Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

MACI

" O h, baby ," Mom cries from across the other side of the apartment. You'd think having a relatively large place with three bedrooms would be enough for Mom to keep the volume down. "Mark, yes, yes!"

I groan and roll over, grabbing my pillow and wrapping it around my head, trying to block out the noises. When I can still hear it through the pillow, I quickly rush into the en-suite, blasting music on my phone as I shower. Finally, when I get out of the shower, the fun has stopped. I sit on my bed in my towel, checking my phone. I've got an email from my graphic design tutor. She's come down with a bug. There will be no class for four days, but we have assignments to work on.

Kayla texts me. Want to grab lunch after you're done with class?

I reply, Actually, class just got canceled. I'm wide open for three days. Well, except for some stuff I've got to work on at home.

Wait! No way!

A moment later, she calls me. I cross my legs, conscious of my body, even if I'm the only one here. Lately, I'm weirdly hyperaware of my curves in a way I've never been before. Kayla jokes I'm having a second puberty at twenty.

"Hey, chick," she says.

"Hey."

"So… you've got nothing to do for the next few days except listen to your mom and Mark go to boogie town?"

"Please, please, please don't say boogie town," I beg, but I'm smiling. Kayla can always do that. She can get me smiling, no matter the circumstances. "Yeah, that's right. Why?"

"I was going to take a trip to my dad's little place outside the city," she says. "Give me some peace and quiet to work on my dress."

"Isn't a sewing machine the opposite of peace and quiet?" I tease.

She laughs. "Okay, fair point, but how about you come with me? You can bring your laptop and do your work there. When we're done, we can watch movies and use the pools."

"Did you just say pools , plural?" I say.

"You know Dad. Nothing in half measures. There's an outdoor and an indoor one."

Despite my family not exactly being poor—Dad was a successful writer, and when he passed, he left Mom a more-than-decent amount of cash to live on—I'm still often stunned by the Larsons' wealth. I think one of the reasons Kayla and I are so close is that, for the first few years of our friendship, I was the wealthier one. She'd often sleep at my house when her mom was going through one of her episodes.

"I know what we have is real," she said before, "because you wanted to be my friend even before Dad was rich . "

"So what do you think?" she says now.

"I think if you're giving me a chance to get away from Mom and Mark… I'm game."

"Is it still that bad?"

"It's not bad, exactly. I want Mom to be happy; she seems to really like Mark. It's just…" He's not Dad , but I don't want to go into all that, bringing the mood down. Or maybe I don't want to think about Dad. "I wish she didn't have to advertise it so much."

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Maybe she doesn't even know she's doing it."

"How can she not?" I say.

"Believe me, sometimes, when you're in the real boogie groove, you don't know how much noise you're making."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't know," I tell her, "and when…"— If , I add silently—"it does happen, I'm going to tape my mouth shut just to be safe."

She laughs. "You're crazy, Maci. Should I pick you up in a couple of hours?"

Just after she asks the question, there's a knock at the door. It's Mark. "Want some breakfast, kiddo? I'm making pancakes."

I cringe so hard that my heart almost busts out of my ribcage. I know he's just trying to be nice. He's not a bad person. Actually, he's the best boyfriend my mom could've picked. He runs a charity that teaches underprivileged kids how to read and use technology, but kiddo? One, I'm twenty. Two, I had a dad, and he's not here anymore, and as much as that hurts, I'm not looking for another one.

"Get here ASAP," I tell Kayla, then reply to Mark, "Uh, sure, thanks, Mark."

I don't want to be the ungrateful, spoiled daughter getting in the way of her mom's happiness. Yet, at the same time, it's not like I have to like Mark, right? Maybe I should move out and get my own place, so I'm not always around them. First, I want to ensure Mom and Mark are in this for the long haul. I don't want to abandon her if he's going to break her heart.

"How long?" Mom yells when I tell her I'm taking a trip.

I lean back, holding my hands up. "There's no need to yell, Mom."

She smiles shakily. "I didn't yell ," she says.

I don't bother arguing. Ever since Dad passed five years ago, she's been a little clingier than she was before. I get it. It's not like I can judge her for it. I'm all she has left.

"Just a few days," I tell her. "They canceled class. I've only got remote work to do. I figured, why not?"

"And you're staying with Lukas Larson?"

"No, it's his place," I say. "It'll just be Maci and me."

Mom bites her lip. She's a beautiful woman with long, flowing brown hair and a curvy body like mine, except she seems way more comfortable in her skin. She glances at Mark, frowning.

Mark smiles, taking Mom's hand and squeezing it. "That sounds like it could be fun," he says.

I can see what's happening so clearly. It should make me warm to him. He's trying to help Mom overcome her abandonment hangups. Yet every time I look at him, I wish Dad was sitting there instead. Still, I should try. "Thanks, Mark."

"Just the two of you?" Mom says. "All alone out there?"

"Mom, it's a property owned by Lukas Larson. I'm sure it has security."

When I think about Lukas, I get this sort of, I don't know, this weird feeling—an inappropriate feeling. That's why I always shut it down straight away. I stomp on it hard. I won't let my thoughts go there—ever. That's that. Kayla and I are too close for me to entertain that sort of craziness.

"Well…" Mom leans forward, still talking loud but forcing a smile. "I think you'll have a great time."

And she's right. We do. We spend the day in the indoor pool and later play board games.

Then I wake up, make myself a coffee in the shiny, expensive machine, and happen to look out the window.

That's when I see him —all of him.