Page 31 of Caught in a Bad Fauxmance
But the tirade doesn’t come. Instead, Maya lets out a low whistle and unwraps her popsicle. “Less than forty-eight hours and you already beefed it.”
“What was I supposed to do?” I hiss, turning down a bite of her Popsicle.
“Hide from Julian until it was time to leave.”
If only it had been that easy. “His ex was right there. We couldn’t just stand around ignoring each other.”
Maya’s brow furrows. “Who’s his ex? The Martinezes son? Isn’t he, like, thirty?”
“The one who was handing out the water park vouchers.” I hold up my own crushed coupon as evidence. “His dad owns the place.”
Maya’s eyes go wide as saucers, her jaw hanging open to reveal a bright red, cherry-stained tongue. “Holy shit.”
My thoughts exactly.
Her shock quickly shifts into excitement. “You think he can get us free day passes?” she asks while nudging me in the ribs.
“Not likely. I’m pretty sure he hates my guts.” I don’t know what kind of power Liam holds over Allegheny Park, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he made sure to have me and the rest of my family permanently blacklisted.
Maya rolls her eyes. “You ruin everything.” With that, she takes off ahead of me.
The walk back to our cabin is excruciatingly silent. Whatever Isabel tried to argue on my behalf doesn’t get through to Dad. By the time we get back, he’s still pale all the way down to his sockless ankles, as if he’s seen a ghost. We gather around in the living room, spread out in a circle like we’re the goddamn United Nations. Isabel, our moderator, takes center stage.
“So, Dev, it seems we have asituationyour dad would like to discuss with you.”
Great, a family mediation about my love life. “It’s not a situation. It’s—”
“It’s a betrayal!” Maya easily slips into the role of the scorned sister, slamming her fist down on the arm of the love seat.
Isabel winces, holding her arms out to keep the opposing sides at bay. “ ‘Betrayal’ might be a bit dramatic. Dev, why don’t you tell us about what happened between you and Jude?”
“Julian,” Maya and I say at the same time.
“Julian, right.” She winces a second time, settling down beside Andy.
Burying my head in my hands doesn’t shield me from the burn of the four pairs of eyes staring me down, waiting for me to come clean. I lift my head up and inhale sharply, trying to figure out what in the world could bring two people like me and Julian together.
“We started DM’ing each other a while back, and…things…just happened.” Not my best work, but you try rewritingRomeo and Juliet.
Maya deflates, covering her eyes so she doesn’t have to witness the bloodbath that’s about to unfold over my pathetic excuse of a love story. It’s a terrible half-hearted, half-baked, half-assed lie, yet Dad reacts like it’s the full truth. He throws his hands up into the air, startling Andy and Isabel as he slaps them back down onto his thighs.
“Dev, I know you’re living on your own now, making your own decisions.” He pauses to take off his cap and pinch the bridge of his nose. “But you couldn’t have picked anybody else?”
“Maybe this is a good thing,” Isabel proposes, ignoring the blank stares she gets for such a bold statement. “I’m serious!” She comes behind me, resting a supportive hand on my shoulder. “Clearly Devin and Julian found something in each other that made them want to put the past behind them. Maybe the rest of us can too.” She gives my shoulder a squeeze that makes my stomach churn.
Maya snorts, shaking her head. “So we’re just supposed to forgive the Seo-Cookes for years of pain and suffering because Devin and Julian want to make out?”
There’s a collective grimace, myself included, at the thought of me and Julian making out. No one needed that mental image.
Isabel, though, maintains her composure. “You don’t have to forgive them, especially not their dad. But we can learn to coexist peacefully.”
Maya puts on an overdramatic pout and gives me a thumbs-up when no one’s looking.
“I don’t know,” Dad mumbles, rubbing his bald spot as though the answers are buried in its wrinkles.
“Why don’t we start off easy?” Isabel does a little dance and claps her hands to try to lift the mood. No one budges. “How about you invite Julian over for dinner tomorrow?” Dad goes pale while Maya looks hopeful.
This day is getting worse and worse by the minute.
