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“The children are grown. They don’t need me to be here every second of the day.”
“They need you to drive them to their activities.”
“Easton has a car, and Jenna’s almost old enough to drive. And until she can, I’m sure Easton would be willing to take her where she needs to go, assuming I got a job in the next few months.”
“You’re seriously considering this?” he asks, sounding angry. “Why haven’t you spoken to me about this?”
“I didn’t think I needed your permission.”
He sets his fork down. “When we had children, we agreed you would stay home.”
“When the children were younger, yes. But they’re older now. They have their own lives. Easton will be away at college soon.”
“I don’t care if you get a job,” Jenna says. “If I were you, I’d be bored all day, just sitting around the house.”
“Stay out of this,” my dad says, before staring down at my mom. “We’ll talk about this later.”
The tension between my parents is bothering me so I change topics. “Nova and I are going over to Jace’s tonight.”
“On a school night?” my dad says.
“We won’t be out late. We’re just going to hang out there for a couple hours.”
Dinner continues and the tension remains as my parents avoid talking to each other. I don’t know why they’re fighting so much, but I wish they’d stop before Nova thinks it’s her fault. She always assumes she’s the problem because that’s what she’s always been told.
After dinner, we go to Jace’s house, but Liza isn’t there. She’s fighting with Jace again so she refused to come over.
“I thought you were breaking up with her,” I say, slipping my hand around Nova’s as we sit on the couch.
“I was going to, but I keep changing my mind. I kind of like that she gets all angry and shit.” He smiles. “These fights we have turn me on.”
“That’s messed up.”
“I know, right? Something’s wrong with me. So what about you two? Things going well?”
I smile at Nova. “I think so. I’m not sure what Nova thinks.”
“Things are good.” She smiles back at me.
“What happens next fall?” Jace asks. “When you’re living in Madison?”
“We haven’t figured that out yet,” I tell him. “But we will.”
“You’re not going to school?” he asks Nova.
“Not college, but I might take a class.”
“Really?” I sound surprised because she never told me this. She was adamant about not going to school next year. “What class would you take?”
“I haven’t decided, but I’ve been looking at them online. I’m kind of interested in mechanics.”
“Like fixing cars?”
“Yeah, there’s a whole program for it, and almost all the graduates get jobs. There’s a lot of jobs for people who can fix cars.”
“A girl mechanic?” Jace laughs. “That’d be a first.”
“Actually, a lot of girls are mechanics. Well, not a lot, but there’s more than you think, and more are going into it every year, according to the website.”
