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11
When I get home, I park in the garage and open the door, only to be met with loud, Spanish music coming from upstairs. Annoying. It only means one thing: Mom’s upstairs with Mason’s dad.
I slam the door and chuck my shoes across the foyer, where they hit the front door and land with a thud. I march through the house into the kitchen, slamming doors and cupboards and trying to be loud in general.
The music turns off, and I throw the metal knife I was using to make my Nutella sandwich into the sink, where it bounces around with loud, satisfying clinks. They know I’m home now. I just ruined their date.
Ugh. Gross.
I sit at the table, making sure to scrape the chair loudly across the floor as I pull it out, and calmly eat my sandwich.
Mom’s bedroom door creaks open, and soon she’s standing in the kitchen.
“Oh, what are you doing home?” she asks, trying to fix her still messy hair. At least she’s fully dressed.
I put down the rest of my sandwich and stare at her with incredulity. “Are you serious? It’s 6 p.m. School ended hours ago. Technically I’m late.”
She tilts her head as she considers my words. “Huh. I guess we lost track of time.”
I scoff. Unbelievable. Who’s the adult here?
She walks back to the hallway and stands at the base of the stairs.
“Brian, it’s just Amelia!” she calls up to him.
I join my mom in the hallway and lean on the door frame, crossing my arms as Brian comes into view.
“Where were you this whole time? Why were you late?” Mom asks me and I openly stare at her.
“Does it matter? You didn’t even know I was gone.”
Brian meets us at the bottom of the stairs. “Oh, hi, Amelia. We need to stop meeting like this.”
His attempt at a joke is lame and doesn’t work. I grind my molars together. “Can’t you guys at least try to be discreet? It’s like you’re begging to get caught. What if I brought my friends over after school?”
Brian shrugs his jacket on. “I did park around the corner, but you’re right, we should be more careful.”
“What you should do is put an end to this and tell your family what a piece of shit you’re being right now.”
“Amelia!” Mom immediately scolds me. “Respect your elders.”
“I’ll respect my elders when Brian respects his vows.”
She’s about to snap, but I’m not afraid. We’ve been at odds ever since we moved here. First she tried to get me to stay away from Aiden, and now it’s only gotten worse since she decided we should move. I thought we were on the right track when she let me go to the beach house with everyone, but now that this thing with Brian is out in the open, we’ve been going back and forth arguing with each other more than we get along.
Brian puts his hand on my mom’s arm. “It’s all right, Caroline. I should get going anyway.”
She frowns but kisses him, and I audibly gag. They pull apart and Mom glares at me as she hands Brian his keys.
“We really do appreciate your discretion about this whole situation, Amelia. Aiden’s as well. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to handle this. I don’t want to hurt Mason, but I can’t stop seeing your mother. It’s not just an affair . . .”
I don’t care for his excuses and I don’t want his words to sink in. He cares about Mom? It’s more than an affair? What is he saying? That they’re in love? I can’t even think about that right now. All I can think about is Mason’s face—how disappointed he’ll be when he finds out, how he’ll hate that I knew before him and didn’t say anything.
Instead of replying, I open the door and gesture outside, effectively kicking him out.
“Until next time.” He steps out the door and onto the porch.
“There shouldn’t be a next tim—”
Annalisa is walking up the driveway and I snap my mouth shut. Mom spots her too. Her eyes widen, and she quickly turns to run up the stairs.
Brian notices Annalisa when it’s too late. There’s a hitch in his step but he recovers quickly, continuing his walk and pretending that this is all normal. Like, Just another normal day. Totally not cheating on my unsuspecting wife and fooling my son. Yup, just a normal day. I’m not a complete douche bag. No ma’am, not me.
“Hi, Anna.” He greets her as they pass each other, then continues down the street.
She looks at him with her eyebrows drawn, confused, then back at me as she walks up the porch steps.
I practically hold my breath when she stops and meets me on the porch. She holds up a key. “You forgot your house key again. I brought it since I figured you’d be locked out of your house, but I guess you got in okay.”
I stare at it like I’ve never seen it before in my life. I must’ve been so focused on getting out of there with the file that I forgot it on the coffee table.
“Oh. Yeah, I came in through the garage. Thanks.”
She drops her arm and looks back at where Brian disappeared into the distance. “Mason told me his dad left on a business trip this morning. Why would he—”
Blood rushes in my ears. I say nothing as she connects the dots in her mind. I know the second the realization hits her because her bright blue eyes widen.
“Holy shit! Your mom and his dad? No way! Mason’s gonna flip his shit when he finds out!”
I shush her and pull her closer to the door and away from the nosy neighbors.
“No, Anna, we can’t tell him. At least not yet.” I need to convince her to stay quiet about it. I’m trying to get my life back to some semblance of normal. Telling Mason about our parents is the complete opposite of what I need right now, of what he needs right now.
She stands her ground. “What? Why not? He should know. His mom should know. Oh my God, poor Natalia. Have you ever met a nicer woman than her? She’s going to be crushed.”
“Anna, I know. But please. This isn’t what he needs right now.”
“Wait, how long have you known about this?”
I rub my temples, feeling a headache coming on. This is getting a lot more complicated. “A while, I guess.”
“Amelia! How can you not tell him?”
“I know, I know, I’m a terrible person. I just can’t do that to him right now. I’ll tell him, I swear, just not right now. Plus, I told Brian that he needs to tell Mason. I shouldn’t have to be the one to hurt him. If Brian doesn’t tell him, then I’ll say something.”
One thing at a time. Get Luke out of jail. Take down Aiden’s dad. Get Ryan and Kaitlyn off my back. Stay hidden from Tony and off that stupid S-Live Time app. Break Mason’s heart.
ThenI’ll be back to normal.
Annalisa crosses her arms. “Does Aiden know?”
I nod solemnly.
She exhales with defeat and runs a hand through her hair. “Wow. And he didn’t tell him?”
I wrap my arms around myself and hesitate before I answer. “I convinced him not to.” I sound selfish even to myself. “I’ll tell Mason, just not yet. I can’t keep being the reason he’s unhappy.”
She stares at me for a while, not saying anything. I shift from foot to foot under the scrutiny of her gaze.
Finally, she sighs. “I won’t say anything. But we’re going to have to tell him. For real, Amelia.”
“If Brian doesn’t, we will. I promise.”
I hope it doesn’t come to that. Maybe I’ll be long gone by the time Brian tells Mason and his wife. Maybe I’ll get to keep being a coward and not have to deal with it at all, even if that’s not what I want or what Mason deserves. And then there’s the whole “It’s not just an affair” thing Brian threw at me. Is this a real thing? Are they going to keep seeing each other when we move? Are they going to be together when this is over? I just want everything to be normal, but it’s all spiraling, and normalcy is slipping right through my fingers, and I can do nothing but stand here and helplessly watch it happen.
