Page 18 of The Rebel
“Well,” I screeched in my defense, “the way you’re being nice and talking soft, then serious, I don’t know what’s going on!”
“Well, rest assured, Ido nothave cancer and I have no idea where that’s come from,” Mom said, bringing out a gentle caring voice for the second time. One Paris got to hear a lot more than me.
I sniffed again, embarrassed by my crazy thinking, my burst of emotion. I was a ticking time bomb, volatile and fragile, turbulent and tense, still trying to comprehend the momental shift in my world. Oh yes, you might think I was overreacting and being a drama queen over Gabby and Scott, but my heartache was real. And excuse me forfeeling!
I truly needed time to wrap my head around everything.
Mom caressed my shoulder but she’d reverted back into her officious, no-nonsense self again. “Your father and I are going to join Paris in Europe,” she said. “We’ve been able to organize some tournaments for him, starting in France.”
I suddenly recognized that the blue, white and red vertical bands on one of Paris’s emoji flags was that of France.
“Oh wow. He’s going to France?” I asked.
“France, Germany, England,” Mom said, “and all going well, Portugal and Spain.”
I started to say, “How long?" at the same time that she said, “We’re going to be away for at least four weeks, maybe six.”
My first thought was that I was going to miss school, so much school. I couldn’t catch up a whole month. It was too much...but at the same time, France, Germany, England...how awesome was that?
“I’ve asked Dani if you can stay with her, and she thinks it’s a wonderful idea.”
I blinked, then stared, my heart rate speeding up. “Wait. What?”
“It’s a long time,” Mom’s voice sounded like she was shrouded in a mist, somewhere in the fog, a blur. “Too long for you to miss school, so just Dad and I will go. Dani’s happy to have you stay.”
The thump in my chest got louder, to deafening levels. Mom’s mouth continued to open, but I couldn’t hear any words. I was stuck onDani’s happy to have you stay.Sure, I liked Dani, liked her a lot, and she fed Volley when we were away and she was Jade and Oliver’s mom, but I’d never stayed at the Sinclair house before. Never, ever.
“No!” I wouldn’t be surprised if the ferocious shout from my mouth projected all the way across our backyard to the Sinclairs’ house. “No!”
Mom jolted, shifting forward on my bed.
“I’m not staying at the Sinclairs. For a month? Are you crazy?” I bounced up off of my bed, scaring Volley who shot out of the room. I was tempted to dash out with him, but this was my sanctuary. Mom was the one who needed to go.
“Valencia!” Mom breathed my name in exasperation. “It’s only for a month.”
“Only a month? You just said a month is a long time and now you’re saying it’sonlya month. Make your mind up!”
Mom’s head shook from side to side but she spoke in a deliberate and calm manner, “Dad and I decided it would be too much school for you to miss. And it’s an intense schedule for Paris. There’s a lot of traveling. Paris doesn’t need the distraction.”
“It’s all about Paris, isn’t it?” I shouted.
Mom looked flummoxed, her brow creasing. “Well, yes, this is a fantastic opportunity for him. To see if he can adjust to life on the tour, he’ll need to...”
But I was already picturing being left behind, flashes of Mom, Dad and Paris traveling to Europe without me. “Unbelievable!” My heart thumped against my rib cage. “I mean, everything is always about Paris. My whole life. It’s all about him and what he wants.”
Mom’s frown grew deeper. “Well, yes,” she said with an annoying calmness which made me sound like an unhinged maniac. “At this stage, Paris is working hard on his career. Of course, we’re going to support him wherever we can. This is what he’s been working toward.”
I braced myself, hugging my arms across my chest in an indignant manner. Mom had just admitted that Paris was everything. I couldn’t look at her, especially as a flood of tears threatened.
“It’s always about Paris,” I tried to shout but my voice was weak and wobbly, my chin trembling and letting me down. “Don’t worry about me. Just leave me behind.”
“Honey,” Mom soothed as she reached out to me. I shrugged and turned away, refusing to be taken in by her fake affection. “Dad and I think it’s for the best if you keep up with school. It’s not about leaving you behind,” she said. “And the time will absolutely fly by. We’ll be back before you know it.”
She hovered over me, but I continued to block her out, keeping my back to her. Suddenly everything in my world was crumbling—my best friend had a boyfriend and now my parents were following Paris to the other side of the world without me.
Dad announced his entrance by clearing his throat. “Everything all right, girls?”
I turned to see him in the doorway and ran over, throwing myself at him and burrowing into his chest.
