Page 202 of Tag

You’re not having the effect you think you are.

1031

You sure about that?

Remember, the final girl always screams the loudest when no one’s left to hear her.

Final girl? Please. That wasn’t me. I’d made too many bad calls. Too many selfish choices. I was impulsive and emotional, and reckless, and I’d just spent the weekend cheating on my boyfriend with a guy who hadn’t even dumped his girlfriend. At this rate, Cloe’s analysis would be spot on. I stood up and headed downstairs, trying to shake off the frustration at this person.

I found Mom and Sugarmama in the kitchen.

Mom was cooking up something, and Sugarmama was doing her usual Sunday crossword puzzles.

“Morning,” I greeted, trying to keep my voice steady.

My mom glanced up, her smile soft. “Morning. Sleep well?”

“I did.”

Sugarmama looked at me with a knowing grin.

Oh, God.My stomach dropped. Had she heard us? That would be mortifying. I suddenly regretted every breath I took last night.

Sugarmama leaned back in her chair, tapping the pen against her lip. “Your boy toy left not too long ago.”

“Don’t call him that," my mom chastised.

Sugarmama chuckled.

“Hey, Sanj.” Mom turned away from the oven. “I meant to ask, you know, Dr. Hadler, Layla’s mom? I saw her the other day at the store. She seemed…”

“Like she needed an exorcism and a shower,” Sugarmama filled in, not missing a beat.

My mom gave her a tight look. “Unpleasant.”

“Semantics,” Sugarmama muttered, going back to her puzzle.

“Is Layla alright?” my mom asked, focusing back on me.

I didn’t want to get into Layla logistics right then, but if it meant dodging the Ryder conversation that I could see coming from a mile away, I’d take it.

“We’re not really close anymore,” I confessed, going to get a glass and pouring some water from the filter. “I don’t think we will be again.”

“Oh, what’s happened?” Mom asked.

“Nothing in particular. I just found out we have different ideas of what friendship means.”

My mom’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, my love.”

Sugarmama hmphed. “I hate to say I saw it coming, but I did. The girl never rubbed me the right way. She was like a water bug. Fast, jittery, and always in places she didn’t belong.”

I huffed. “Everyone used to call her a ferret.”

Sugarmama cracked up, slapping the counter once. “A ferret!”

My mom and I shared a look, then she straightened, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Now, tell me about you and Ryder.”

I opened my mouth, but she held up a finger. “Don’t saynothing.I already saw quite a scene on the camera feed.”

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