Denial (3 page)

“Hey,” she says when she sees me. “I hope you’re hungry.” She’s at the stove, stirring something yummy-smelling in a frying pan.

“Smells good,” I say. I drop my bag on the floor at my feet, deciding I can deal with my homework later.

“Fajitas,” my mom says.

“Yum. I’m going to run upstairs and change, and then I’ll be down.”

I take the stairs two at a time, then throw my uniform into the hamper and pull on my favorite jeans and a soft white t-shirt. I put a light purple zip-up on over it, then scrape my hair back into a ponytail.

When I get back downstairs, there’s a plate of chicken and vegetables sitting in front of my chair. My mom’s sitting at the table, pouring diet coke into glasses.

“I’m starving.” I slide into my chair and help myself to a tortilla. “Thanks for making all this. I’ll clean up after.”

“Deal,” my mom says. She takes a sip of her soda. “So how was your day?”

“Good,” I say, scooping some chicken onto my tortilla. But something about her tone gives me a weird feeling, one of those “uh oh, your mom is about to bring something up you really don’t want to talk about and it’s going to be really awkward” kind of feelings.

The last time I had that feeling was when I got my period at the beginning of eighth grade and even though I knew all the biology behind it, my mom said, “Oh, honey, isn’t that so nice!” and then wanted to talk about it. Like, for a long time.

“And yesterday? How was your day yesterday?” she asks. And then I get it.

She wants to talk about me. Being at Cam’s.

“Fine,” I say carefully. I debate whether or not I should take the lead on this conversation, cut her off at the pass before she can start asking me all sorts of embarrassing questions and/or start probing for details about my sex life.

But before I can decide, she says, “So you never came home last night.”

“No.” I wait.

“Or the night before.”

“No.”

“You were at Cam’s house.”

“Yes.” I sent my mom a text telling her that I was going to be staying at Cam’s.

She replied and said it was fine. But apparently it’s not.

“I’m not sure exactly how I feel about that.”

“Okay,” I say, “That’s fair. But just so you know, it’s not like I’m going to make a habit of it or anything.” I consider mentioning that some weird stuff went on at the dance, and that I didn’t feel like being alone. But I’m afraid she’ll ask what kind of weird stuff, and there’s obviously no way I can get into all that.

“Natalia,” she says, “You went to the dance with Brody, and you somehow ended up spending the night at Cam’s house?”

“Brody was never my boyfriend,” I say. And then I realize how that sounds.

Like I was hooking up with Brody, and then dumped him when Cam came along. But I never even hooked up with Brody. Except for one kiss. One kiss that wasn’t even really a kiss. “Look, Mom,” I say, deciding to start over. “Cam and I, we’re together. Brody and I were always just friends. And it’s always been Cam.”

“What’s always been Cam?”

“I’ve always liked him.”

“For the two weeks you’ve known him, you mean?”

“Yes.” Even I realize that sounds kind of bad.

“Well, I want to meet his parents.”

I almost choke on my Diet Coke. “You want to meet his parents?”

“Yes,” my mom says. “If my daughter’s going to be spending the night over there, I have a right to know what their rules are when it comes to sex.”

Oh. My. God. She did not just say that. “Mom,” I say, “Cam and I aren’t… I mean, I don’t plan on – “

“Natalia,” she says firmly. “I want to meet them.”

“His dad lives in Maine,” I try.

“Well, his mother then. And I should get to know Cam better, too. Invite them both over for dinner.”

“Fine,” I say.

This is going to be a disaster. I wonder what Cam’s mom is like. She wasn’t around at all this weekend. Hopefully she’ll be cool with all this.

My phone buzzes, and I pull it out. A text from Cam.

“about to start practice – miss u beautiful”

Yeah. We’ll see if he still feels that way when I tell him we’re about to have our own little Meet The Parents right here in my kitchen. I serve myself another tortilla. And this time, I decide I deserve some extra sour cream.

In the locker room after practice, things get awkward.

Lancaster looks at me and then Brody, changing two lockers down from me.

“What the hell’s up with you two?” Lancaster asks, pulling on his Burberry Polo shirt. “Was I that drunk on Friday night that I totally missed you guys hating each other?”

