AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I am. But it's more than that. It's so much more than that. "It's complicated."
"Oh my god, Immy! You're the one who told me 'it's never complicated. Don't trust a guy who says things are complicated. That means he's hiding something.'"
Why did I teach her so well? "Okay. It's not complicated. If I want things to continue, I need to open up with him, and I'm not ready to do that."
"You're scared?"
I say nothing.
"Seriously? You're better than that. And how bad could it be? You're like… the golden child."
"What? You're the golden child."
"You have straight As. You got a scholarship to UCLA!"
"You're going to get a full ride to an Ivy."
"And those schools are three thousand miles away. If I get offered a scholarship at Stanford and I don't go there…"
"Mom has said that?"
"She doesn't have to say it."
"She wants the best for you."
"She wants the best for you too. She just… doesn't know how to do that. Aren't you the one studying psychology?"
"It's different. She's softer with you."
"Maybe. But only because I give her the opening."
What does that mean?
Julie doesn't expand or ask me to explain further. She shifts the conversation to the adventure novel she's reading as we finish dinner and clean. She waits until I'm on my way out the door and she launches a counter-attack.
"Talk to Mom sometime," Julie says. "She misses you. She won't admit it, but she does. I know something is there. So don't bother denying it."
"Okay."
"You won't deny it?"
"I'll talk to her."
"Will you tell me what it is?"
I shake my head.
"Should I worry?"
"I love you." I pull her into a hug. "Be good."
"Text me when you get home. And after you talk to him. Whatever you decide to do. Even if you chicken out."
She releases me and she shakes her headI know you didn't answer my question, but she doesn't call me on that either.
She's right.
She always is.
