Page 31 of The Plan

Playing it off, I hand her the piña colada I’m still holding, but she doesn’t even glance at it. Stubborn as always. “Just take it. Apromise is a promise.” She lets out a scoff and turns away to the equipment.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be surprised if you don’t bring me one next week and break this promise too. I’m used to you making empty promises.” I go still for a second, and although I can’t see her, I can hear the hurt in her voice.

I suck in a breath and let my hand fall since she obviously isn’t going to just take the damn drink. “I wasn’t the only one who broke promises, Vidia.” She goes still and turns her head over her shoulder but keeps her eyes on the floor. I roll my eyes at her and walk over to her desk, setting her stupid drink down.

“What are we doing today besides throwing shit in each other's faces?” She doesn’t respond but points me in the direction of a new machine, and I get this over with.

Chapter Eight

Vidia

Four Years Earlier

Ididn’t think you’d takeit literally.”

I watch my mom on the Facetime call as she applies her mascara. When she tells me something, I always take it literally, so why did she think it’d be different when she had me make my twenty-five rule?

When I got my first boyfriend and my first heartbreak, she told me to pick an age, and until I reach that age, I’ll have fun and start taking boys seriously at twenty-five. It’s been working perfectly so far, and I haven’t been heartbroken since.

“Well, I did. So, once again, no, Sire isn’t my boyfriend.” She pokes her eye for the third time in the last five minutes we’ve been talking. “Mom, you’re putting it way too close to your eye.” She completely ignores me and pokes her eye again.

She angrily shoves the mascara stick into the bottle but misses. “This stupid shit.” I point the screen to the roof of Sire’s car so she can’t see me laughing. Once I bring it down to my face again, I watch her tying her hair in a high ponytail matching mine. “So he’s not your boyfriend, and you haven't had sex with him, but you just go out on dates with him and casually take naps together?”

How does she even know about the naps?! The only logical explanation is that Hazel is a chismosa. “First of all, we do not go on dates.”

She grabs her phone and walks out of her bathroom. “Going to the aquarium and the movies every Fridayandmini golf are all dates, V.” No, they aren’t. We’re just hanging out.

I’m tired of holding my phone, so I stand it on the dashboard. As I stand my phone up, I glance at the coffee shop in the distance and start to wonder why Sire is taking so long with our drinks.

“Okay, I was already at the aquarium with Hazel, and he showed up—”

“And the second time you two went?” Oh, Hazel is a dead girl walking. We went that second time to work on his fear of the tunnel, but I decide to play dumb because these are starting to sound like dates, like Sire and Hazel also claim them to be, and I don’t want either of them to be right.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Anyways, we don’t go to the movieseveryFriday.” That’s only half true. We’ve only gone the last two Fridays, but that's because two new movies came out.

“Right, so he’s not your boyfriend.” She sounds like she is being sarcastic, and I squint my eyes at her. “Aye come on, mi vida. You obviously like him. Don’t lie to me.” I fight the urge not to roll my eyes.

“I’m serious,” I say, and she gives me a knowing look. “Okay, maybe I like him a little, but I swear he isn’t my boyfriend.”

“And why not?”I think about her question for a second, trying to come up with a good reason, and it doesn’t take me long to think of one.

“I just don’t want a relationship right now.” I shrug, but my voice doesn’t come out as certain as I want it to, and I know she doesn’t believe me. It’s not like I was lying. Idon’twant a relationship right now.

“Mhm.” She eyes me, and I feel myself growing uncomfortable under her knowing motherly gaze. “I think it’s because of something else.” I feel my brows furrow in confusion. She doesn’t explain right away, letting me figure it out, but I don’t.

“Not every man is like your father.”A weird feeling washes over me at the mention of him. I know every man isn’t like him… Maybe it’s just hard to get the image of him hurting her out of my head and the fear of being hurt like that. Trapped in something like that.

“That’s not why I don’t want a relationship.” I look away from the phone.

“Maybe not consciously.” I think about that for a second, trying to figure out if, unconsciously, that’s why I won’t let Sire fully in. What I had to grow up with. The way I had to watch my mom fall victim to the man she loved… Maybe she’s right.

Before I can respond, Sire opens the driver's side door and slides in, handing me my coffee. “Here you go, beautiful. My bad, I took so long. Everyone kept stopping me to ask about tonight’s party.” It’s the twins' birthday, so they’re having a party at the boys' house later tonight.

I thank him and then take a sip of my coffee and close my eyes, sighing at the perfect taste. “Turn the camera so I can see your not-boyfriend.” My mom conveniently switches to English,and my eyes shoot open before I snatch my phone from the dashboard.

“I’m not wearing my headphones, Ma.” I sneak a glance at Sire, and he’s pulling his seatbelt on, but it’s clear he totally heard her.

“Oops, déjame ver.”

---