I want to tell him that this has been going on for weeks, but Lancaster’s not the brightest bulb and he doesn’t notice stuff like that. “Everything’s fine,” I lie.

“Then how come you two won’t say boo to each other?”

Brody and I exchange glances. Neither of us answers.

Lancaster comes over and slaps me on the back, grabs Brody, and tries to pull all of us together. “C’mere you two, stop being such babies. Tell Uncle Tony what’s the matter.”

“Let go,” Brody says and peels Lancaster’s hand off his back. He turns back to his locker and continues changing in silence.

Lancaster raises his eyebrows and whistles softly. “That bad, huh?”

I shrug. “So—did you ever hook up with that Adrianna chick?”

He makes a face. “She doesn’t even hardly drink, dude. I mean…you know me.

I like to have a few and any girl who hangs with me needs to like to throw a few back.

Right?”

“Right.” I finish tying my sneakers. Just then I get a text from Nat.

“call me when u get out of practice”

Lancaster peers over my shoulder. “Call me when you get out of practice?” He giggles and jumps away as I pull back to give him a hard punch. “Oh, Cammy Cammy Cam! Cam I love you! Cam, give it to me, Cam!” He thrusts his hips back and forth into the air, and mimes hitting an imaginary girl’s ass.

“Dude, knock it off,” I say.

“That girl just can’t get enough of the Camster, eh?” he says, chuckling.

Brody just shakes his head and walks out of the locker room. Part of me actually feels kind of bad for him.

I look at Lancaster. “Are you really that stupid?”

“What?” he says, genuinely confused. I shake my head.

A few minutes later, I’m in the car on my way home and I call Nat. She picks up immediately.

“Hey,” she says, sounding weird.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, instantly on alert.

“Nothing. I mean, it’s not a big deal. At least, I hope you won’t think it is.”

“Tell me.” I can only imagine what new horrible news is coming my way. Raine sent her a ransom note? Teri is holding her grandmother hostage?

“Well, my mom wasn’t too psyched about me spending all weekend at your house…”

I laugh. “Yeah. I guess I can’t blame her.”

“And she said she needs to meet your mom.”

“My mom?”

“She wants you guys to come to my house for dinner this weekend.”

I groan. “Shit.”

“You don’t want to.” She sounds cute when she’s nervous, I decide.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just….the thing is, my mom’s kind of quirky.”

That’s the understatement of the year.

“So’s mine,” Natalia says. “And she’s totally not judgmental at all—she loves everybody. She even loved Derek.”

“Oh, that changes things. If she thought Derek was cool then my mom is a lock.”

Nat laughs and a few minutes later we get off the phone. The smile dies on my lips as soon as I hang up. The thought of having my mom at Natalia’s house is horrifying to me. But I didn’t want to let Nat down, so I had to say yes. But still. Talk about a disaster waiting to happen.

***

Mom gets home from work at about seven o’clock. She’s carrying two brown bags and the smell of Chinese food wafts towards me.

“Takeout?” I ask, as she hands the bags off to me and sets her satchel on the floor by the front door.

“I’m exhausted,” she says. “Can you get out some dishes?”

“Sure.” I put the food on the table and grab some plates and silverware.

“How was school?” she asks.

“Fine.” I rip open the bags. “Nice, you got spare ribs.”

“Of course.” She comes over and sits down, sighing. “Anything interesting happening?”

I give her a look. If she only knew the half of it. But I would never even hint at the insane stuff going on with Raine and Brody. My mom can’t even watch PG-13

horror movies so I can’t imagine what she’d do if she found out that her son was almost made a human sacrifice by a coven of witches.

“Well, there is something,” I say, biting into a spare rib.

“Do tell.”

“I’m kind of seeing someone.”

Her eyes light up. “Well I know you’ve been spending time with Raine Marsden.

I really like her.”

I flinch at the mention of her name. That’s right, Brody opened his big fat mouth and told my mom that Raine liked me. “Not Raine,” I say.

“What happened?”

“With Raine?”

“She’s such a beauty.” Mom gets up from the table and walks to the fridge, takes out a jug of table wine. “And always so friendly. Did I tell you how she actually pumped gas for me—”

“Yeah, you did,” I say, frustrated.

