprised. “No, Avey girl. That's your car now. I'll figure out my own situation.”

I nod, not sure why the answer makes my throat tighten. When we finish, I fold the blankets on the couch while he rouses Hunter and gently convinces him he does, in fact, need to brush his teeth before he goes back to sleep.

The next day, Mom drops us off at Dad’s new apartment. The moments between Dad opening the door and Mom driving away are strange, but the day goes pretty well. Hunter is in a good mood and enjoys helping construct all the furniture for our bedrooms, especially when Dad lets him use the electric drill. Our rooms are fine—sparse—but that’s to be expected in a new space. It’s hard to imagine bringing half of my stuff from my room at home. Dad assures us we’ll go shopping to fill in for whatever we need at his place, but that’s something to worry about in the future.

Monday morning after AP Lit, I catch up to Analiese in the hallway as she walks towards her locker. I watched her all during class and noticed she wasn't as engaged as usual. Her eyes stayed downcast—her hair a messy jumble, clothes rumpled. And now, as I approach her rifling through her open locker, the tension pinching her eyes into angry creases is clear as day. To summarize: she looks stressed.

Why should Analiese be stressed? She’s a swim captain and she’s likely valedictorian. From my perspective, Analiese is crushing my goals.

“Hey, Analiese.”

She startles, like she’s completely surprised to notice I’m standing next to her in the loud and crowded hallway. Her eyes only examine me for a second or two before she goes back to organizing her things in her backpack and locker, apparently deciding not to acknowledge my existence.

I recall our last day together—watching that movie—and Jenna’s nudge to reach out to Analiese. Though I'm questioning that advice right now, I'll follow through. Even if it makes me uncomfortable, I can see how the things Analiese has done and said over the years have been rooted more in her own pain than in any desire to spite me. The story she shared with me earlier this school year about her dad was absolutely brutal.

Even though things have changed with my family, my dad has never directly done anything to betray us.

I clear my throat and try again. “I just wanted to say… I look forward to being co-captains next month.”

She cuts me a disbelieving look as she slams her locker shut and slings her backpack over her shoulder. For the first time I notice how frayed and faded her bag is.

“Sure you are. Avery James, queen of all she sees, is excited to share her crown? I think not.”

Her shoulder roughly brushes past mine as she begins to walk away, but I anticipate her departure and fall in step beside her. I ignore her heavy sigh. Maybe I’ve learned some moves from Jake.

“I hear you're the one with the crown, as you’re the currently ranked number one and likely to be our valedictorian.” I swear I keep all the bitterness out of my voice. I give myself an internal pat on the back.

She snorts. “I’m sure you hated that news. I’m not even sure why. Your parents are loaded and can send you to whatever college you want anyway. Some of us have to work for our way there.”

“Ok, first of all, my parents aren’t ‘loaded.’ Yes, my mom is a doctor, but doctors have massive student loan debt.”

She gives me a disgusted glance but keeps walking down the hall at a brisk pace.

“And secondly, I’ve always worked as hard as you, if not harder.”

That makes her stop so suddenly I have to turn and retrace my steps to where she stands, her mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“You can’t be serious.”

I shrug my shoulders, legitimately confused about why she’s confused.

“Not only did you have two involved parents helping you every step of your life, you’ve had Braden carrying you through every math and science class since middle school.”

I blink, caught off guard. “Braden didn’t carry me. We studied together.”

“Avery, please,” she gives a humorless laugh. “He practically did everything for you. You don’t get to lecture me on hard work.”