Every Other Weekend(46)
He should have been nervous. He just spent an entire afternoon with his not-girfriend. I’d had to remind him about her. I had to do that more than I liked when we were together. Not that he forgot she existed but sometimes...it was like he let himself stop thinking about her when he was with me. And did that mean he let himself forget about me when he was with her? My stomach lurched and then lurched again. Was I even allowed to feel jealous? I flopped backward on the bed and one of the little peach throw pillows toppled over to rest against my cheek. The smooth satin felt cool and comforting and did nothing to settle the unease swirling inside me.
It wasn’t all because of Adam, or even the distaste Tom left me with.
Shifting off my right hip, I pulled my phone from my pocket and had to scroll way too far back to find the number I wanted. It rang and rang before...
“Hey, you’re early. My mom’s not home yet and if she doesn’t see your name on the phone—” Cherry sighed “—actually she’ll probably want me to put you on speakerphone or she’ll think I’m lying again. I’ll text you when to call, okay?”
“I wasn’t—I’m not calling about your alibi.”
Cherry’s voice went so cold I shivered. “No. No way do you get to back out after we drove all that way to Adam’s school.”
I rolled my eyes and willed my temper to stay in check. “I’m not reneging. I’ll tell your mom whatever you want.”
There was a pause. “Okay. Good.” Another pause. “Then I’ll text you when to call.”
It was my turn not to answer right away. I rolled my eyes but this time the gesture was directed at myself. It was like we’d forgotten how to talk to each other. “What did you think of him?”
“Adam?” I could hear the eyebrow raise in her voice. “I don’t know. He’s cute, I guess. Blushes a lot.”
I felt my cheeks heat. “Yeah, but it’s cute, right?” I scrunched up my nose waiting for her response. It didn’t come right away.
“You want to know if I think the guy with the girlfriend is cute when he blushes?”
It was like my mattress turned into a waterbed sloshing underneath me and a queasy, seasick feeling surged over me again. “At least he doesn’t berate me for wanting to hang out with my friends.”
“Uh-huh. That’s ’cause he can’t tell anyone when he’s with you. He has to lie to his girlfriend so she won’t find out about you. So, yeah, Jo. He’s real cute.”
I curled up on my side, hugging that satin pillow to my chest as my chin quivered once before I stopped it. “It’s not like that. We’re friends so there’s nothing to tell.”
“Then why do you care if he’s cute? Why do you care if I think he’s cute?”
My voice went all raspy. “I just wanted to talk to you. Yeah, I wanted to see Adam, but I wanted to see you, too. We never get to hang out anymore.”
“Please. You’re at my house all the time.”
“Yeah, with Gabe and the band. Not you. We never talk and when we do, it’s you asking me to cover for you with Meneik.”
“So I’m supposed to apologize for having a boyfriend when you don’t?”
I shoved my pillow away and sat up. “Ehhh.” I made a game show–buzzer sound. “Try again.”
“Well then, what?”
“It’s not that you have a boyfriend, it’s the boyfriend you have.”
Cherry let out a short laugh. “Wow. Okay. I seriously don’t want to get in a fight with you right now. Can’t we just—”
“Pretend he doesn’t treat you like crap? How do I do that? How do you do that? Seriously, Cherry? Deep down I can’t imagine you like the person he forces you to become around him. And what about Gabe? You know he’s not a fan, and who loves you more than your twin brother? Maybe your mom? Does it feel awesome that you have to lie to her constantly? Meneik’s always pitting you against everyone and I think if you stopped for a second and looked, you might see that Meneik is the only person who thinks he’s right for you.”
“Are you done?”
She clearly was. “He shouldn’t treat you the way he does, okay? You deserve better.” She was quiet for a long time after that, so long that I started to hope. “You know I’m only saying this because I care about you.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t need that from you. I need an alibi. I’ll text you when to call for my mom.” And she hung up.
ONE DAY LATER
Jolene:
How was Turkey Day?
Adam:
The food was good.
Jolene:
What an evasive answer.
Adam
It was pretty much like I expected.
Jolene:
You didn’t talk to your dad?
Adam:
No, he called and talked to Jeremy, but I was conveniently helping with the dishes.
Jolene:
Did you get yelled at in Dutch?
Adam:
Ja.
Jolene:
?
Adam:
That’s Dutch for yes.
Jolene:
Say something else in Dutch.
Adam:
Ja is basically the extent of my Dutch. That’s one of the things my grandfather yells about. Presumably.