“You’re still like that?”
My mom was putting shiny little earrings on.
“How should I be?” I asked, proud of my Christmas pajamas.
“It’s not Christmas,” she scolded.
“If it’s because of that, it’s not nighttime either. But I’m fine,” I replied as I dunked a cookie in Nutella.
She shot me an angry look. “What about the dinner, June?”
“What dinner?”
34
Amelia
“Where’s June?”
I had to stay late and Brian came to pick me up. He looked even more miserable than usual.
“She went home with her mom,” I said, slamming the car door.
“Why are you studying at school? Can’t you study at home?” My brother and his infallible instinct for sniffing out lies.
“Brian, save the third degree for your girlfriend.”
I gave him a sly smile, and he started the car with a more serious expression than necessary. “What girlfriend?”
“Bravo, smartass,” I quipped, adjusting my skirt on my knees. But then I remembered that Brian was never a smartass. “You’re joking, right?” I asked, whirling around.
“No. We broke up.”
“What?! Are you serious?”
It seemed absurd to even ask him because Brian never joked around, especially not about Ari.
“No. She said she wasn’t sure how she felt about me.”
After two years, my best friend dumped my brother and didn’t even tell me?
“When did she dump you?”
“A half hour ago,” he answered tensely.
“You and she . . . Oh my god! How’d you take it? How are you?” I put my hand on his shoulder.
Brian contorted a side of his mouth into a sad grimace. “How should I be? I feel like shit.”
“I’m sorry. So it isn’t like all the other times? Maybe she’s indecisive, and—” Ari was like that. She swung like a pendulum, and we never knew where she would end up. One day she was an animal rights activist and the next day she’d be eating meat like she couldn’t live without it.
“She was convinced. She said she was sure of herself this time. Did she tell you anything?”
“No. I had no idea.” I bit a hangnail off my pinkie. What if Taylor had been telling the truth in the bathroom? James was such a piece of work that I’d expect him to do anything. I could’ve killed him with my bare hands.
“She wants time to herself? I think she’s just stressed because her dad’s on her butt because she got a B.”
“No. She said she isn’t sure she loves me, Amelia. I don’t know what else there is to discuss.”
