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I opened my mouth but nothing came out.
“See? You can’t lie to me, Everly Jenkins.”
She was right about that.
“Sure, I’ve thought about sex, but…”
Her eyebrow popped up as if it was a little soldier standing at attention. “But?”
“He hasn’t even tried to kiss me.”
She elbowed me. “I bet you’ll find out this weekend.”
Hailey’s expression was comical, and I couldn’t help but giggle with her. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”
She gave me another quick hug. “You sure you don’t want to come with us and buy something super trashy to wear to the bush party?”
“No, go and have fun with your mom.”
“Okay,” she said, taking a few steps backward. “I’ll text you pics later so have your phone handy because I might need your opinion. Lord knows my mom has no fashion sense.”
I watched Hailey until she rounded the corner and then pushed past the gate, only then spotting my brother sitting under the large oak tree, picking at the grass.
“Isaac, what are you…”
But my sentence remained unfinished because it was then that I heard the raised voices. Or rather, raised voice. My mother’s. I couldn’t make out the words exactly, but did it really matter? My parents never fought, or at least they’d never fought in a way that we noticed. But maybe the polite ignorance they’d been dancing around for the last year wasn’t good enough. Maybe a loud in-your-face fight is exactly what they needed.
Or maybe this was finally the end.
I slowly slid into the grass beside Isaac and tried to ignore the butterflies diving around in my stomach. They were nervous butterflies. Anxious and unsure. And man, did they make me feel yucky.
“Has that been going on for a while, buddy?”
His skinny shoulders hunched a bit and then he nodded.
“We should probably hang out here for a while then,” I said gently, feeling hot tears prick my eyes as Isaac slowly nodded. He didn’t say a word. He inched closer to me and rested his head in my lap as he continued to pull at the grass and send it flying.
I glanced up at my house. My perfect, beautiful, and well-maintained house, with the neat driveway and clean, respectable vehicles parked there. Our grass was lush, the flowers vibrant, the paint fresh.
As I listened to my mom’s voice get loud and then fall again, I couldn’t help but wonder. Why couldn’t they maintain our family the way they did their things? Why was the picture they presented to the world so much more important than the people behind the portrait?
And why was my dad living a lie?
Pretty heavy questions, and I wasn’t naïve enough to think that I’d get answers anytime soon. In fact, I had a feeling things were going to get worse before they got better, so I should get used to it.
This was my so-called perfect life.
Chapter Eleven
Trevor
We decided to continue studying at the library, and though it was hard that first day, with Mrs. Henney and her 101 questions, I got through it. Not because my skin was thick like an alligator’s or slick like Teflon, but because I knew Everly didn’t want to be home.
So I sucked it up, and after the initial stares and whispers, things settled down. Wednesday and Thursday went by quickly, but today had been slow as hell. Something was definitely up with Everly. I tried to ask her about it, but she shut me down with one of her looks.
This Everly was closed off, and normally I’d be up for a challenge, but not today. Today I had a lot of stuff on my mind, and having the headache from hell didn’t help. My eyes hurt, and after an hour, I told Everly that I was done. I could tell she was pissed—about what, I had no idea—but then again, so was I. After texting my dad for a ride, I scooped up my laptop and books. I asked her if she wanted a lift home, but she shook her head. Said she was going to hang at the library for a bit and that I’d see her next week.
At that point I set my books back down on the table and shoved my hands into my front pockets because they were fisted and angry.
