Page 75 of The Midseason Fakeout

“I’m not happy about this,” Mom finally states. “About any of this.”

The phone clicks off.

My mother just hung up on me.

Aidan’s still staring cautiously, so I say, “Yes, okay. Talk to you later,” before pretending to hang up the phone.

“Is she mad?” he asks.

I place my phone down on the counter, and he weaves his arms around me. Lifting up on my toes, I give him a short kiss on the lips. “A little.”

From outside the bathroom, Darrin calls out, “Hey, why’s Mom texting me to ask if Aidan and I went running this morning?”

Aidan’s eyes widen, then he disentangles himself from me and runs out the door.

He explains to Darrin what happened, and my brother gasps. “Dude, you answered the call when it was my mom?”

“I didn’t even look to see who it was.”

Darrin tsks. “Rookie move.”

I get back in the water, letting the warmth take me away again. Eventually, Darrin’s and Aidan’s voices disappear, and then it’s just me with my own thoughts.

It’s been a blissful couple of weeks without my mother. It’s a horrible thought, but I can really be myself here. Who cares that I wore face paint with my boyfriend’s number on my cheek? Who cares that I was wearing leggings out in public?

I imagine she had a heart attack about that one.

Being with Aidan is amazing. At Warner, in our own little bubble where I’m in his world, and he’s not in mine.

In mine, it certainly isn’t proper to answer your girlfriend’s phone at an hour when she should probably still be in bed. Mom didn’t believe the lie at all, which is why she asked Darrin.

Good thing Darrin will lie for us.

But I can’t lie to her our whole lives.

I sink into the water until it covers my face. I wipe my hands down my cheeks, scrubbing before pushing myself out of the water again.

Dammit. I was on such a high this morning, but now I’m in this funk, knowing my mom not only won’t approve of Aidan, but she’s certainly not going to let me stay at Warner much longer if he keeps answering my phone like that.

A knock comes on the door. “It’s me.”

“Come in.”

Aidan enters, shutting the door behind him. He grimaces. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

I shrug.

“Darrin told her we were out running this morning. She also asked him what you’re making for breakfast, and he said pancakes. I’m pretty sure he’s going to cash in on those pancakes since he’s lying for us.”

I roll my eyes. That sounds like him. “Tell him to get the ingredients ordered.”

“He already did. And he paid extra for immediate delivery.”

Aidan’s quiet for a little while, and I’m too in my own head to make conversation. “So, does your mom not like me? I always thought she did.”

Well, that’s a loaded question. I don’t even know the real answer myself. “She’s just being overprotective.”

The truth is, I’m not sure. I always thought she did too, but when his name came out as the person I was dating, I saw the hesitation there. The tiny bit of disapproval.

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