Page 66 of The Love of My Next Life
I fake a smile and nod.
“I can’t wait to taste it.” It wouldn’t have been a lie five minutes earlier. Now my tongue tastes like heavy, thick ash in my mouth.
We sit down and fix plates. We make small talk. I tell my dad I was studying today. Claire makes fun of me for studying so much. I don’t miss the way Drea and Dad look at each other, or the way Dad rubs her shoulder and squeezes her hand whenever he can.
I wish I could ignore it, but I can’t.
I also can’t ignore the way the minutes tick by on the clock. The plates slowly empty. Drea grows more and more upset. Then she and Dad share a look.
“It’s okay,” she says quietly. “Let’s do it. I’ll fill him in later.”
My shoulders tense. “Do what?”
“Well, we have an announcement,” Drea says, then smiles at my dad. My stomach turns, and I clench my hands into fists.
“Don’t make us wait,” Claire squeals, bouncing in her chair with excitement.
Another smile. Another hand squeeze. Another pause.
“Just tell us,” I bark out, and Drea’s eyes flare with hurt. “Sorry,” I whisper. I don’t look at my dad. I know he’s disappointed.
“We’re getting married,” Drea says, then slides something on her ring finger and holds up her left hand, flashing a shiny new diamond.
“Yay!” Claire beams. She jumps up and rushes around the table to hug her mom, then my dad. I’m frozen in place. “Congratulations!”
“And we’re moving in together,” Dad adds, and my heart falls to my feet. “We’re moving in two weeks, and we want to have a small ceremony over Christmas.”
No.This is a joke. Two weeks? Christmas is only two months away.
No.
“You said graduation,” I interrupt. “You said you’d propose after graduation.”
“Yes,” my dad says, his voice slow. Like I’m a wounded, scared animal he’s cornered. I suppose I am. “But since you all know now, we didn’t see the point in waiting.”
“Why?” I ask, my voice rising. I bounce my eyes between Dad and Drea frantically. “Why rush? Are you pregnant? Did you get her pregnant?”
“Lennon Capri,” my dad scolds, and I flinch at his tone. I can feel Claire’s and Drea’s eyes on me. I close mine, try to breathe, but I can’t.
I’m going to have a panic attack.
“You said graduation,” I repeat. “You said we’d have time to adjust.”
I bring my hands to my head and push on my temples.
“You said. You lied. You just spring this on us after lying for years and expect us to be okay with it right away and you don’t even keep your promise to give me time to adjust.”
“Lennon,” Drea says. Her voice is sad, but I can barely hear her over my rapid breathing.
I need air. I need space.
“I need to go,” I blurt out, standing abruptly and knocking the table with my legs. The dishes clank. Water sloshes. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”
I rush out the front door and jog down the block. About halfway, I screech to a halt and hinge at the waist, directing my breaths between my knees. The pressure in my head releases just enough that the blood rushing through my ears isn’t as loud. My fingers tingle. My toes tingle. I stand back up slowly, so I don’t pass out.
It’s then that I hear a car idling and loud music playing.
Somehow in my foggy brain, I know what it is before I look, but I look anyway.
