Page 99 of Resurrection
Dad’s eyes were sad all of sudden, sad and accusing, and I felt the guilt in my gut.
"Never say that to your father," Mom warned.
I just sat there, my jaw clenched, staring at the wall, feeling ungrateful and irrelevant.
Adri chuckled. "You’d be stupid not to go to Colorado. Stupid. You should think about your future, not Tyler’s."
"Like you’re thinking about yours? You couldn’t even hack it at a community college."
"Enough, both of you," Dad finally spoke. He shook his head and resumed eating.
Mom sighed and reached for my hand. "Just don't make any decisions you'll regret."
My throat tightened, and I could barely choke out the next sentence. "I'll figure it out." I rubbed my thumb against the napkin in my lap, a nervous metronome. "It's not some impulsive?—"
Mom interrupted, her voice gentle but firm, "You two can still pursue both your dreams. It’s just a few weeks."
But a few weeks without Ty seemed like my heart would break. I didn’tthink I’d be able to concentrate in Colorado while he looked for places to stay and jobs in LA all on his own.
Dad stirred his posole as if he could find the answer in it. "If you don’t grab the opportunity knocking on your door now, you may not have one ever again, Naomi. I want you to think about this very hard before you do something you can’t undo."
"I'll figure it out," I repeated, and this time, it sounded like I almost believed it.
My eyes swept the room, catching on the little signs of home I'd memorized long ago. The saltshaker shaped like a cactus. The sunflower magnets on the fridge. The Navajo rug under Adri's feet. Maybe I'd send a postcard now and then, a reminder that I hadn't forgotten where I came from.
"Why would you even want to go with some Kurt Cobain knockoff?" Adri threw out, the final punch of the night.
The words stung like a slap, and I felt my chin lift defiantly. "Because we want to be together," I said, almost in a whisper. "Not that you’d understand since you’re so antisocial. You don’t even have a girlfriend."
Adri’s face twisted a little like I’d finally hit a nerve. "Screw you, Shrimp," he said, rising to his feet. The chair moved and scraped the floor as he shoved it back and marched off.
As Mom started to clear the table, Dad's worried eyes met mine one last time. He looked like he might have something else to say, but then the moment passed.
The music in Adri's room was turned up loud enough for me to feel the bass with every part of my body. At least until Mom pounded on his door and demanded silence.
And even then, the thudding rhythm I couldn't shake, remained in my chest.
Hours later, when everyone had gone to bed, I sneaked into the garage and dug out a couple of wine coolers Mom hid in the back of the fridge they used to store ingredients for The Gobbler. Ty was already waiting for me in the alley when I showed up.
"How did it go?" he asked, his gaze dropping to the paper bag with clinking bottles I held in my hand. "I take it not so good?" he guessed.
"Adri's an ass, and my parents don't get me," I replied.
Ty closed the distance between us and kissed me on the lips. "It'll be okay."
And I believed him.
My eighteenth birthday was almost perfect. I’d invited my girlfriends over and we had pizza and cake, and Adri didn't insult anyone. Brittney and Shaunagifted me a day at a spa in Palm Springs. Kelsey made me a cake. Tamara’s gift was a beauty set.
Ty showed up late, despite living next door. He wore a leather jacket, the studded one that had seen better days, and I loved it.
Brittney crowded him immediately like he was there for her and not for me. My parents weren’t fully participating, but my mom would come out to the back yard from time to time to check on us and bring more snacks.
I knew they weren’t happy about my decision to go to LA with Ty, but I tried my best not to let my frustration show.
Later in the evening, after Dad had taken out one of the industrial heaters from the garage since the temperature had dropped, Ty dragged me behind the oak tree in the far corner of the yard. We stood under a string light, but the tree was massive, so it hid us from the squealing guests trying to dance to a new Christina Aguilera song. Adri had gone into the house a while ago, not wanting my girlfriends to flirt with him, and I wondered if he was spying on us through a window.
"I have something for you," Ty said in that quiet way that made it feel important.
