Page 44 of Before We're More Than Friends
I got up from my bed and sang along to “Classic” by MKTO. Houston’s ears stood up as he jumped around with me, wagging his tail and sticking his tongue out. Within minutes, I’d almost forgotten all about my awful night.Almost.
In the middle of our fun, the door opened. I jumped and tripped over Houston, crashing on top of him.
“I’m sorry!” Mom covered her mouth with her hands and helped me up. “I should’ve knocked.”
I rubbed my sides. “Remember next time.”
“Let me get you some ice.”
I shook my head. “I’m good, Mom. Really.”
She sighed, taking in the small room. There were still moving boxes piled in a corner, but most of my furniture was already out. “I’m just worried about you and Kami. She hasn’t left her room since you got home.” Her wide brown eyes met mine. “She told me you had an embarrassing time.”
If only it were just that.
“It’s fine,” I said as I turned my music off. “Worse thingshave happened to me.”Not really.Even my tragic fifth-grade relationship wasn’t this bad.
Mom nodded, though she didn’t look too convinced. “Are you mad at me?”
I plopped onto my bed. “Why would I be?”
“Never mind.” She planted a kiss on my forehead. “Good night, Dallas.”
I gave her a side hug. “Good night, Mom.”
She walked to the door and looked back at me with a pained expression before closing it.
An ache grew in my chest as I put my earbuds in. I tried to drown out my thoughts with my music, but it didn’t work. None of my ninety-one playlists could match how I felt right now.
For the first night since we’d left Dallas, I fell asleep before midnight. And even then, my dark thoughts still loomed over me.
“What’s wrong?” Kami asked for the millionth time today after parking at April Springs Animal Shelter.
“Just tired,” I lied for the millionth time today.
“Yeah, you were out before midnight and woke up at ten to get cereal. Dallas Alexander Friar doesn’t sleep longer for six hours at a time.” She turned the music off. “Tell me what’s getting to you.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Why would I tell you about my feelings when you never tell me about yours?”
Her face hardened. “We already talked about this.”
“Your definition of talking about things is clearly different from mine.”
“Fine.” She leaned back in her seat. “What do you want me to say?”
“Forget it.” I opened my door and slammed it shut. I’d wait to talk about things when she actually wanted to do it.
I speed-walked to the shelter, but Kami caught up with me by the time I made it inside.
Mrs. Landers took no time to walk over to us, holding a clipboard to her chest. “Good afternoon! I was just talking about your tasks with your mom.”
“How fun,” I said, absolutely no enthusiasm in my voice.
She laughed, adjusting her glasses. “Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”
“Tell me about it,” Kami muttered. “What are our tasks for today?”
“Since this is your first day here, I want you guys to take it easy this week and just get into our rhythm.” Mrs. Landers looked at her clipboard. “Dallas, you’ll start off with cleaning the bunny cages and then feeding the bunnies, and, Kami, you’ll groom the dogs with Oliver. And I want no monkey business.”
