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I choke on my pineapple juice. “Don’t act as though you’re poor.”
“Actually, Franklin, I’m taking limited money from Mom and Dad and trying to blend with the other students.”
I shake my head. “After almost three years, you’ve decided to rough it?”
“No, it’s atrial.”
Mom laughs.
“You…” she pokes me in the shoulder, “… usually fight for what you want.”
“Are we talking about college here?”
“Nope. About you being grateful.”
I stare at my mother for a clue if she knows what Charlotte is on about.
“For what?”
“For having an awesome sister.”
I take another sip of my juice, my frustration levels still climbing. “I think the boasting should be left to Mom since it’s her day.”
Charlotte leans close as though she has a secret. “Penny told me where she is spending Mother’s Day.”
What?
She laughs at my shocked expression.
She lifts her chin. “I know where her parents live.”
27
PENELOPE
Zara parksthe car outside my family home. I stare at the crème-colored cottage with a small porch, and a host of memories flood my mind.
“Remember the first time we went to a party, and you got drunk on Melissa’s dad’s bourbon?”
I laugh. “It was a dare I soon regretted.”
“Your saving grace was you slept at mine.”
“Oohh yeah.” My parents are Christians, and I would have been grounded until I turned twenty if they’d found out. “They loved me but never understood teenagers. They thought time stood still and my teen years replicated theirs.”
“Not telling them what we got up to was your way of being kind.”
I giggle with Zara, then become sentimental. “You’ve been with me through some hard times.”
She takes my hand and squeezes it. “I’ll always be here for you.”
I smile at her. “Thank you. And I’ll be there for you.”
“You better go in, and I better get to my family’s breakfast. Although…” she checks her cell, “… I’m already late.”
“See you around eight.”
She honks the horn before driving away.
