AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Come on. He’ll be out for a while.”
We moved into the living room. Evan fetched a bag of chips and some soda, and I picked a movie from the pile of DVDs beside the television stand. Evan wrapped his arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his side, and we sat like that in silence, pretending to watch the movie. Because although I saw the moving images and heard the conversations, I wasn’t paying any attention. My heart was too busy breaking for Evan and Eli and their situation, wondering how long Evan had been cleaning up after his mom while trying to protect Eli from everything.
“I can feel your mind working overtime from here,” he said in a flat voice.
“Sorry, I can’t help it.” I pressed further into his side, dropping my head onto his shoulder.
“She wasn’t always like this. She used to be great. Fun and always smiling.”
“What happened?”
“She got pregnant with Eli. Dad was pissed. He didn’t want another kid, but Mom wanted to keep him. They fought a lot. He stuck around in the beginning, and then one day, he packed up and left.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “It is what it is.”
“Do you have other family to help out?”
Evan tensed, and I wanted to take back the question. But it was too late. “They’re part of the problem.”
“Oh,” I said, pulling free of his hold. “I’m really sorry, Evan. If you ever need—”
I didn’t know what I was offering, but I felt compelled to let him know that I was here.
Evan twisted his body to face me. “No more talk about shitty families, yeah?”
“Okay.”
His hand reached out for my neck, curving around my skin, holding me there. “Thank you for staying with Eli.” It looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. Instead, he leaned forward, brushing his lips across mine. My body responded, arching into him.
I realized, then, that maybe our connection was born out of our desire to escape the burdens we carried.
* * *
“Mom, Dad, I’m home,”I called out as the door clicked shut behind me.
When Eli had finally woken, the three of us made spaghetti, but I left when Mellie called to say Ellen was awake.
“In the kitchen, sweetheart.”
Part of me was relieved to hear Dad’s voice. At least, I could avoid another showdown with Mom. But when I entered the kitchen, Mom was sitting there with her lips pressed together in a thin line, and I knew I’d walked into an ambush.
“Hey,” I said, glancing back and forth between my parents, dread pooling in my stomach. “Is everything okay?”
“Actually,” Dad started. “Your mom and I would like to talk to you about something.”
“I’m listening.” Dropping into an empty seat, I avoided Mom’s icy stare. It was like she could see straight through me.
“After everything, the move, settling into a new school, we didn’t want to push you, sweetheart, but we’re concerned that you still haven’t applied to college.”
College?“I still haven’t decided where I want to go.”
“Berkeley is close. It’s a great school with great programs,” Mom said coolly, and my eyes snapped to hers.
“I haven’t really thought about it.”
Dad cleared his throat. “That’s what we’re worried about. Your mom thinks—”
