Page 58 of Sharkbait
“What party?” Ralph asks.
Calliope scrunches her eyes closed.
Dammit.
“There’s no party!” I blurt.
“So why did you mention a party?”
“Whew! Mom’s right. I’m exhausted. I’m getting all my commitments mixed up. I was just thinking about this... social thing I have to do next month. More of an art fest fundraiser thing at the aquarium and—”
What the hell am I saying?
“And you want me to attend?” Mom’s hand rests on her chest over her heart. Now she’s back to over-the-top loving Mom mode. “Oh sweetie, I’d love to! I was only planning on visiting for the week, but of course I’ll be there for you! I’ll extend my stay!”
Calliope’s eyes practically bulge out of her head now.
How is Mom not picking up on the fact that I made a dumb slip about Ralph’s surprise party?
“No, no, no, that’s alright.” I wave Mom off as I make my way to the door. “Forget I said anything. I know you’re busy. And you know what? Now that I’m thinking about everything I have on my plate, I’m not even sure I’m going.”
Mom starts, “Don’t be silly, baby. I’d love to go with you.”
“You’re off the hook!” I haul ass out of the apartment and shout over my shoulder, “Going to get some of that rest you suggested! Bye!”
“I’ll walk you out!” Calliope says and makes it into the elevator beside me right before the doors close.
I stab the down button, lean back on the wall, and close my eyes.
I shouldn’t have come.
My gut told me not to come.
So why didn’t I listen?
“I know you’re having a moment right now, but I need to ask you something,” Calliope whispers.
I groan. “I’m sorry about the party slip. I just get all up in my head around her and—”
“Oh, I don’t care about that. You were right. I should have known better than to try to surprise a scientist. Every day, your brother looks for clues to prove his ‘you’re throwing me a surprise party’ theory. It’s exhausting. If he knows, he knows. I give up. But he’ll never guess the sexy details. The sexy details are unguessable.”
“Dare I ask?”
“Probably not.” She smiles, then softens her voice. “Are you okay? I’m starting to understand why you and Ralph-alpha are the way you are about your parents. That whole scene was—”
“Our childhood in a nutshell,” I finish her sentence for her. “If you don’t mind, though, I really don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“Understood.”
The elevator lets us off into the lobby.
“Are you still following me?” I joke.
“Yeah. Like I said, I need to ask you something. But after witnessing that whole thing upstairs, I feel all sorts of conflicted.”
“Why are you whispering?”
She peers up the stone staircase. “Your mom has supersonic hearing. Case in point, I think she heard Ralph and me getting it on last night. Correction: she definitely heard us getting it on last night.”
