“Her parents are strict.”
“Sometimes that’s a good thing, but also a hindrance.”
Eleni stretched the rules as far as she could. I was usually the voice of reason because I was pretty miserable when she was grounded from her phone or from me.
I didn’t say anything the rest of the way home. Coach pulled into the driveway but didn’t shut his truck off. “You’re not coming in?”
He shook his head. “Scout’s at home.”
“Oh, right. Thanks for the ride.”
“Maybe I’ll see you later.”
I got out, gave him a wave, and made my way inside. “I’m home,” I yelled as I put my stuff down in the entryway. My mom called it a mudroom. It was far from muddy, especially since Toni made us keep our dirty shoes outside.
“Hello?”
Toni came out of the guest room, which was where she’d slept since my mom died. Before, she would sleep in my mom’s room, but no one had really gone in there since.
“Hi, how was practice?” she asked as she rubbed my pitching arm. “All good?”
I nodded and handed her a slip.
“What’s this?”
“Prom stuff,” I told her. We went into the kitchen. “Where’s Nova?”
“Girl Scouts with Mara,” she said without looking up from the slip. “So I sign this to give you permission?”
“It’s a code of conduct agreement,” I told her. “We both sign, and if I break any of the rules, the consequences are there.”
Her head moved up and down slowly. “Well, let’s talk prom. What color will Eleni wear? We’ll get your bow tie to match.”
I grimaced and ran my hand through my hair. “I didn’t ask her yet.”
Toni looked at me confusedly and held the paper up. “What gives?”
I shrugged slightly. “Can we do a promposal thing?”
“What’s that?”
I explained what they were, and, to my surprise, Toni seemed on board. “I was wondering if we could take her to Boston for the day and I can do it there. She really likes the penguins.”
“And you’re going to what, ask the aquarium if the penguins can hold a sign for you?”
Okay, so I hadn’t thought it out clearly. I shrugged. She sighed. We both stared awkwardly.
Toni signed the sheet, and then I did. “Put this in your bag so you don’t lose it. I’ll look some things up and we’ll figure out how to do something fun.”
“Thanks.”
She nodded and sat down at the table with her phone and a pad of paper. I sat across from her and started my homework.
Chapter 33
Antonia
Spring was bananas. Between baseball, Girl Scouts, and having to travel for work, I was exhausted. It’d been two months since Miri passed, and I’d like to say the kids and I were in a decent routine. There were days when I wanted to give up, say fuck it, and haul them back to Boston, where things could be easier.
