Catch My Fall | ✔

20. Something In Our DNA

The next morning I woke up hoping I only dreamed about what Indy said. I always thought her and Romeo hated each other. Maybe that was just a cover up to keep me from finding out they were hooking up.

They'd been lying to me for who knew how long. Definitely since Indy's party last month. Now I knew why she knew about Romeo's first kiss before I did.

Romeo. Ugh. He said he didn't remember the girl's name. That the kiss meant nothing. You don't kiss your best-non-blood-related-friend's sister for fun. Why wouldn't they have told me?

Hot, angry tears sprang to my eyes. I quickly wiped them away when I heard footsteps in the hall. My door opened a second later. My mom stood there in a pair of silk pajamas and matching bonnet she did a review on for her blog recently. The company was Black-owned and local and my mom couldn't stop recommending them to people.

"What are you still doing in bed?" She asked, her head tilted in concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah." Except I had to face Romeo and Indy at some point.

To keep my mom from worrying, I got out of bed. It wasn't like I could sleep, anyway. Not when every time I shut my eyes, I saw Indy and Romeo kissing. Was it a quick peck? A full on make out? Did it stop at kissing? They would've told me if they had sex, right?

My mom retreated to her bedroom after letting me know there were sausage and waffles and eggs in the microwave.

I was eating a fork full of waffles at the counter, ready for school, and staring at my phone.

We need to talk

I'd type out that message for Romeo, but couldn't bring myself to send it. I deleted the words and started again.

Why didn't you tell me about kissing Indy?

Delete.

Can we talk before class?

Delete.

Why, out of everyone, did you kiss my sister?

Delete.

Why not me?

That last one didn't make it into a text. It stayed at the back of my mind, where it'd been all last night. Pestering me and keeping me awake.

Why not me? Why Indy when I was right there? I've always been right there.

I shoved another bite of food into my mouth, then typed out another message.

Andre kissed me last night so now we're even

My finger hovered over the send button. How would he react? What would he say? Nia said he was jealous, would sending the message force him to admit it?

Delete.

I was finishing off my eggs when the doorbell rang. Andre stood on my porch, wearing dark jeans and a hoodie with an alien on it.

"Hey," I said, more surprised than anything. "What are you doing here?"

His dazzling grin was the only good thing about the morning. "I was told you'd need a ride."

"Told by who--" I paused. "Indy?"

Even when she wasn't speaking to me, she was still trying to run my life. Andre was only a pawn in her game. He didn't know about our fight or how she kicked Romeo out of the basketball game. So I fixed my face into a smile. "I'm ready. I just have to put my shoes on."

At the mention of shoes, his gaze flicked to my feet. "Your socks don't match."

I glanced down as well. One sock was black with neon-colored stars. The other was yellow with pink hearts. "They're both shapes."