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life behind. But you’re not a kid. You’re a man, as much as
it surprises the hell out of me, and you’ve got to follow your own
path.”
    “ Thanks, Todd.” I said,
shaking his hand, knowing that I’d be home in Montana in a matter
of weeks.
    Nothing would keep me in
Florida.
    Nothing.

Chapter 5
     
    Briar
     
    “ Do you want to tell me
where you’ve been?” my father shouted the second I opened the front
door.
    “ I spent the night at
Grandma’s house.” I took my shoes off in the foyer so I didn’t
track dirt on the marble floors.
    My father came down the hall out of his
office, dressed, as usual, in a suit and tie. He glared at me over
the rims of his Armani glasses. “What have you done to
yourself?”
    “ Uh,” I glanced down at my
wrinkled uniform and bandaged knees. I kept my hands behind my back
so he couldn’t see my palms “Cheerleading accident. I’m fine, just
a little scraped up.”
    “ You didn’t call your
mother,” he said, not looking at me now, but at his
Blackberry.
    “ I left my phone in the
locker room.”
    “ You could have used your
grandmother’s.”
    “ I’m sorry. I was tired and
I forgot.” This was pretty much how it went every time I spoke to
my father. He asked a loaded question, and I gave an answer that
would hopefully satisfy him until he got busy again and left me
alone.
    He let out a breath. “I don’t like this
display of irresponsibility. I’m taking away your credit card until
Monday. If you see your mother, tell her I’m going to the hospital
early to finish up some paperwork.”
    When he had immersed himself in a phone
call, I rolled my eyes and headed for the stairs. He said he was
going to take away my credit card, but didn’t ask for it. For such
a smart guy he had a hell of a time paying attention. If I was
feeling really spiteful, I could go buy something expensive, like
jewelry. But that would be childish.
    Walking up the stairs killed my knees.
It was like I could feel the scabs ripping open. Halfway to my room
I spotted my mother. I tried to hide my shock. Her lips were three
times their usual size. She looked like a duck.
    “ Briar, I’ve been looking
all over for you.” She air kissed me and dug her flawlessly
manicured nails into my arm, pulling me back down the stairs.
“We’re going to be late for our appointment at the spa. I’ve had it
booked for two months, and here you are waltzing in like you have
all the time in the world. But don’t worry, I had your dress
delivered, and ordered the proper lingerie to accompany it. You had
nothing suitable in your closet. Raphael signed for them this
afternoon.”
    I stared at the back of her head her
dumbly until I remembered it was Saturday.
    Prom.
    How could I have forgotten
prom?
    “ Did you tell Alex to get a
corsage to match your dress? It’s such a pretty shade of blue.
Anything other than white will clash with it.”
    She was waiting for me to say something
and I was still playing the mute.
    “ I think I might skip prom
this year, mom.”
    Her head whipped around, followed by
her body. I got a whiff of heavy perfume, then a close look at her
lips. They were massive from injections. She’d probably gone to
another one of her friend’s Botox parties.
    “ How can you say that?
You’ve been looking forward to it ever since you and Alex started
going out.” I’d have my senior prom. It’s not like junior prom was
that important.
    “ I dumped Alex. It’s over,
and I’m not going.” I tried to go back up the stairs but she kept
those claws in me.
    “ Oh, no. I did not spend
six hundred dollars on a dress and book you a limo to have you back
out.” She shook her finger at me. The finger on her favorite hand.
It was her favorite because of the two-carat diamond weighing down
her ring finger. An early birthday present to herself, from
herself.
    Her birthday was in
November.
    “ Do you know what everyone
will say Monday when I go to the children’s charity luncheon,
Briar?”