Always Alone | ✓

Chapter Thirteen

THE FOLLOWING DAY, I wake up feeling like Aladdin's magic carpet—floating on air. I call Angie to jump in my bed with me and grab her up close, happily kissing her nose.

Reaching down for a stuffed toy, I throw it into the living room as she rapidly fetches it. I laugh as she comes back to the room and gets ready to jump. She curiously looks at me as if asking, "Why are you so happy?"

"Uh-uh." I waggle my finger close to her face. "I don't kiss and tell."

She pouts her big black eyes. "You're as nosy as your grandmother."

Speaking of her...I pick up my phone that's ringing by the side table. "Happy New Year, Mom!"

"Happy New Year, Genna!" She returns the excitement as only a mother can. "What's got you in such a happy stance?"

Should I tell her?

I need some girl talk. I only know a few women in Miami—Devin sisters and Mrs. Ruiz. Who better to talk to about a man than the person who knows me better than I know myself? Oh, what the Heavens she's my mom!

"I met someone," I say, holding back a jolly smile and biting the nail of my index finger.

"Oh." From such a prying woman as Sandra Peterson, I'd expected something other than an "oh."

I sit straight up. "Oh?"

The line goes dead and if it weren't for the static voices I hear in the background, I would've guessed she'd hung up.

"No, Frankie. You talk to her...I just...I can't..."

"Mom?"

"Your mom tells me you've met someone," Dad enters the line, clearing his throat. "A male I presume?"

"Yes, Dad, a male," I say, exasperated. "Can you put Mom back on the phone?"

I'm not talking to Dad about Devin. That's just weird.

"We start a new year and you're already trying to get rid of me? I see. Now listen, your mom never lets me have the phone and we've added that to her New Year's Resolution list, so tell me more about this boy before she changes her mind. Please, don't tell me he's a Democrat."

I exhale. There's really no point in fighting this. "His name's Devin. He's a software developer and I don't know what party he belongs to nor do I care."

"Impressive. Sandy, he's smart!" I hear him shout.

I giggle consequently rolling my eyes. "He's twenty-six. I don't really know much about him, Dad. Can you just put Mom on?"

"Your mom isn't feeling well."

I try really hard. By God, do I try really hard not to think that Mom's reaction has something to do with Jess, but the signs are all there. As soon as I mentioned Devin, she went stale. Did they forget who they're talking to? How can she think I'd make the same mistakes as Jess?

"Really? Because she was just fine until I mentioned I met someone."

"It's just—"

I interrupt him, not wanting to hear another lie. "Don't start the new year with fibs. I'm not her, Dad. I'm not Jess. Please, don't compare us, and pride yourselves on the job you've both done in raising me."

I learned from my sister's mistakes. I tried my hardest to be the daughter she was never able to be for my parents. I gave up being a teenager for them. For Mom to think that I would follow in her footsteps hurts. It hurts more than I could've ever imagined because it feels like all this time, they've been waiting for the other shoe to drop.