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My mother planned the first time she and Dad ever left me and my brother alone—for four days—with the same thoroughness and military precision she brings to everything.
well-lit house deters break-ins,” Mom says, like we don’t live on a street where the closest thing we’ve ever witnessed to a criminal act is kids riding bicycles without a helmet.
My wunderkind brother, who skipped a grade and is currently outshining me in every aspect of our senior year, would have been the logical choice.
They’re the perfect team: Mom cool and analytical, Dad warm and exuberant, and both of them positive that they’re always right.
That should’ve put my mother low on the list of people responsible for a traumatized preteen orphan, especially with all the married couples on Dad’s side. But Ma’s always been the adult who Gets Shit Done.
“You’ve eaten almost an entire plate full of kale, and you haven’t complained once. You’re a pod person.”
It’s normal for people to grow apart when they reach high school, I guess, and it’s not like our friend breakup was some big, dramatic thing.
Their strategy worked, for the most part, since Daniel has no interest and I dislike everything except the smooth, spicy whiskey my father favors.
So anytime Gram or one of my aunts or uncles reaches out to me privately, I give them the same response Ma does. We’re doing fine.
Back when we used to hang out, Cal was this really open, friendly, carefree kid. I don’t know who he’s meeting, but if she’s making him look like this, I already don’t like her.
But are people supposed to abandon potential soul mates just because of a few socially constructed complications?
“There’s a power differential between teachers and students,” Wes pointed out. “It’s why we have a policy in place.” Then his lips thinned. “Even if we didn’t, I will always question the judgment and motives of an adult who gets involved with a teenager. Wrong is wrong.”
“Was it in eighth grade, when you planted one on Mateo and he never mentioned it again? Can’t blame him. He probably didn’t want to hear about it in excruciating detail like I did for two months straight.” Oh my God. I can’t believe he went there.
seems like all the fight’s drained out of him, and I think I was right earlier: the guy is lonely as hell. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t keep going to the mat to defend Ms. Jamison. Ivy and I might be assholes, but right now, we’re the only friends he has.
“You saw him lying there with a syringe practically dangling from his arm and thought, Eh, probably not relevant, won’t mention it?” “I didn’t know Boney was involved,” Mateo insists. “Autumn wouldn’t tell me who she was selling with. She kept saying, The less you know, the better.”
Plus, my parents have great insurance, and savings, and all those other things Henry talks about when he’s trying to convince me that I should get a business degree alongside an art degree. You need a safety net, he always says.
“What? No. That’s—listen, man, that’s just Stefan being Stefan, you know? He always says weird Breaking Bad shit like that. I mean, come on, the Weasel? It’s a joke. I don’t take it seriously.”
ignore him, because once was more than enough to make a few things obvious. One, Dale Hawkins is every bit the hack my father always said he was. Two, Emily is a better friend than I deserve. And three, I should’ve texted her back way before now.
anyone at this company that their branding is a lot more serial killer than helpful kitchen service?”
“I hope so,” I say, chewing the inside of my cheek. “Ceramics class, my ass. That anonymous tip has to be about her. I never got anywhere near Boney.”
right. I’ll go. But what about you? It’s your name on that list. You’re in more danger than anyone.” A pleading tone creeps into her voice. “Come with me.”
“Don’t you dare let Mateo make you. Spill your guts and take me down. I mean it. I’m not going anywhere until the two of you promise me that.”
Ivy has a sense of humor, but she couldn’t pull it out when she needed it. If she’d been able to brush it off, or maybe even run with it, she could’ve won yesterday’s election by a landslide.
for what she did, not her. “So what you’re telling me is, you set Patrick’s accident up,” I say in a low, deadly tone. “But instead of telling someone, you let my mother get sued for negligence.”
“No, I’m not. All day, you’ve been insisting that Lara’s part of this drug scheme. You keep looking for ways to make her fit, but you’re gonna ignore the fact that your brother kept his mouth shut today in a very uncharacteristic way? Not to mention that he was sporting thousand-dollar sneakers just now?”
“How could you do that to Boney?” Ivy cuts in, her voice shaking. “He was your student. He trusted you!” She almost looks as though she expects him to agree; like he’s still the affable coach she thought she knew. Someone she can argue with, or reason with.
“That’s all gone to hell now, so Ivy can take the rap for killing Brian, and you take the rap for killing her. And Cal, I guess. All part of your drug empire, which …” He taps himself on the chest. “Shocked and horrified me more than anyone.”
It would be believable, I guess, if you hadn’t been in the room while she fantasized about running off to a beach with him. Lara also says
“Don’t do what?” Dad asks, sitting between us. “Appreciate the fact that my children, whom I love more than life itself, are safe and healthy and happy?” He sniffs, eyes glistening.
knew, in abstract, that Autumn, Charlie, and Boney selling a prescription drug to privileged Carlton kids was part of a bigger problem. But seeing it in real time is a whole other thing, especially since part of my job is coordinating activities for kids who live at the shelter. There’s no way I’ll go
“Oh, I have big plans. Netflix, ice cream, cutting Gabe out of all my pictures and burning his head. It’s gonna be a whole thing.”
“I’m not saying it’s my fault,” Ma interrupts. “I’m saying I recognize I’ve modeled some unhealthy behaviors for the two of you. And that stops now.” She leans forward, her face becoming more animated.
come off like a lovesick teenager—which, to be fair, I was—and Lara comes off like a caring but ultimately boundary-respecting adult. My parents believe me, though.
