“I’ll go up to the house.”
This isn’t going to be fixed quickly, but Mom still sprints out of the house, as if every second she wastes will count.
I’m headed across the room toward the last small window when I see the pile of mayonnaise-coated socks and shorts from last night. There’s a towel, too. But without even smelling it, I know it can’t be the cause of this.
Oh crap.
Out the window I can see Mom crossing Nadine’s yard, closing in on the back porch. I throw myself at the window and yell her name. She stops in her tracks.
“Has Sidney been here?” I’m trying to keep my voice in check, but I can hear the annoyance.
Mom is far enough away that she’s almost yelling for her voice to carry far enough. “What? Why?”
“Mom. Yes or no? Has Sidney been in the house today? While I was gone?”
She nods, and takes a few more steps toward Nadine’s house. I’m out of my room and through the house in a heartbeat, and before I know it, I’m across the yard and practically sprinting down the sidewalk toward the deck. Sidney’s sitting at the little plastic table, rocks spread in front of her, and when my feet pound on the wood planks, her head snaps up. The look on her face when she sees the annoyance on mine is enough to confirm my suspicions.
“What did youdo?”
She narrows her eyes at me and turns back to her rocks, swiping her brush across a shiny black one. “You can dish it out but you can’t take it?”
Sidney
“You started it.” When it comes out of my mouth I regret how much I sound like a bratty eight-year-old, but I don’t regret saying it. I’m not sure why I even have to explain it to him. This is what we do, it’s who we are.
“In what delusional world did I startanyof this?”
“Pffsh.” It sounds like a wild animal is stuck in my throat. “I still smell like mayo, Asher.”
“And before that?”
“Hey, youdeservedto wake up and regret you ever drank that much. I was covered in bug bites from babysitting you, just so you wouldn’t die in a puddle of—
“—my own vomit.” Asher rolls his eyes. “I know, I know. I wasn’tthatdrunk, Sidney. You could have left anytime you wanted.”
That sounds like an accusation and I don’t appreciate it.Wasn’t that drunk?He was drunk enough to kiss me. “And beforethat?” Before that, he kissed me. And I regret asking, because I don’t actually want him to say it out loud.
“Before that, I put Kool-Aid in your shower.Yousmelled like cherry.Mywhole house smells like something died. My mom is losing her shit in there.” He nods up at the house and my eyes follow.
Crap. Crapcrapcrap.“I didn’t mean—”
“Just come fix whatever you did. We’ve searched the whole house. What did you do, stick something in the vents? Put some sort of slow-release capsules into our drains?”
I wish I’d thought ahead enough to do any of those things. “I put a fish under your bed.” I don’t meet his eyes. “Well, not a whole fish, more like fish… parts, I guess. But they were wrapped in paper, like at the grocery store and—”
“Caleb teach you that trick?” He shakes his head. “Paper,Sid?”
“I didn’t realize. I mean, it was all frozen, and I just thought…”
“Our houses are a million degrees; you obviouslyweren’tthinking.”
There’s nothing I can say, so I just shake my head. He’s right. I was so mad last night, so worked up after my mediocre date, after finding my room like that when I was already mad at him about the kiss. I wasn’t thinking, wasn’t acting like myself at all.
He’s already walking away from me. “Just fix it.”
If Asher weren’t in front of me, I would sprint to the house to tell Sylvie how sorry I am. But instead I leave a healthy distancebetween us, so it doesn’t feel so much like I’m being summoned. Asher can be a real drama llama when he wants to be, but when I step into the kitchen and see the counters covered with food and the fridge swung open, completely bare, I know this isn’t one of those times. And the smell… oh man. I am in so much trouble right now.
My skin prickles at the thought of facing Sylvie and Greg, and my parents, when they hear about this. “Where’s your mom?”
