“Just sending them onward to new adventures. I’m visiting my mom tomorrow so I can’t take them.”
“Right.” He thought on that. “Looking forward to clothes shopping and makeovers?”
I laughed, and the tightness in my chest eased slightly. Sean and I had become friendly in the last few months, while I helped him with algebra after school.
“Cat will provide good cover. Mom’s so excited she has a boyfriend.” My sister was dating a rising senior at high school, and my mother couldn’t wait to give all the advice in person. “I might be able to hide out and read the latest Sarah Dessen.”
“Or you could try to enjoy it. See it as a vacation.”
With my narcissistic mother? That time she freaked out in the granola aisle of Whole Foods, the catalyst for us to come and live with my recovering alcoholic dad, was the best thing to ever happen to me. Over the last six years, I’d seen Kendra a few times a year, and it never got easier. I was still her biggest disappointment.
“Not likely. I’ll need a vacation when I come back.”
Sean’s brow crimped.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s just—” He shook his head. “My parents are getting a divorce.”
“Oh, Sean, I’m so sorry.” I reached for his hand, and he let me squeeze it before pulling away.
During our after-school study sessions, we had shared a little, me about my mom, he about his dad. His parents’ marriage was in trouble, and having been there myself, I understood what he was going through.
“I guess I’m just hoping I’ll still see my dad when it’s over.” His shrug managed to convey a lifetime of hurt. “He’s already met someone.”
My mom had met her boyfriend Drew before she and Dad separated, and despite her faults, I didn’t blame her for seeking comfort elsewhere. Dad’s alcoholism had not made things easy for any of us. But I also knew this: my parents were better off apart.
“Just because I don’t want to see my mom doesn’t mean you and your dad won’t have a relationship.”
He huffed. “Just sucks.”
It probably sucked for Jason, too. Was I supposed to cut him some slack because his parents were splitting up? With anyone else, I might. But I’d seen how he looked at me, like I was nothing. A bug he’d happily crush beneath his boot.
I didn’t want to think about Jason anymore. Sean was the only Isner I cared for, and right now, he needed a friend.
“When I come back from Atlanta, we could go see the new Superman movie.”
“You don’t even like superhero movies.” But I could tell the prospect cheered him.
“The Man of Steel is a ridiculous do-gooder. But I do like Lois Lane and her rule-breaking tendencies. She’s got moxie.”
“She’s got what?”
“She knows what she wants.” And she was much more interesting than that underwear-sporting doofus in a cape.
The snails had finally made it to the hostas. Speedy was nestled under a large leaf while Dwayne “The Snail” Johnson was looking for his next meal. They no longer needed me.
“Bye, bye, friends,” I whispered. “Have fun storming the flower beds.”
Slug Girl won’t forget you. And when it came to Jason Isner, neither would she forgive.
Chapter One
Jason
* * *
“What the hell are you doing with that box?”
