AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Maybe. She didn’t ask for money this time—just wanted to know how you are.”
“She’s a bit late to start caring about how I’m doing.”
“Do you want to come home for the weekend? Or I could come to you?”
“I’m getting ready for finals, so I need to stay here. I promise I’m fine, though. It’s sorted; you don’t need to worry.”
“I will always worry about you. That’s how it works.”
Smiling to myself, I reply, “You’ve mentioned that.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to come? I don’t like being so far away from you right now.”
“I’ll come home if I feel like I really need to, okay?”
“All right.”
My grandparents were awesome, so Aunt Jess can’t figure out why my mum is so shit. They had the best role models, but only one of them decided to follow suit. Aunt Jess and Uncle Bill have given me the best childhood. I’m not at all sad they raised me.
“Anyway, I’ve only had texts and pictures from you. Tell me about the holiday,” I say.
Jess spends the next twenty minutes telling me all about their break and Uncle Bill’s sun-kissed nose.
“Sounds perfect. I’m glad you had fun. I’m going to head out now. I’ll call you at the weekend.”
“Okay, darling. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
I hang up and scowl. The mother tracked me down like a stalker. That’s a lot of effort for someone who left me without a second thought. She must have thought she’d hit the jackpot when she saw me with Casper and his insanely expansive car.
Casper.
Casper, Casper, Casper.
At least it’s almost three now so I can open a bottle of wine without the girls getting suspicious. I wouldn’t usually drink alone at home before now unless there was something wrong.
Freya arrives home just as I’m sitting down with a full glass of wine.
She pours herself one and sighs heavily when she flops beside me. “What a day. Some dick dropped his phone in the meerkat enclosure and one of the keepers had to get it out.”
“Work experience sounds fun.”
“I love working with animals, but zoos bring people, and that’s when the problems start. How was your day?”
“Er, yeah. Well, today was fine. A couple days ago, though, my mum showed up on campus.”
“What? What the hell, Ainsley! Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
Because I was too busy having sex with Casper, and my brain was fried by the time you got home.
“I didn’t want to talk then,” I say instead.
She tilts her head to the side. “Oh, hon. Why did you let me go on about the bloody zoo? Tell me what happened. Are you okay?”
I take the appropriate swig of wine for the conversation—a big one—and tell her everything. Almost everything. I tell her how Casper was there and told her to leave, too, but I don’t mention the sex thing.
That will die with me.
