Page 175 of Zero Chance

My mom was standing there when I turned around, not at all looking impressed by our heartfelt farewell.Her arms were folded over her chest, her eyes were narrowed, and her mouth was pinched.

Huffing out my disgust with her, I clomped up the stairs and roughly shoved by her to go inside.

I made it all the way to my room and shut the door behind me before collapsing onto my bed and curling into a ball as I hugged my stuffed cow that my dead babysitter had given me and tried to breathe through the tightness in my chest.

If Keene didn’t leave me over my personal baggage, he definitely would over my awful, intrusive mother.He was the only thing I’d ever wanted, and she was going to drive him away.Because I wasn’t worth this much headache.He?—

A small tap on my door had me glancing up as my mom quietly opened it and peered at me through the doorway.

I blinked at her once, wanting to rage and scream and throw things at her, but all I asked was, “Why are you doing this to me?”

Her shoulders collapsed, and her face fell.I swear I saw her bottom lip tremble before she pulled herself back together.“I know it feels cruel to you right now,” she murmured, her eyes pleading with me to try to understand her point of view.“But everything I’m doing is for you.For your own good.For your protection.”

I shook my head, disagreeing, but she kept talking.“I heard you when you said you finally feel like you want to live.And I love hearing that, but please believe me, baby, when I say, you can’t trust it.It’s a false high.Like a drug addiction.It feels good when you’re with him, I’m sure, but it’s only going to be a harder fall and hurt more when he finally flits off to some other poor, unsuspecting girl.”

“You’re wrong,” I said, even though my heart was pounding, already worried he was going to do exactly what she said.Flit away and leave me broken.

“No, I’m not,” my mother claimed softly, her eyes full of pity as she stared at me.“I know this boy, Waverly.Iknowhim.”

But she didn’t know him the way I did.She hadn’t studied him for over a decade, watched his every move.She hadn’t learned his ins and outs or his strengths and weaknesses.She’d sat in a counseling room with him a handful of times and made a couple of rash judgment calls.She didn’t know shit.

And yet, her words still caused me to shudder with a certain doom.I was going to lose him, and she was going to tell me how wrong I’d been, and then I wasn’t sure what I’d do with myself.

As if reading all the worries in my head, Mom sighed.“If I prove to you that he can’t be trusted with your heart, that he isn’t reliable, and he doesn’t deserve all this loyalty from you, will you finally see reason and give this boy up?”

I wanted to snort and tell her no fucking way.I wasn’t giving up Keene, not ever.Not for anything.

But instead, I countered, “If I prove to you that hecanbe trusted, heisreliable, and hedoesdeserve my loyalty, will you finally step back and let me live my own life and give him half a chance?”

She frowned briefly but gave a slight nod of the head, so I said, “Then we have a deal.”

Except I didn’t feel so great after making that deal.I knew Keene was a good person.But I didn’t know ifIwas good enough for him.

40

KEENE

Sometimes being wrong was okay.

Take me, for example.(Not literally.I have a girlfriend now, so hands off.And mind out of the gutter, you perv.I’m trying to be serious here.)

Take mysituation.

I had loved my life, and I hadn’t wanted it to change.Scoring a new chick every couple of days and not being tied down by much of anything had been a wild and crazy ride.

I had assumed settling for one person would just be the worst, most boring thing ever.I hadn’t wanted to fall for a quiet, introverted library girl who got off on arguing with me and putting me in my place every chance she got.Talk about the end of my life as I knew it.

Except it hadn’t been the end.

It’d been the beginning.

Yes, some things had changed, but I was still me.And my life actually felt better now.Fuller.Complete-r.I was happy and content.I might’ve even grown up and matured a bit since being with her.I mean, not a lot.Let’s not get too hasty here.But I think I was a good balance of fun times and responsibility now.

So thank God I’d stopped fighting the hidden curiosity I’d had for her and finally just plunged into the boyfriend life with both feet.Best decision I ever made.

Whistling about that very decision, I walked into Nursing Fundamentals on Monday and fell into the first seat I came across with a satisfied hiss of pleasure.

“Morning,” I said brightly to the chick next to me in the row to my right.

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