She pours a big glass of wine and stands across the kitchen, sipping it thoughtfully. “Such a nice girl. Did you two have an argument?”

No. She tried to steal my life force.

“She’s just not my type.”

“Shame, shame, shame.”

“But I’m seeing someone else,” I remind her.

“Do I know her?”

This is getting annoying. And Mom is drinking, which makes it worse.

Reminding me exactly why I don’t think this dinner is such a good idea.

“No, mom, you don’t know her. But I want you to meet her.”

Mom clucks. “I still think you and Raine could work things out.”

“Did you not hear me?”

“What?”

“I told you she’s not my type. I don’t like Raine. She’s a bitch.”

Mom’s expression grows stormy. “Do not speak like that in front of me. I’m your mother.”

“You need to ease up on the table wine.”

“Excuse me?”

“No, excuse me.” I get up and leave the room. I go outside and just as I’m about to get in my car to drive around and cool off, I spot a familiar vehicle parked across the street, a few houses down.

I recognize that car, I think.

Derek.

I wonder if he’s watching me. I pretend not to notice anything, instead getting in my car and slowly backing out of my driveway, taking my time. Then I come around and as I’m passing him, slow all the way down and stop.

I roll down my window and wave at him.

He rolls down his window.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I say.

“That’s not much of a greeting.” He grins, all smarmy and arrogant.

“What are you doing in my neighborhood?”

“Not much.” He shrugs. “Taking in the view. Pretty sweet place you got, Cam.”

But then I notice which way his car is facing and how far it is from my house.

“You’re watching Aiden, aren’t you?”

His shit-eating grin fades for a moment, and it feels like I get a quick peak beneath the surface. He looks like a stone cold psycho. But then the smile comes back.

“Don’t worry about what I’m doing, Cam. I’m on your side, buddy. Didn’t Natalia tell you how I showed her where to find you guys the other night?”

“She told me you followed her and acted like a stalker, as usual. Yeah.”

“Come on now, that’s no way to thank the guy who helped save your life.” His hand rests on the steering wheel. He’s chewing gum. “Of course, Aiden had it even rougher than you did.”

“How do you know all this shit?”

He smiles. “Now you know I can’t tell you that. And besides, you’re better off not knowing too much. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.”

“Why are you spending time with Brody’s sister?”

Now the smile really goes away and his teeth show, but it’s like a dog about to bite. “Who told you that?”

“Ignorance is bliss, Derek.”

He starts his car. “Well now that you’ve got that little piece of advice memorized, here’s another.”

“Yeah?”

“A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. Very, very dangerous.”

And then he speeds off.

When I get to school the next morning, Hadley’s waiting for me in the front entrance of school, by the gym. Her hair’s in two pigtails, and she’s wearing knee socks and a pair of shiny black Mary Janes. She looks like a naughty schoolgirl. I look down at my own uniform, still a little rumpled, and try not to feel inferior.

“Okay, so this is going to sound totally lame,” she says when she sees me, “But what would you think about having a sleepover?”

“A sleepover?” I ask. For a second I wonder if she’s going to say she’s going to use her webcam to tape it and then upload it to one of those pay-per-view porn sites.

That’s how sexy this girl is.

“Yeah.” She pulls on the bottom of a pigtail. “Me, you and Adrianna. And if there’s anyone else you think we should invite, they can come too.”

I hesitate. I’m all about sleepovers. I mean, what’s not to like? Snacks, makeovers, cheesy movies. But I’m supposed to be having Cam and his mom over to dinner this weekend. And even though we didn’t set a specific time, I’m thinking I need to keep my schedule wide open.

Especially since Cam sounded a little weird about it on the phone last night. I just want to get the whole thing over with. How bad can his mom really be? All she has to do is come over, eat some dinner, and let my mom know that she’s not going to let us shoot up in the basement and/or have sex on the kitchen counter.

“A sleepover would be fun,” I tell Hadley. “Except I have plans with Cam this weekend.”

“What about me?” Cam asks, appearing behind us in the hall. He leans in and gives me a kiss on the cheek.

“I was inviting Natalia to hang out this weekend, but she was saying you guys have plans.” Hadley looks disappointed, which makes me feel bad. She’s nice. And it’s not her fault she’s gorgeous.