It was a hunch, but now it’s confirmed.And Vanessa’s right beside me, her wide eyes turning slowly toward mine.
What on earth am I supposed to do?If I burst in to interrupt, I might as well just take out a banner ad: Natalie Cleary, disapproving mother, dislikes best friend’s pothead son.
Ugh.
But I really, really don’t want him dating Clara.She’s already my least reliable kid.I mean, she has perfect grades, and she’s not abadkid in any way, but she’s also changed direction twenty times during high school alone.She vacillates between delightful and angry, and I barely got her back to horses.
Before I can decide what to say, someone else interrupts.
“Trace!We talked about this.”It’s Bryce, who stormed toward them from the other side of the hall.“When I saw you were both gone...”He mutters under his breath.“You agreed with me.You can’t date her.”
“Why not?”Clara asks.
My heart sinks.
“Because, we all live here.Think about it,” Bryce says.“If you date her and it goes great, then fine.You can get married and start popping out babies with Irish accents...in ten years when you’re old enough.But what are the odds you’ll still like each other in adecade?You’re only sixteen and seventeen.More likely, you’ll date, make out, break up, and then every single family gathering, every single Halloween party, Christmas party, and family dinner, you two will be glaring at each other over the table.I’ll be stuck between you, developing a massive ulcer, and that’s the best case scenario.”
“Oh, come on.”Clara inhales sharply.“What does that mean?”
“What if your mom gets mad at mine?”Bryce asks.“What if she blames Trace for trying to corrupt her honor-roll daughter?”
Clara’s scowling now, and I feel a little bad for peering at the whole thing from around the mostly-hidden corner.If there weren’t so much music coming from upstairs, I’m sure they’d have noticed we were here.As it is, I guess Bryce is keeping them distracted, too.
“What then?”Bryce plows ahead, making my arguments much better than I could have.“You two could be responsible for breaking up a friendship that started before you were even born.How would that feel?”
Trace and Clara are both frowning, and I feel like our work here is done.I point upstairs, and Sam and Vanessa nod.All of us creep up as slowly as we can, but one of the stairs creaks.
“Sorry!”Sam hisses.“This house is old.”
The teenagers are on us like Samantha on a mud-spattered saddle with saddle soap.
“Hey, how long have you been there?”Clara asks, in a disturbingly accusatory tone.
“Not long.”But Vanessa’s wince gives us away.
“Can we just pretend we didn’t hear it?”I ask.“It feels...easier.”
“We were looking for you guys because it’s time to start the trick-or-treating,” Sam says.“No one’s after the Spanish Inquisition.”
“Huh?”Trace asks.
“For like three hundred years, Spain would burn or kill anyone who was suspected of not being Catholic enough,” Clara says.
“See?”Bryce hisses.“That’s my point.You don’t even know the word inquisition.You two are a disaster.”
I suppress a chuckle.I really, really like Bryce.Why can’thelike Clara?Not one mention of pot, and he still managed to shut the whole thing down.He’s a genius.
As we hand out candy, I can’t help thinking about how I dodged a bizarre inter-family hookup, for now, and Vanessa narrowly avoided having to commit to visiting Jack’s family.Both solutions were just temporary reprieves, but it was better than nothing.Eventually both of us are going to have to face our uncomfortable situations, but now we have time to think.
I’m distracted for a minute getting the trick-or-treating started, but once things slow down, I google whether people still use chastity belts.When hands drop onto my shoulders, I spring at least a foot into the air, tossing the last remnants of my candy into the far reaches of the lawn.
“Whoa there, spooky.”It’s Cillian.
“I—I wasnotexpecting you to show up.”
“The kids are all cutting the massive orange pumpkin cake Vanessa made—she’s quite the baker, huh?”He glances around.“I think they’re done with the candy.”
I drop to my knees, feeling around to try and find it all the same.“It’s still not a great idea to leave it out here in the grass, I imagine.In Houston, you could do it.The fire ants would eat the candy—and probably the paper, too—in under an hour.But here?Your bugs in Ireland are useless.They don’t destroy anything, and their bites send no one to the hospital.We’re basically entirely safe here, hands splayed in the grass, poking around.No snakes either.”
