Page 14 of Before We're More Than Friends
“Okay.”
I stood around, waiting for him to say anything else. Maybe have a conversation. I didn’t know about what, but he could’ve thought of something. I could’ve thought of something. But we stayed in awkward silence as Dad’s gaze traveled back to his book.
At least that was still normal. Barely saying two words to Dad before he put his interest elsewhere.
I went up the spiral staircase to my room. In the middle of my study session, I heard a soft knock.
“Come in,” I said, knowing it wasn’t Arielle. After all these years, she still hadn’t learned to knock first.
Mom came in with Penrose and a warm smile, wearing her casual after-work clothes. “You left this girl out.”
I grinned at Penrose. Her ears stood up as she ran toward me with her tongue out, looking like the happiest dog in the world.
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, beaming at Penrose.
“Of course. Francesca is almost done with dinner. I asked her to make hot chocolate for afterward.” She leaned closer to me. “Even if we all know mine is the best.”
I giggled. “You’re the best.”
She smiled, the bags under her eyes visible. “I try to be.”
The emotion in her words rippled through my chest. I held on to her hands. “As long as you’re trying.”
Mom nodded before leaving the room and closing the door.
Penrose rubbed underneath my legs, and I rubbed her head. It was like we had the same thought.
That we both hoped all our bests would be enough.
For the fourth time, I looked at my phone as music blasted throughout the stadium. It was almost nine, and the concert had started at eight. Gracelynn still wasn’t here.
Sienna Rowan, my sister from another mister, pulled my phone out of my hand and put it in her purse. “Gracelynn says she’s almost here.”
“I’ll report you for pickpocketing!” I shouted over the music. The band, Checkmark, was outstanding as they played their best songs, but the noise and my racing thoughts overstimulated me.
Sienna rolled her eyes. “Trust me, she’s coming.”
Gracelynn transferred from private school to public school in sixth grade. I’d joined her duo with Arielle. Sienna had joined our friend group in seventh grade after switching middleschools, turning our trio into a quartet. Both girls were the best things that’d happened to us.
“She said that ten minutes ago,” I said. It wasn’t unusual for any of us to be late, but ever since things between my family and the Naysmiths fell apart, I was paranoid about my friendship with Gracelynn.
Though my mom was probably the worst at keeping friends, I’d never expected her friendship with Jennifer Naysmith to crumble over my dad getting accused of a crime. He hadn’t even been charged as guilty yet. If he was, we didn’t know what his punishment could be. It could range from anywhere between a fine of thousands of dollars to jail time.
Gosh, I couldn’t imagine my dad in jail. Sure, he wasn’t the best guy, but jail was too far of a stretch. There was no way he’d gone years without paying the IRS, right?
After a few more minutes of trying to control my thoughts—though I wouldn’t know how long, because Sienna wouldn’t give me my phone back—Gracelynn slid into the row to sit to Sienna’s right.
“She finally arrives,” Sienna sang. “Raina was starting to lose her mind.”
“The traffic is terrible tonight,” Gracelynn said as she checked her chestnut bangs with her phone’s front camera.
“I was worried that your mom wouldn’t let you come,” I admitted. “Or that something else came up and you couldn’t come.”
“Wouldn’t I have told you if that had happened?” she asked, her face pinching. “Instead of saying I was on my way?”
A pang hit my chest. “I just wasn’t sure.”
“What do you mean?” Her tone grew sharp.
