“To save this message, press nine. To delete this message, press zero.”
I pull the phone away from my ear. My fingers hover for a minute over the keypad.
Zero. Zero, zero, zero, zero. I can’t press it enough times.
Chapter Twenty-One
The Kind of Promise You Can Keep
That night, Kiera’s mom walks her to the door and spends about a good thirty seconds apologizing to Dad about the whole Oscar “fiasco” and another ten minutes explaining to Dad about why this age is so “delicate” and how our bodies are changing.
The whole thing is about as entertaining as watching ice melt, so Kiera and I head to my room and let Dad take one for the team. As we’re walking down the hall, I hear Mrs. Bryant pause and say, “And Andre, I also wanted to say that I’m sorry about Nate and uh... the whole—”
Dad interrupts her. “Thanks, Shawna.”
Kiera and I look at each other for a moment and thenlook away. I don’t really know how to talk about her dad, and I don’t think she does either.
I open my door, and Kiera follows me inside.
“Whoa,” says Kiera as she drops her backpack on my bed. “This is, like, basically what I remember your room looking like when y’all all lived together.” She turns to me. “Is this the same wallpaper?”
“Look closer,” I tell her.
She runs her fingers over the peach-colored walls and sees that the little pattern is completely painted by hand.
“This is painted?” she asks.
I nod. “Dad couldn’t find the matching paper, so he just painted it himself.”
She shakes her head in disbelief. “That’s kind of weird, but it’s really sweet too.”
I plop down in my desk chair. “It is, isn’t it?”
“I can’t believe how much this place looks like your other room. It’s like a museum, kind of. It’s like they never even got a divorce.”
“That’s sort of the point, I think.”
“What do you mean?”
“My mom calls it mirror houses. She didn’t want things to change for me too much, so she got my dad to rent this place and make it up to look almost like the old house. But there are still some differences if you look closely. A lot, actually.”
She turns around, looking at every detail. “Weird.”
“You’re not kidding.”
“But, like, is this house the exact same with all the same rooms and everything?”
I shake my head. “Not quite. Mom’s house has two bedrooms and this one has a third.”
“What does your dad keep in it?”
“Huh.” I think for a moment. “I’ve never actually been in there.”
“Can we go in there now?”
“Um, I don’t know.” I’ve convinced myself that whatever is behind that door is no big deal, but the way Kiera is pushing the issue makes me uneasy.
“It’s your house, isn’t it?”
