Uncle Dan quickly fell under scrutiny, realizing his error in not sharing this information with Tiffany earlier. I had to hold back a smile as Uncle Dan was suddenly in trouble instead of me.
“Only yesterday.” He tried to backtrack, placing his hand lovingly on Tiffany’s back. “They called me at the office and I was so busy, it must have slipped my mind until this moment.”
“Slippedyour mind?” Tiffany bellowed. Dan immediately withdrew his hand, shrinking away from Tiffany as much as he could while remaining seated at the table. Iris suddenly found something in the pantry very fascinating, disappearing from view. “Your niece is caughtkissinga boy and then sneaks off to do God knows what in the middle of the night in a city she doesn’t know, and you just let that vital informationslipyour mind until now?”
“I didn’t sneak out.” I corrected. Tiffany’s rage-filled hazel eyes met mine. “Not technically, since I don’t have a curfew.”
Tiffany’s eyebrow ticked up in irritation. “Oh,really? Well, let me spell it out for youbothsince the rules were unclear. Curfew is 9 p.m. on school nights and 11 p.m. on weekends. No nighttime excursions with boys and no kissing on school grounds.”
I tried not to groan. This was definitely going to be an issue with my training.
“That’s more than fair,” I replied, desperate for this conversation to end. “Well, I better get to school.”
I went to stand when Tiffany stopped me with a single glare. I slowly took my seat again.
“We haven’t discussed this boyfriend of yours or your punishment for sneaking outandgetting caught kissing on school grounds,” Tiffany continued.
“I don’t think we need to get into any punishments just yet.” Dan finally came to my defense. “She is technically right about not having a set curfew. That’s on us. Now that she knows, she won’t break it again. Isn’t that right, Mari?”
I nodded quickly.
“And shouldn’t we be thrilled that Mari has only been here for almost two weeks and already has a friendanda boyfriend? Weren’t you worried about her not fitting in at school?” Dan continued, trying to ease the anxiety and tension in Tiffany while simultaneously covering for me.
“Alaric’s not my boyfriend.” I corrected quickly, irritated that this particular way of covering was heading towards having to lie to Tiffany about a non-existent romantic relationship. Tiffany glanced at me severely, and I realized that wasn’t the right thing to say. At least not now.
“At least, not officially.” The lie felt awkward in my mouth, like I had taken too big a bite of a burger and was struggling to swallow.
“See?” Dan tried to placate. “She’s making friendsanddating. That’s a good and normal thing for a sixteen-year-old girl.”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right.” Tiffany conceded. “But those rules stand, Mari.”
I nodded in agreement. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry to worry you both. We just wanted to hang out at a burger place nearby and lost track of time. I swear it won’t happen again.”
I quickly got up from the table and made a mad dash towards the front door when Tiffany added another request.
“You will bring your new boyfriend here on Sunday for brunch. Your uncle and I want to meet him.”
I froze, my hand on the doorknob.So close.
“I’ll ask, but he might be busy.” I glanced over my shoulder to find Tiffany standing in the hallway, arms crossed.
“Then bring him by on Saturday. I don’t care what day it is, but I want to meet the boy who has so quickly swept you off your feet. That’s non-negotiable.”I nodded, not fully taking a breath until I made it inside the elevator. I texted Dan immediately.
Mari
Thanks SO much for the
backup, Uncle Dan. ??
Unc Dan
Anytime kid. Looking forward
to brunch and meeting your new
beau. ??
Mari
