Under Her Skin

Chapter 18

Police Officer: What happened when the phone rang?

Me: Disaster.

***

When Sunny came back, Lyssa was standing on the edge of the doorstep, waiting eagerly for her grand arrival. The mother wrapped herself in a huge gray shawl and stared at Sunny walk up the steps, head ducked low. I followed, realizing that this was the beginning of Sunny's yucky situation. Lyssa, with her arms crossed around her chest, had the still, deeply penetrating gaze of a seventeenth-century portrait. There was only one explanation: she had found out about the smoke.

"You're in trouble," Lyssa said, her voice so fierce it made Sunny pee a little. Sunny turned to face her but found it impossible to make eye contact. "Big high school student now. You think you're so cool?" Sunny's face browned, guilt poured out of her as she waited for the big slap in the face. It was coming, and she could feel it.

"Mom, I"m so sor-"

Lyssa was not going to let Sunny talk. She raised her voice slightly and took off Sunny's book bag. Then she went on and on in a tantalizing talk, while Sunny stayed quiet and listened. She chewed a hangnail on her pinkie. It bled into the crevasses of her finger.

"What did I say about answering your phone? You can go with your friends but you have to call me." Sunny looked up, confused.

"What?"

"You got me so worried."

"You mean... this is about not answering your texts?" It was then that Sunny realized her mother was incapable of believing that Sunny would do such troubling acts of disobedience. The thought hadn't even crossed the woman's mind. Immediately, Sunny appreciated the way Lyssa wore her madness casually, like a loose summer dress. There was even some elegance to the way she yelled, and Sunny's face flushed pink, an act of appreciation of Lyssa's motherly devotion. Sunny waved her hand as if she was swatting off whatever guilt was floating around in her head, and immediately allowed Lyssa to continue her affectionate and protective rant towards her.

Lyssa started asking all sorts of sideways questions about Selena's parents to figure out if she was the kind of friend she wanted for her daughter. She asked if she did any sorts of bad things like drugs or alcohol, and Sunny answered no. She wanted a whole summery of her hobbies, her grades, her family, her siblings. That's when Sunny's guilt disappeared when through the dullness of her eyes, I knew she longed for her mother to return to her paperwork-filled afternoon behind the walnut desk.

It was then that Lyssa's lecture was interrupted by a call from Camryn. Sunny, excited by her new gained freedom, hurdled up the stairs and jumped on her bed. Flipped open her phone. Her Instagram feed was burbling with all sorts of things— likes, comments, messages. Was it another embarrassing video that had gone trending? She opened the app and saw her post. Sunny's first selfie, yet she looked completely unlike herself. That's what they were probably making fun of. Just a Chinese girl trying too hard to be white.

***

Come over. Come over. Come over. Sunny read Selena's Snapchat over and over. She looked at the ceiling. Then at the lock screen of her phone. A photo of Hiram, Lyssa, and Sunny on the beach of San Diego stared back. Sunny tilted her neck, squinted her eyes, and proceeded to change the smiling family photo to a light pink screensaver that read: love, kitties with a white heart next to it.

Selena called.

"Let's link."

"Sure."