caressed the
golden-red rose.
Dashing from the restroom, I hurried back to the kitchen to
tell Mom and Barry how much I approved of my new gift when I heard their
conversation as they cleared the supper table.
“…thought we discussed this, Barry. You said you wouldn’t
constantly load her down with presents.”
I skidded to a halt and pressed a hand to my heart. What was
this? Mom didn’t approve of my gift?
Barry managed an uneasy laugh. “Oh, come on, Kate. I hardly
call one little necklace a load of presents. Besides, this is a special
occasion. She starts a new school tomorrow. She’s got to be nervous and—”
“Christmas is a special occasion,” my mom cut in. “Her
birthday. Graduation. Tomorrow is just any other day, and I don’t want you
spoiling her even though I know you can afford it. This is my daughter, and we
agreed I would raise her as I saw fit.”
From the hallway, I frowned. I wouldn’t call going without a
dad for thirteen years spoiled. I wouldn’t call one little pick-me-up gift,
given out of thoughtful consideration, spoiled. Mom was being completely
irrational, and I had no idea why. She was supposed to be on my side here.
Betrayed and hurt, I wrapped my fingers around the necklace
and listened to her continue. “I mean, come on, Barry. A fourteen-carat gold
necklace for her first day of school?” Her laugh was harsh and brittle. “You
didn’t even give me that for our wedding.”
I gasped and quickly slapped my hand over my mouth before
anyone could hear my shock. In a blinding flash of intuition, everything became
clear. Mom wasn’t worried about me turning into a pampered brat.
She was jealous.
I clutched the necklace until the imprint of a rose embedded
itself in my palm.
This didn’t seem real. I’d been without a father for over
eighty percent of my life. I was starting a new school tomor row so she could live out her happily ever after. I was doing all the sacrificing here.
How could she be so petty as to feel jealous and spiteful toward me? Why
couldn’t she be happy, or even grateful, for everything I was about to go
through for her?
As she sulked around the kitchen, slamming dirty dishes into
the sink, rage seethed under my skin.
My own mother wanted me miserable.
I fled to the privacy of my new room, pushed aside an opened
box I still needed to unpack, and plopped onto my bed. After reaching for the cell
phone Barry had given me when Mom and I moved in, I texted a quick SOS to my
three friends and then immediately booted up the laptop Barry had also provided
for me to attend Southeast. Once I had Schy, Adam, and Bridget online in our
favorite chat room, I told them about the necklace and my mom’s reaction.
Bridget typed in a frown face. “ You gotta be kidding me. How could she do that ?”
“ What an insensitive
thing to say ,” Adam wrote. “ You’re
the least pampered girl I know .”
“ She must be jealous
of his attention to you ,” Schy suggested.
I smirked. “ That’s
what I thought .”
“ And, come on. You’re even transferring schools so she
could get married ,” Bridget spoke up.
Exactly. See, my best friends got it. Why hadn’t my own
mother?
“ Ask her again if you
can stay at Hillsburg ,” Schy ordered.
At that moment, my friends’ proposal sounded brilliant. I
was no longer concerned about sacrificing myself for someone so ungrateful. And
I’d never wanted to attend Southeast anyway. I loathed the very idea with a
burning passion. Every time I thought about what would happen when I saw Ryder
Yates again, I started breathing all funny with these strange, wheezing pants.
And that happened from merely thinking about it. When it happened for real, I’d
probably just pass out cold at the guy’s feet.
After thanking my pals for their support, I logged off and
searched the house for my mom.
I found her in the master bathroom. She stood in front of
the long vanity that stretched across the length of the wall. Something