Inevitable and Only(24)

“Well, I didn’t quit after my first lesson,” Raven said, executing a perfect lane change.

“She’s driving about ten miles under the speed limit,” her grandmother pointed out.

Raven took one hand off the wheel to swat at her, and Ruby clucked her tongue. “Both hands on the wheel, young lady.”

“But you drive with your knees sometimes and no hands on the wheel!”

“That is not true.” Now Ruby swatted at Raven’s arm, and Raven immediately shrieked, “You can’t hit me! I’m driving!” Ruby laughed and her curls bounced. She had wild long hair just like Raven’s, only silver-white.

“Where’s Renata tonight, anyway?” Raven asked as we pulled up in front of their house.

Ruby sighed. “Working late.” Renata was a medical researcher at Johns Hopkins. She ran her own lab and often got stuck finishing up experiments or helping the interns with their projects late at night.

Ruby and I held our collective breath while Raven parallel-parked, but she did it perfectly. We applauded for her.

As we walked up to the house, Ruby said, “And Cadie, I hear that you’re going out with a nice young man? To the Fall Ball?”

“Oh, he’s just a friend.” I felt myself blush and was glad it was dark.

Raven elbowed me so hard I almost fell over. “She’s been crushing on him since before the dawn of time.”

“Well, I think that’s lovely, dear.” Ruby smiled at me. “Let me know if I can help with your dress for the dance. I’m doing Raven’s, of course.”

Ruby was an expert seamstress, and she loved to rework vintage gowns into dresses for Raven.

“That would be amazing!” I said.

“We’ll go shopping this weekend. Let me just see what I’ll need …” Ruby disappeared down the hallway into her sewing room, and Raven and I went upstairs.

“So? How is it?” Raven always cut straight to the chase.

I sprawled out on her thick white carpet, covered my face with my arms, and groaned. “It’s so awkward. I told you she’s Catholic, right? So we pray before meals now, and I think someone’s going to have to take her to church on Sundays. She practically had a heart attack after Tuesday’s Meeting.”

“How’s the Ice Queen dealing with the new princess in the house?” The Ice Queen was Mom, of course.

“She’s trying so hard it hurts to watch. She and Dad are barely talking to each other. Dad sleeps on the couch but thinks he’s hiding it. Mom walks around with this smile that pops up on her face whenever she sees Elizabeth, like she has an on/off button. I have no idea how Elizabeth’s feeling because she barely talks. Like Josh. Except about books; she and Dad are really bonding over books. So, woohoo for them.”

Raven made a sympathetic noise.

“And I hate wondering what other secrets Dad has lurking in his past. All I want is for everything to be okay with him again, but it’s always at the back of my mind now—he cheated on Mom. Right before she got pregnant with me. I mean, that’s messed up, right? And no one’s talking about it. No one’s mentioning Elizabeth’s mom at all.”

“Well, do you think Elizabeth wants to talk about it?”

“Probably not. She barely knows us. It must be like living in a foreign country. She’s in counseling at school, but I figure sooner or later she’s going to have a meltdown if she keeps it all bottled up.”

“Very gritty. Very reality TV.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“I have no idea what I’d do if Max cheated on me,” she mused.

“Yeah, let’s talk about Max. I’m sick of thinking about my family. How are things with Max?”

“Max … is amazing.” Raven closed her eyes and smiled. “Max, Max, Max.”

I tried to imagine saying Farhan’s name over and over just for the fun of it. Right now I was still working on being able to choke it out just once.

“Farhan was waiting at my locker today after lunch,” I said.

“What!” Raven said. “Details!”

“Well, there’s not much to tell. When I saw him there, my face kind of froze.” In fact, my mouth had refused to open but my vocal cords hadn’t gotten the memo and tried to say, “Hey, Farhan.” The result was that I’d garbled wordlessly with my lips pressed together. Part of my nonexistent soul had shriveled.

“Hi,” he’d said, holding up an envelope. “Here’s your ticket.”

I’d managed to unglue my mouth. “Thanks! Wow, it’s, um, a nice ticket!”

Farhan had laughed. “You’re funny, Cadie.”

I loved the way he said my name. He said it so … sweetly. I made sure to emphasize that part to Raven.

“That was your entire interaction?” she said in disbelief. “Cadie. You have got to pull it together. Okay. Pretend we’re at the Fall Ball, and I’m Farhan. What do you say?”

“Um. Will you dance with me?”

“No. Of course he’s going to dance with you. He’s your date.”

“So what am I supposed to say?”

“Small talk. Friend talk. Whatever kind of talk you want! Just because he’s a boy, he’s not not a normal person you can talk to.”