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“What he wants to do next?” Dad asked in a fiery tone. “He has all the talent in the world to be the next big thing and the road to that is wide open right now. Do you know how many people would kill for this?”
“That doesn’t mean it’s right for him,” Mom said.
He looked at me with a stern stare, but I saw a flash of sadness in his eyes. At that moment, I realized I wasn’t living my dream—I was living my father’s. Dad and Jake spent a lot of time out in California chasing their dreams of fame. A part of me knew he packed that dream up when I was adopted.
Sometimes I wondered if he was proud of me or envious. I wondered if pride and jealousy could’ve been roommates in a person’s soul. The kind of roommates who fought every day and had no business being around one another.
He crossed his arms. “Do you not want to be an actor? After all this time? After all the sacrifices we’ve made?”
There it was—the overwhelming desire to go rock in a corner sitting in a puddle of my sweat.
“Don’t guilt-trip him,” Mom ordered.Yeah, you tell him, Mom!At least someone wasn’t afraid to speak up.
“I’m not guilt-tripping. I’m asking. Aiden.” He approached me. “Be upfront with me. Do you want to be an actor?”
The look in his eyes told me there was only one right answer. Only one answer would make the guilt and panic in my chest ease away. The one answer that wouldn’t make me a disappointment in my father’s eyes. His dreams, not mine. “Yeah, of course.”
Dad sighed with relief. “See? He wants this.”
Mom turned to me, tilting her head as she studied me, but remained silent. She knew I was lying, but she wouldn’t go against my words.
“I just want to experience senior year for a short time. If a role comes, I’ll leave. Dad, I’ll stay on top of everything, my career and school. We can make this work.”
Dad’s brows lowered as his nose scrunched up before he finally surrendered. “The moment schooling interferes with your career, I’m pulling you.”
That seemed backward for a parent to say, but I wasn’t going to argue it. “Deal.”
Right after I finished the talk with my parents, I headed to my bedroom, collapsed onto my bed, and pulled out my cell phone to send off a text message.
Aiden:Guess what?
Hailee:You met Timothée Chalamet and gave him my number?
Aiden:No.
Hailee:Oh. Then there’s a very good chance I don’t care.
That sounded about right. I skipped right past her snarky remark.
Aiden:I’m coming home for senior year. We can finish our high school to-do list.
At the beginning of our freshman year, Hailee and I created a list of things we wanted to complete in high school before graduation. Unfortunately, we’d only crossed off a few items since I missed a whole year with her. I had a lot of catching up to do with our list. The more I thought about heading home to be somewhat of a normal kid again with my best friend, the more excited I became.
Hailee:Are you really?
Aiden:Yup. I’ll be back in the house next door in no time, annoying the living shit out of you.
The three ellipses appeared before disappearing, then showed up again, then disappeared, and did that repeatedly. Which meant Hailee was overthinking her message. My best friend was the master of typing and deleting her messages. She was probably debating on if she should be sassy or sweet. My favorite sweet and sour girl.
Aiden:No reply? Couldn’t think of a clever way to sass me?
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Hailee:Hurry up already, loser.
