“You seem to have a lot of good qualities,” I say, gesturing to the piano.
“Funny,” he says, smiling at me, “I was just thinking the same thing about you.” I can feel my cheeks start to turn pink again. It’s so frustrating to be someone who blushes easily. It’s like everything I’m thinking and feeling gets projected right onto my face. No privacy.
“Study time.” I clap my hands together.
“Already?” he says. “Fine, but I need my Twizzlers.” He smiles that lopsided smile of his.
“I thought they were for me.”
“These?” he says. He pulls one out of his pocket, dangling it out like he’s baiting me. “No way.” Then he leans close to me, so close I can feel his breath on my ear. “I forgot to tell you,” he whispers, his words dancing on my neck. “They’re my favorite too.”
Scene Three
After I walk Len out,I find my mom in the kitchen, sipping tea out of a red mug withCURIOSITY KILLED THE CUPwritten on it. The logo has never made much sense to me, but she loves it. She bought it in Portland on a trip we took the summer before I started high school. Whenever she’s not feeling well, my dad will make her a cup of hot chocolate in what he calls her “curiosity cup.” It always makes her smile.
“How did it go?” she says when she sees me. She sets down her mug, and I flop my elbows onto the counter.
“Good,” I say. As soon as the word is out, my mouth turns up into a smile. This ridiculous grin that I’m sure makes me look like I’m psychotic or something.
My mom, however, is smiling right along with me.
“What?” I say, trying hard to turn the corners of my mouth back down.
“Nothing,” she says, taking a sip but keeping her eyes on me. “You just sounded pretty good playing that thing, that’s all.”
“Oh, yeah.” I straighten up and run a hand through my hair. “I’m glad we kept it.”
“Me too.”
I have to ask her about the article, and I’m trying to figure out the best way to do it, but I just don’t think there’s ever a good time to ask your mom if your dad’s a traitor, so here goes. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Of course.” Her eyebrows knit together.
“I read something at school today.” I wiggle my lips side to side, trying to figure out the best way to move forward. “And I need to know the real story.”
“Okay,” she says. “Want to ask me?”
I take a deep breath and place my hands on the countertop. “What happened with Uncle Richard? With their family, I mean. Why did Dad choose the Montegs?”
My mom sighs and folds her hands around her mug. “I knew this would all get stirred up once they got back. I told your father—”
“Mom?”
She nods her head like,I know. “How did you find out?”
“The internet,” I say. I don’t mean for it to come out in such a sarcastic tone, but it does.
“Things were complicated,” she says. “Your father and Rob’s dad have always been close.”
“That’s not it,” I say. “It doesn’t add up. It doesn’t explain why Juliet’s family would hate us or why they had to leave town.”
My mom looks at me, and for the first time in my entire life, I realize that she looks older. That she hasn’t always looked like this. That sometime not too long ago her skin didn’t have a single wrinkle. That a million things have happened to her that I don’t remember, that I wasn’t even around for. And maybe it’s because of this that when she says what she does next, I believe her.
“They had an affair,” she says. “Rob’s mom and your uncle Richard. It was a huge mess, and your father and I somehow got caught in the middle. Your father chose his best friend. He thought he had to.” She stands up from the counter and comes over to me. She tucks an arm around my waist and holds me so I’m facing her. “Sweetheart, people make mistakes. We all did with this one. Sometimes you can recover, and sometimes you can’t. Rob’s mom and dad mended things. They have four beautiful children together. Unfortunately, your father couldn’t fix the falling-out he had with his brother.”
I nod, taking it in. “Do you think he ever will?”
My mom sighs. “I don’t know, but I hope so. I wish for it every day.”
