Like, never.
“Just spit it out, Megan,” she replies in a bored voice, “I’m not getting lectured by Mom just because you’re too chicken to talk to me.”
“I’m not too chicken,” I say with a scoff, “but speaking of getting lectured by Mom…I’m sure she would love to know that you spent the whole time on your phone while I was talking to you.”
She narrows her eyes at me, and then sets the phone aside on her bed. “There. So, let’s hear it already.”
I almost sit down at her desk, but decide that’s something Mom would probably do, so I just stay standing. “All right, well, I know you’re upset about the dating rule.”
“It’s a stupid rule.” She crosses her arms to emphasis her point. “And it’s totally unfair. Do you know how many girls at my school have boyfriends?”
“A lot,” I reply with a nod, “because it was the same way when I was in middle school.”
“Yeah, except you were actually allowed to have a boyfriend.”
Wow, that is one dirty scowl…
“You’re probably not going to believe me,” I start, giving her a careless shrug, “but having a boyfriend really wasn’t all that.”
She raises an unimpressed eyebrow at me. “You’re right, I don’t believe you.”
“Well, at first, having a boyfriend did seem like a big deal…until he wanted to date other girls while we were still dating. That’s when—”
“He dumped you, and you got bitter,” she interrupts, glancing at her phone. “Classic breakup story, Meg. What’s your point?”
“First of all,” I say, putting a finger up, “he didn’t dump me. I broke up with him. Secondly, my point is that having a boyfriend back then just wasn’t worth it. I would’ve been better off staying single.”
“Right…” she trails off, turning her attention back to me. “Well, I think I’d like to decide that for myself. The single life isn’t for everyone, Megan, and I know for a fact that it isn’t for me.”
What was the point of even having this conversation? Did Mom seriously think it’d make a difference?
“Are we done now?” she asks, snatching up her phone. “I have homework to do.”
Which, of course, involves using said phone.
“Sure thing,” I tell her with a faux smile, “happy studying.”
And that’s it. I’ve done my part.
I am so out of here…
However, my exit is interrupted when Hailee says, “Wait.”
Ugh. Close—but not close enough.
“What?” I huff, turning around to look at her. “I thought you had homework to do?”
“Gianna and I want to go shopping tomorrow after school,” she replies, ignoring my sarcastic tone, “so don’t make any plans…okay?”
Double ugh.
“Why can’t Mom take you?”
“She has a work thing,” she states in a matter-of-fact way, “and Dad is taking Kyle to some kind of weird bird exhibit. You really should look at the family calendar every once in a while, Meg.”
Triple ugh.
“Fine.” I purse my lips at her. “I’ll take you and Gianna shopping tomorrow, but you have to get permission first.”
She rolls her eyes at that. “Duh.”
Great talk.
This time I actually do leave, not bothering to close her door behind me, and I head toward my room.
“You left my door open!” she calls after me.
“Duh!” I holler back.
Ha.
Feeling pretty darn accomplished, I stroll into my room, where I’m welcomed by the pile of laundry that I’ve been ignoring for the past three days.
Or has it been five days?
Three days sounds better…
Either way, I’m running out of clothes to wear, which means it’s time for me to be responsible.
I hear my phone vibrating on top of my dresser, so I check to see who’s calling me.
Lora.
Okay, I’ll be responsible right after I answer the phone.
“Hey,” I say after “accepting” the call, “how’d it go with Paul?”
“Fine, I guess,” she replies with a slight sigh, “he talks a lot though and wouldn’t shut up about his love for parkour. I don’t know if him tutoring me is going to work out, Meg.”
“Hmm,” I hum, walking over to the pile of laundry, “well…you could always ask you-know-who.”
“And I probably would if he wasn’t so set on us getting back together. But he is, so I can’t. I’ll just have to find someone else.”
“Lora…” I put her on speaker and set the phone down on my bed so I can start sorting through all my laundry. “You know I don’t like getting in the middle of your relationship with Holt, but maybe you guys should talk.”
“We’ve already talked. And contrary to what he says, we both decided that the break-up was a good idea.”
“Yeah, except he wants you back,” I drawl, separating my clothes into smaller piles on my bed, “and maybe there’s a part of you that wants him back.”
“I’ve never said that,” she says, not skipping a beat. “You know what? It doesn’t matter. How’d it go with Hailee?”
She totally still has feelings for the guy, no doubt about it.
“Well, she’s decided that the single life isn’t for her,” I reply, going along with the subject change, “shocking, right? And she also informed me that I’ll be taking her, and her annoying friend, shopping tomorrow.”
“I told you agreeing to her deal was a bad idea. Didn’t I tell you that?”
“I know, I know,” I sigh, continuing to divide my clothes out, “but I needed the stupid recipe. What else was I supposed to do?”
“Find one online.”
I curse at her blunt response. “Sometimes I really don’t like you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” she shoots back with a laugh. “Hey, so did Brayden talk to you at all after lunch?”
“No, thank God,” I mutter, flinging one of Hailee’s stupid boyband T-shirts onto the floor. Ugh, Mom
