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Mom’s smile widens. “Perfect.” She looks around and waves to our server when she finally catches her eye. “I’ll just grab the bill and then we can go.”
I nod and frown down at my half-eaten burger. Thinking of my dad being ill has taken away any hunger I felt before. I hear Mom speaking with the server, but the words go through one ear and out the other.Most likely he’s not sick,I tell myself. It could be something else. Maybe they had a fight, maybe Mom’s shop isn’t doing so well and they have to sell it. There could be a multitude of things making Mom act this way.
“Are you ready?” Mom asks while rising from the booth.
I force a smile and follow her out the door. Music blasts from a passing car. Fraternity brothers push each other back and forth as they pass us on the sidewalk. Girls dressed in black linger outside a bar, smoking cigarettes. I recognize them from the art school, but none of them bother saying anything to me. It seems like I will perpetually be the social pariah of this school.
Well, except for when I’m with the bros.
Although, I can’t rely on them all the time to save me. I need to make more friends. Sometimes I worry that I lean on Charlie too much. She has her own life, her own problems.
I see Mom’s hotel in the distance. It’s most likely the nicest hotel in the area. The dark blue paint isn’t flaking off and the sign is written in gold cursive.
“Do you want to stay with me?” Mom asks when we get closer, standing a few feet away from the entrance. “We can get some snacks, some wine, and have a small slumber party. It’ll be like the old days, but with wine.”
I shake my head. “Nah, I better get back. I’m sure the bros are expecting me.”
“Bros?” Mom asks with a chuckle.
I run a hand through my hair, feeling slightly awkward. “Yeah, that’s kinda my nickname for them.”
“Interesting.” She tilts her head at me, as if she’s assessing me for the first time. “You seem pretty close with them.”
I struggle so hard not to grimace. “Yeah,” I murmur while looking away from Mom, my eyes widening when I recognize someone leaving the hotel. His blonde hair looks a bit dim in the setting sun. I can’t quite see his face, but his body reminds me of Alex Goode.
But that’s impossible. Alex Goode doesn’t even go to our school. Why would he be here of all places?
“You can always invite one of them with you to Christmas,” Mom says while waggling her eyebrows. “We can make space.”
I scoff. “Mom!” I shout while shaking my head, trying to ignore the heat moving from my neck all the way up to my cheeks.
Mom chuckles while pulling me into a hug. “Just an idea,” she whispers in my ear before kissing my cheek. “I love you.”
“I love you, too, Mom. Have a safe trip tomorrow.”
“And you stay out of trouble.”
I wince. That’s easier said than done these days.
*****
I kick the door closed and lean against it, heaving a sigh of relief. “I’m home,” I groan while all three pairs of eyes turn toward me.
“How was it?” Lucas asks while washing a dirty plate. There’s a half-eaten pizza on the counter. Hunter and Seth grunt in response while they play a video game from the couch.
“It was okay,” I say while striding towards Hunter and Seth. I wedge myself between them.
“Watch it,” Seth whines while stabbing his fingers into the control. “You’re going to make me lose.”
I roll my eyes and glance over my shoulder at Lucas. “I still don’t really know what’s going on at home.”
Lucas shrugs. “If it was anything bad, she would have told you, right?”
I purse my lips while turning back to the TV. Honestly, I don’t really know. Mom has always been straight with me. I’ve always known we don’t have much money; that I will need to pay for my own schooling and make my way in the world. When Nana died, she didn’t hold back. She straight up told me about the circle of life, making me fear when the grim reaper was going to come calling until eventually, I decided it didn’t matter anymore.
And don’t even let me get started on the whole birds and the bees. Rather, there weren’t any birds and bees in the conversation we had. She told me men had a penis and women had a vagina and if we wanted to make babies, one needed to go inside the other, which was why I should always carry condoms on me no matter what.
Her secretive attitude is definitely a first for me.
