wrinkle-free forehead for frown lines.
Go Dad!
I want to shout, secretly proud that he’d finally stood up to his jerk boss. It couldn’t have been easy for him. Why couldn’t my mom see that?
“Well, if anyone cares about my opinion, I say Dad did the right thing.”
My mother turns to me, her perfectly glossed lips pursed, furiously containing herself. “Noelle, could you please go up to your room? Your dad and I need to continue this discussion. Privately.”
I escape upstairs and shut the door, not wanting to eavesdrop on the rest of their conversation. But it doesn’t work. I can still hear the raised voices shouting below. It makes me twitchy when my parents fight, always nervous that one of them will just storm out, never to return. That happens, doesn’t it? I mean, look at Annalise’s parents. I know they split up, from the little she’s said, although she hasn’t told me exactly why. Was it money? One too many arguments? One wrong word that can never be taken back?
The phrase my dad had used downstairs is still ringing in my ears:
the message I’ve been sending to Noelle?
Me.
I know exactly what he meant. The message that you have to stick with people, even the ones who make you feel like garbage. Out of inertia. Or fear. But maybe that’s not true. Because look at my dad. He did it. Quit. Just like that. I can’t believe it really was because of me, because of what I had said. What do I know? I’m just a kid. Still, my dad’s actions embolden me. If he can stand up to his bully boss like that, why shouldn’t I stand up to Eva, who was supposed to be my friend but lately feels more like my frenemy?
A flicker of rebellion sparks inside me. I know exactly what I have to do. I click onto the account settings and carefully change the login and password; then I log into the e-mail account Eva set up that first day and do the same.
I set the password to: Mistaken_Identity.
Click. Now, my decision can’t be vetoed ever again.
I finally have the nerve to check my messages, and sure enough, Annalise had replied to Eva’s fake note of apology on behalf of Declan. I almost don’t have the nerve to read it. The image of her, running sobbing through the mall, ticketless and abandoned, is still replaying on a loop in my mind. What if the apology didn’t work, and she’s going to start berating me for standing her up?
I sigh. I can’t avoid this forever. I click on her message to open it. But to my surprise, Eva’s words seem to have done the trick, because Annalise seems positively chipper.
KnuckLise99 : Dec, r u ok??? You won’t believe what happened!!
DecOlan : what? u won?
I know that can’t be it. But what could have possibly changed her mood between now and then?
KnuckLise99 : no. the most amazing thing! but first what happened 2 u? what was the big emergency?
DecOlan : sorry i had to bail. it’s all on me. my parents meeting was canceled. they came back when i was leaving. close call.
KnuckLise99 : oh no!
I feel sick telling more lies, for stringing Annalise along, but what can I do? For now, I am trapped. If only there were a way Declan could just fade out gradually, avoiding heartache and betrayal. Move overseas. Or spend a year in juvie. Or even better, if only I could kill him off, like a minor character on a soap opera. Freak skiing accident in the Alps? Open elevator shaft? Killer bees? Annalise would be devastated, of course, but she’d move on eventually. But then, of course, the two of us would never get to speak again.
DecOlan : what’s your news?
KnuckLise99 : i didn’t win . . .
KnuckLise99 : <>
DecOlan : lol . . . on edge of seat.
KnuckLise99 : <>
DecOlan : tell me, you big tease!
KnuckLise99 : i bumped into Colin Dirge!!! literally.
Colin Dirge? I rack my brain. All my studying pays off. Right. Band manager.
DecOlan : yeah?! and?
KnuckLise99 : he’s leaving me two tickets at Will Call! <>
DecOlan : what?
Go Dad!
I want to shout, secretly proud that he’d finally stood up to his jerk boss. It couldn’t have been easy for him. Why couldn’t my mom see that?
“Well, if anyone cares about my opinion, I say Dad did the right thing.”
My mother turns to me, her perfectly glossed lips pursed, furiously containing herself. “Noelle, could you please go up to your room? Your dad and I need to continue this discussion. Privately.”
I escape upstairs and shut the door, not wanting to eavesdrop on the rest of their conversation. But it doesn’t work. I can still hear the raised voices shouting below. It makes me twitchy when my parents fight, always nervous that one of them will just storm out, never to return. That happens, doesn’t it? I mean, look at Annalise’s parents. I know they split up, from the little she’s said, although she hasn’t told me exactly why. Was it money? One too many arguments? One wrong word that can never be taken back?
The phrase my dad had used downstairs is still ringing in my ears:
the message I’ve been sending to Noelle?
Me.
I know exactly what he meant. The message that you have to stick with people, even the ones who make you feel like garbage. Out of inertia. Or fear. But maybe that’s not true. Because look at my dad. He did it. Quit. Just like that. I can’t believe it really was because of me, because of what I had said. What do I know? I’m just a kid. Still, my dad’s actions embolden me. If he can stand up to his bully boss like that, why shouldn’t I stand up to Eva, who was supposed to be my friend but lately feels more like my frenemy?
A flicker of rebellion sparks inside me. I know exactly what I have to do. I click onto the account settings and carefully change the login and password; then I log into the e-mail account Eva set up that first day and do the same.
I set the password to: Mistaken_Identity.
Click. Now, my decision can’t be vetoed ever again.
I finally have the nerve to check my messages, and sure enough, Annalise had replied to Eva’s fake note of apology on behalf of Declan. I almost don’t have the nerve to read it. The image of her, running sobbing through the mall, ticketless and abandoned, is still replaying on a loop in my mind. What if the apology didn’t work, and she’s going to start berating me for standing her up?
I sigh. I can’t avoid this forever. I click on her message to open it. But to my surprise, Eva’s words seem to have done the trick, because Annalise seems positively chipper.
KnuckLise99 : Dec, r u ok??? You won’t believe what happened!!
DecOlan : what? u won?
I know that can’t be it. But what could have possibly changed her mood between now and then?
KnuckLise99 : no. the most amazing thing! but first what happened 2 u? what was the big emergency?
DecOlan : sorry i had to bail. it’s all on me. my parents meeting was canceled. they came back when i was leaving. close call.
KnuckLise99 : oh no!
I feel sick telling more lies, for stringing Annalise along, but what can I do? For now, I am trapped. If only there were a way Declan could just fade out gradually, avoiding heartache and betrayal. Move overseas. Or spend a year in juvie. Or even better, if only I could kill him off, like a minor character on a soap opera. Freak skiing accident in the Alps? Open elevator shaft? Killer bees? Annalise would be devastated, of course, but she’d move on eventually. But then, of course, the two of us would never get to speak again.
DecOlan : what’s your news?
KnuckLise99 : i didn’t win . . .
KnuckLise99 : <
DecOlan : lol . . . on edge of seat.
KnuckLise99 : <
DecOlan : tell me, you big tease!
KnuckLise99 : i bumped into Colin Dirge!!! literally.
Colin Dirge? I rack my brain. All my studying pays off. Right. Band manager.
DecOlan : yeah?! and?
KnuckLise99 : he’s leaving me two tickets at Will Call! <
DecOlan : what?
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