In return, I'd gotten nothing. Until now.
Frantically, I dug the phone out of my pocket, rushed back into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut behind me.
Waverly called out, "Hey! That's my bathroom."
"In a minute!" I called back, even as I tapped the screen to accept my cousin's call. "Jason?" My voice rose. "Where have you been?"
On the other end, I heard with nothing but silence.
I tried again. "Hello? Jason?"
"Uh, yeah," he finally said. "So, um, how's it going?"
I felt my jaw clench. Judging from the tone of his voice, he knew exactly how it was going.
"Terrible," I said. "What happened with the house?"
"Well, you see…it's kind of a long story."
"I'm sure it is," I snapped. "So what happened?"
More silence.
"Oh, for God's sake," I said. "Just spit it out, will you?"
"Alright. Jeez, calm down."
Calm down? Seriously? Through gritted teeth, I informed him, "I am calm."
"You don't sound calm to me."
He was right. I wasn't. But I had plenty of reasons to be agitated. He'd given me a promise. He'd taken my money, repeatedly. And then, in spite of everything, he'd sold the house anyway, with no warning whatsoever.
Adding insult to injury, he hadn't even bothered to tell me any of this himself. Instead, he'd let me find out on my own, the hard way. Cripes, even Brody discovering me naked in the shower was my cousin's fault in a roundabout way.
Still, I wanted answers, not a scene. So in the calmest voice I could muster I said, "On Tuesday, you were supposed to meet me. Remember?"
"Tuesday? Are you sure?"
"Oh, come on," I said. "You know you were. I waited for you all day. And half of the night, too. But you never showed."
He mumbled, "Sorry 'bout that."
"You should be," I said. "And then, I find out from someone else that you sold the house – the one we supposedly owned together. So tell me. What happened?"
He hesitated. "Who told you I sold it?"
"Well, for one thing, the sign."
"What sign?"
"The sold sign," I said. "You know, in the front yard."
"Well, I didn't put it there."
At this, a spark of wild hope kindled in my heart. "So, what are saying? You didn't sell the house?"
"Well…I didn't want to sell it," he said. "I just had to, that's all."
My heart sank. So much for hope.
Jason said, "So who told you it was sold?"
By now, my jaw was so tight, I could hardly speak. "You mean aside from the sign? And from the fact you stood me up?"
"Sure, whatever. How'd you find out?"
The question grated. "Does it matter?"
"It might."
"Fine," I said. "I heard it from the guy you sold it to."
At this, Jason swallowed so loud, I actually heard it through the phone. Sounding sick to his stomach, he said, "You did?"
"Well, I certainly didn't hear it from you."
In a hushed voice, he said, "He's not with you now, is he?"
Brody? No. But he was still nearer than I would've liked. From somewhere just outside the bathroom, I could hear his voice, muffled, but unmistakable as he and Waverly discussed whatever.
When she gave a flirty laugh, it reminded me of fingernails on a chalkboard. Or maybe I was just irritated with everyone, especially my elusive cousin.
In reply to his question, I told him, "No one's with me. I'm in a room by myself."
"You mean in Lansing?"
Obviously, he meant East Lansing, where Michigan State was located. "No. I graduated. Just last week. Remember?"
"But you're not still here in Bayside, are you?" He hesitated. "I mean, you went back home to Lansing, right?"
Didn't he get it? East Lansing wasn't home. This was home. After graduation, I'd been planning to build a life here, to get a local job, to fix up the house and keep it in the family.
And if Jason thought I'd simply wander off into the sunset, it was time to inform him otherwise. "I'm not going anywhere until I get some answers."
"From who?"
"From you. Obviously."
"Oh. Right." Again, he hesitated. "So where are you staying?"
"At the house across the street."
"From where?" he asked.
"From Grandpa and Grandma's place." My fingers clenched around the phone. "You know, the house we supposedly owned together?"
"Shit."
With growing irritation, I said, "What now?"
"Nothing," he said. "Just do me a favor. Don't tell anyone I called, alright?"
Talk about nerve. "Why should I do you a favor? You totally screwed me over. You do realize that, right?"
"Hey, it wasn't my fault."
I considered all the money I'd sent him, and the all of the plans he'd ruined by selling the property out from under me. "Well it certainly wasn't my fault."
"I know," he said. "But don't worry. I'm gonna make it right."
"How?" I demanded.
"I just will," he said. "Trust me, okay?"
I gave a snort of derision. "Like I trusted you to keep the house?"
"Alright, maybe I deserved that," he said. "But when I explain, you'll get it. I promise."
Now, this I had to hear. "Alright, fine. Go ahead."
"Sorry, what?"
"Go ahead and explain. I'm waiting."
"Later," he said. "I've gotta go."
"But—"
I heard a click, and then dead silence.
Damn it.
When I tried to call him back, he didn't answer.
Lovely.
After a few choice words, I emerged from the bathroom more confused than ever, especially when I found myself alone.
I stopped in the bathroom doorway and looked around. Waverly and Brody were nowhere in sight. The bedroom door was now shut, and I heard no noises from the other side.
But I'd be a fool to get too comfortable. After all, it was only a matter of time before Waverly barged in and demanded the bedroom.
Looking to get it over with already, I did a final sweep, checking inside the closet and under the bed for anything of mine that might've fallen out of sight.
When I found nothing, I returned to the dresser and scooped up the pile of receipts and shoved them into the duffle bag, on top of the rest of the stuff.
I left the bedroom with my bag
