Mom huffs out a laugh. “And you ran upstairs crying. God, your dad is such an asshole.”
“Nah, you have to admit, it was a pretty funny prank.”
“Well, obviously. But still an asshole. You bringing that up to Blake?”
“I’m gonna see if she’ll come down. Guard the sandwiches, will you? Don’t let the dads get them.”
“With my life,” she promises. Before I can walk away, Mom touches my arm. “She’ll be okay, honey. She’s just gone through a trauma, but she’s strong.”
I nod. “I know.”
“And those hormones can be a real bitch. Try not to take anything she says to heart. She’ll probably feel bad about it later.”
“You’ve heard her snapping at me then,” I say wryly.
“Yes, but she’s been snapping at everyone, if that makes youfeel better.”
“Actually, it does.”
Upstairs, I find the door to the yellow room closed. I really did disrupt the entire ecosystem of rooms by taking the blue room without thinking. With Blake in the yellow room, Gigi and Ryder had to sleep in the mountain room, which means I got to hear my sister complain endlessly about how she much hates the mountain room because there are too many mosquitoes on that side of the house. Who doesn’t like a majestic mountain view? My twin is such a diva.
I knock on the door and am rewarded with a soft, “Come in.”
That’s promising.
The first thing I see when I step inside is the suitcase on the bed.
I take it back. Not promising at all.
“Why are you packing?” I ask with a frown.
Blake glances up from the stack of T-shirts she’s folding. She’s wearing blue sweatpants and a white T-shirt, her hair arranged in a loose braid. Clothing-wise, she looks like her usual self. But I’ve never seen that vacant expression in her eyes before.
“I’m going back to Boston,” she answers. “Well, Hastings.”
“You’re not supposed to be leaving until Sunday.”
“I decided to go early.” She folds another shirt and adds it to the pile. “I want to get settled at Grandpa’s place.”
I nod. After she and Isaac broke up, she was living with her parents in Boston, but there’s really no reason for her to have to make the commute when Grace’s dad lives in an old century home in Hastings, which is only ten minutes from campus. Blake will be living there for her senior year.
“So you’re going back to school?”
“Yes.”
I press my lips together to stop the flood of words trying to escape.All the questions. So many fucking questions.
Are you angry with me?
What does this mean for us?
Why won’t you look at me?
Instead, I wander over and sit at the bay window, hands on my knees, watching her. She moves methodically, folding each item neatly. It’s completely opposite from how I leave a place. Everything’s going to have to get taken out anyway, so I just throw it all in a jumble and deal with it when I get home.
“I think I’m going back to Boston too,” I tell her.
She doesn’t even blink. “Cool.”
