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“I don’t… yeah, sure, but…”
“Then don’t overthink it, Persephone,” Bernadette whispered. Then she leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Persi’s cheek. “I’ll find you later,” she added, and walked back toward the house.
Persi stood there for a moment, her expression slightly dazed. She seemed to shake it off just as Rhi and my mom walked out of the house together.
I turned to the others, but no one seemed the least bit surprised that Persi and Bernadette were in a relationship together. Nova caught the expression on my face and whispered, “You didn’t know?”
“Of course, she didn’t know!” Eva hissed back. “She’s been here for like two days!”
“Bernadette and Persi have been on and off again for years,” Nova explained, rolling her eyes. “They’ve never been good for each other, but they just keep getting back together, like a bad habit.”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Rhi’s voice caught my attention, and I turned back to the driveway.
“I… I suppose we’d better get home,” Rhi said. She gestured toward the car. “Shall… shall I drive?”
Persi shrugged without answering and walked to the car, sliding into the passenger seat and slamming the door.
“No, I think I’m going to walk,” Mom said. “I need to clear my head.”
“Are you sure?” Rhi was bouncing anxiously from foot to foot, twisting her hands together. “It’s a long way to—”
“Yes, I’m sure. Thanks, Rhi.”
I watched as my mom stood at the end of the driveway. She waved after the car, watching it all the way to the bend in the road, where it disappeared from sight. Then she pulled out her phone and started typing something.
“No offense to your mom, who’s clearly going through some shit, but I don’t want to stay in this bush all day,” Eva whispered.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I murmured. “Maybe we can sneak around the—”
My phone started going off. Loudly.
“Shit, shit, shit!” I gasped, pulling it from my pocket. My mother was calling me, because of course she was. I’d told her I would text her to let her know where I ended up, and I’d completely forgotten. I silenced the ringer, but the damage was done. My mom was staring, bewildered, at the hydrangea bush.
“Wren?” she called uncertainly.
I considered just staying quiet, but then I realized my geo-locator was on, and all it would take was one click for my mom to know for sure that I was crouching like a criminal in the bushes. I sighed and walked out where she could see me, my friends following sheepishly behind me.
“Wren, what in the world are you—” my mom’s voice faded as she glanced up and saw the open window and put two and two together as only a mom could.
“How much did you hear?” she finally asked.
I swallowed hard. “Everything.”
I could feel my friends braced behind me for an onslaught of berating and shouting, but my mom just sighed, her shoulders slumping.
“That’s really not how I would have wanted you to find out,” she said.
“I really didn’t mean to. We… we just happened to be in the library, and Nova panicked, and… I’m sorry. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. But the rest of you won’t be if Ostara finds out you overheard that meeting,” my mom said, looking at the others. “You should probably get out of sight before she spots you out here.”
“We can pretend we were just walking back from town, unless…” Nova bit her lip and looked at my mom.
“Unless?”
“Unless you’re planning on ratting us out.”
My mom actually managed a smile. “Nova, you may not know this, but I used to be friends with your mom. We got into our fair share of mischief back then, and we didn’t always get away with it. I still have stress dreams about getting caught by Ostara. Your secret is safe with me, as long asoursecret is safe with you, because Ostara’s right. The Covenant can’t become common knowledge. I need you all to promise me that it won’t.”
