Chapter 338
As the elevator drew nearer to the fourth floor, I realized I was holding my breath. I knew exactly what my mom was going to say already, and I would’ve just as soon skipped that conversation. But Lucy really wanted to go hang out, so I was hopeful my mom would be a little more lenient, at least for her.
“You ready for this?” Brandon asked through my IAC, squeezing my hand as the others laughed and carried on a normal conversation like they weren’t approaching a guillotine.
“Nope.”
“Figured. Just see if she’ll at least let Lucy go.” I looked at him out of the corner of my eye, and he clarified. “She’s had a rough week. It would do her some good. I’ll miss you, of course, but it’s not like I can’t talk to you the whole time anyway.”
I continued to stare at him for a moment until the elevator stopped, and I let out that breath I’d been holding.
Back in the day, when we lived in Shenandoah and I thought Vampires were make believe, I was a good girl who always followed the rules. I never asked my parents’ permission to do anything remotely dangerous. In fact, I hadn’t even missed a curfew until the day I took that train to Philly and ended up nearly undead. Something happened to me when I stepped on this campus, or maybe it was right before that, when Elliott died. I decided life is too short or important or something, and I needed to follow my gut. I know my sister can relate to it because she’s done the same sort of thing, though it was Aaron she was disobeying and not Mom and Dad. My parents don’t get it—they don’t understand because even though they’re here, they aren’t living this life like we are, like I am. So I already knew what my mom was going to say.
My parents were sitting on the sofa each reading a book, and for a moment I thought about how they used to sit in their matching recliners in the living room and do the same thing, or Mom would be knitting. I wondered if they missed our two-story house or if they were actually happy here, like I was. Most of the time. My mom loved working as Aaron and Cadence’s secretary, and my dad loved his new job, too. But this place was so cramped.
Both of them set their reading material aside as my loud gaggle of friends streamed in. “Well, if it isn’t the Rat Pack,” my dad said, and I looked at him in confusion. “How’s it going kids?”
“More like Our Gang,” my mom chuckled. I still didn’t know what she was talking about and wondered if they were really that old. “Are you all getting along okay?”
I bit by tongue on a sarcastic comment. “Yes, Mom. We’re all getting along just great. So... Luce and I were wondering if we could have dinner at Brandon’s place and watch a movie. You know, destress a little.”
I thought I saw my dad’s head rock up and down, like he was going to say yes before my mom said, “Cass, it’s a school night.”
“Not for me,” Lucy interjected, and my mom’s eyes flickered over to her, like she had never had a teenager answer back so quickly before. “I’m not enrolled yet.” Lucy didn’t sound rude, just matter-of-fact, but I could tell my mom didn’t like her response.
“We won’t be out too late,” I said, praying she’d just give in.
“Honey, we promised Lucy’s mom we’d take care of her. Letting her stay out late on her first night here hardly seems like a good idea.”
I wished I had an IAC so I could tell Lucy to let me respond, but I wasn’t even within arm squeezing distance. So she said, “My curfew on weeknights is eleven.”
Liz’s eyes bulged. “Eleven? PM?”
“Wouldn’t AM be worse?” Brandon said only to me, and I jabbed him with my elbow.
“And she only has to come down a floor.” I smiled at my dad, hoping he’d speak up. “If you want me back by 8:00, that’s fine. I’ll be here. But... can Lucy stay a little longer?” I literally crossed my fingers for luck.
My dad turned his head and looked at my mom who was still staring at me, like she was trying to read the cards in my hand. When she didn’t look at him, he nudged her. She finally turned her head, and my dad sort of nodded with his eyeballs. I could see my mom’s inner struggle. She didn’t want Lucy to think she’d be able to get anything over on her. “All right. You can both go. But I want you both back here by nine. No arguing.”
“Seriously?” Lucy asked, and Tara put her hand on my friend’s shoulder. There it was already on the first day. Lucy and my mom were not going to be able to make this work....
“Or I can make it eight.”
“No, Mom. Nine is fine. Thank you.” I began to usher my friends back out the door even as Lucy started muttering “welcome to prison.” I was still having trouble believing my mom had let me stay out later than usual. It was a victory for me but a stunning defeat for my friend.
We were back on the elevator and on the fifth floor before Lucy even finished her initial sentence about how unfair my mom was. “She wasn’t always such a prude,” she muttered.
“She wasn’t?” I asked, trying to think. I did remember Cadence having a lot less rules than I had had. But then, my mom had let me come to Kansas City with my sister as a minor and catastrophe struck, so I couldn’t imagine her being too lenient with me now. Maybe she was different before Philly.
“Let’s just go play some video games, order a pizza, and decide what movie we wanna watch,” Tara suggested as Brandon pulled open his apartment door, holding it open for us. “We’ve got, like, four hours.”
