Slammed

about her errands . I wish Caulder wasn't at our house every day. Seeing him just makes me think of Will. I wish Will would never have fixed my jeep. I hate that he does considerate things like that. It would make it so much easier to hate him if he really was all those things I called him. Oh my god, I can't believe I called him all those names. Wait, no regrets.
     
    ***
     
    I pick the boys up from school and drive home. I beat Will home today, but I won’t be waiting at the window. I’m done waiting at the window.
     
    "We'll be at Caulder's," Kel yells as they slam the jeep door.
     
    Good.
     
    When I walk inside, I hear my mother talking to someone in her bedroom. I pause outside her door. It's a one-sided conversation so she must be on the phone. Normally, I would never eavesdrop on one of her conversations. However, her behavior lately warrants a little nosiness. Or maybe my behavior warrants a little rebellion. Either way, I cup my ear to the door.
     
    "I know. I know . I'll tell them soon," she whispers.
     
    "No, I think it will go over better if I tell them alone…"
     
    "Of course I will. I love you too, Babe."
     
    She's signing off. I quietly tiptoe to my bedroom and slip inside. I shut the door behind me and slide to the floor.
     
    Seven months now. It took her all of seven months to move on. She can't be seeing someone else already, but her words on the phone couldn't have been more clear. I'm in stage one again: Denial.
     
    How could she? And whoever he is, he already wants her to introduce us to him? I already don't like him. And her nerve! How could she accost Will like she did, when what she's doing is just as deplorable, if not worse? Stage one is extremely brief. I'm back in stage two again: Anger.
     
    I decide not to bring it up right away. I want to find out more before I confront her about it. I want the upper hand in this situation, and it's going to take some thought.
     
    "Lake? Are you back?" She's knocking on my door. I have to roll forward and hop up to get out of the way when she opens it. She sees me stand and her eyebrows raise as she watches me jump up.
     
    "What are you doing?" she asks.
     
    "Stretching. My back hurts."
     
    She doesn't buy it, so I clasp my hands behind me and stretch my arms upward, bending forward.
     
    "Take some aspirin," she says.
     
    "Okay."
     
    "I'm off tonight, but I have a lot of sleep to catch up on. I didn't get any at all today so I'm going to lie down. Can you make sure Kel gets a bath before he goes to bed tonight?"
     
    "Sure."
     
    We both start down the hallway. "Wait, Mom?"
     
    She turns back to me, her lids dragging over her bloodshot eyes.
     
    "I'm going out Thursday night. Is that okay?"
     
    She eyes me suspiciously. "With who?"
     
    "Eddie, Gavin and Nick."
     
    "Three guys? You aren't going anywhere with three guys."
     
    "No. Eddie's a girl. She's my friend. Her boyfriend is Gavin and we’re double dating. I'm going with Nick."
     
    Her eyes brighten a little. "Oh. Well, good." She smiles as she opens the door to her bedroom. "Wait," she says. "I work Thursday. What about Kel?"
     
    "Will has a sitter on Thursdays. He already said Kel could stay there."
     
    She looks pleased, but only for a second. "Will agreed to pay a sitter? To watch Kel? So you could go on a date ?"
     
    Crap. I didn't realize how this would look. "Mom, it's been weeks. We went on one date, we're over it."
     
    She eyes me curiously. "Hmm." She returns to her room, still unappeased.
     
    Her suspicion brings me a small sense of gratification. She thinks I'm lying about something. Now we're even.
     
    ***
     
    "I'm not going to third period," I say to Eddie as we exit history.
     
    "Why not?"
     
    "I just don't feel like it. Headache. I think I'll go sit in the courtyard and get some fresh air."
     
    She shrugs as we start to part ways in the hallway.
     
    "Layken." She grabs my arm. "Does it have anything to do with what happened at lunch? With Mr. Cooper? Is everything okay?"
     
    I smile at her reassuringly. "No, it's fine. Mr. Cooper just wants me to refrain from my colorful choice of words in his class."
     
    She purses her lips together and walks away with the same unappeased look my mother had last night.
     
    The courtyard is empty. I guess none of the other students need a breather from the teacher they're secretly in love with. I sit at a bench and pull my phone out of my pocket. Nothing. I've only spoken to Kerris once since I moved. She was