“Whoa, Vivian,” Rachel said. “I don’t know everything that is going on here, but I think you may be taking out some old issues on Parker.”
“He started it,” I said stubbornly.
“No,youstarted it,” Mom said.
Anger flashed through me. Would it hurt her to take my side just once?
“I didn’t do it on purpose! I don’t know what I’m doing here!”
“Yes, but if you’re going to make this YouTube channel a thing, then you need to learn—and quick. I don’t know Parker that well, but he doesn’t seem much like Mitch.”
I sagged into my chair, prey to another one of Mom’s guilt trips. “I’ll try to apologize again tomorrow.”
Mom’s gaze softened. “Don’t worry. This will all blow over.”
“What was that all about anyway?” asked Rachel.
I explained the Friday morning period emergency and showed them the little video.
“Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have made a video about that,” Abi said. “And you sure shouldn’t have mentioned his name to Alavita.”
Yes, Abi’s good friend Alavita who basically hung me out to dry. “You could’ve poked me or something to keep me from saying it.”
“You know I can’t think straight before coffee.”
I rolled my eyes.
“What?” Abi persisted. “I thought for sure they’d have coffee for us.”
Mom took a sip of wine. “I wonder how his daughter feels about all this?”
My stomach clenched at the thought of Cassidy, but I wasn’t going to admit that to Mom.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” I said. “She knows how to put controls on her social media.”
“If you say so,” Mom said, her tone positively infuriating.
Curse Alavita Hodges for asking me all those probing questions.
“I should’ve never made a video. I should delete the whole channel.”
“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater now.” Mom took another sip.
I looked around the group from person to person. “I thought the channel might be the answer to my prayers. I don’t want to move, y’all.”
“We don’t want you to move, either,” Rachel said. “But have you considered just getting a regular job?”
Anger snapped behind my eyes, and I tasted bile. Did they really think I hadn’t been trying to find a job? “I’ve submitted almost a hundred applications, and the only people who’ve responded are that door-to-door knife company and the telemarketing sales thing.”
“Those aren’t great jobs,” Abi said, her tone suggesting a peace offering.
“Well, it’s better than nothing,” Rachel said, obviously ready to double down.
I opened my mouth to answer, when Mom added, “What would she do? Retail? She never finished her degree.”
Shame burned through me like the world’s worst hot flash. Abi and Rachel didn’t know about my lack of a degree. They assumed I had one, and I’d never bothered to correct them.
Yeah, because you’ve been too ashamed to tell the truth, which is ridiculous. A degree doesn’t mean a person is more intelligent or capable. It’s just a piece of paper.
