Chapter Twenty-Nine
131 days until graduation
I wake up to Gwen standing over my bed, her hand shaking my shoulders.
“Gwen, it’s Sunday.” I groan, pulling my comforter over my face.
Sundays are the only days I allow myself to sleep past seven a.m, so not getting the few extra hours would be detrimental to my sleep schedule for the rest of the week. I am a creature of habit and I thrive off schedule, which makes it difficult to deviate from my norms.
“Mom and Dad are home!” Gwen tells me. “Get up, get up!”
She’s like a kid waking her parents up on Christmas, except in this case, her parents are the present.
How pathetic does that make the two of us?
I sit up, sliding my feet into the slippers on the edge of my bed. I stand, and before I can even think about how badly I want to make my bed, Gwen is pulling me out of my room and down the stairs.
It’s straight out of a movie, the way Mom and Dad are standing in the foyer, their luggage dropped hazardously at their feet. One where they are the heroes.
“Genny! Gwen!” Mom shouts, as we reach the bottom steps. “Oh, I’m so glad to see you both! How are you?” She grabs our arms, pulling us into an embrace.
“Good, Mom.” I smile tensely into her hug. “We’re good.”
The joy on Gwen’s face makes my stomach sink, because it’s the same one I used to have on my face everytime our parents came home, but now I’m old enough to know it’s temporary.
“What are you doing back already?” Gwen asks, a bright smile gracing her soft features when Dad hugs her.
“We have exciting news,” Mom says, “But first, we have gifts.”
She opens the smaller of her two suitcases, pulling out two small, purple gift bags made of expensive cardstock. Gwen and I immediately recognize the logo from our favorite boutique in Venice.
We both hop off the steps as she holds out the bags, one for each of us.
Gwen takes hers first, squealing as she takes the tissue paper out.
“Wait, wait, wait.” Mom stops her. “Open them together.”
Gwen glares at me impatiently as I carefully unwrap the jewelry box from the tissue paper. We take the velvet boxes in our hands, opening them at the same time to reveal two nearly identical necklaces.
That’s when Mom moves her own hair behind her shoulders, grabbing the chain around her neck and presenting the pendant to us. “Ta-da!”
All the necklaces are small and heart-shaped, the only difference between them is the color in stones outlining them.I recognize the purple amethyst on mine, and the white topaz on Gwen’s. Our birthstones.
“Look at the back.” Dad says, making Gwen and I flip the charms.
On the back, are the letters ‘A.F.L.’
“Your dad came up with it,” Mom tells us. “Alderidge for life.”
“Alderidge for life?” Gwen looks up at our mom, “Is this our version of a purity ring?”
I laugh under my breath, trying to ignore the chill that runs up my spine at the reminder.
It’s not something I choose to think of often.
“Considering I birthed both of you, I don’t think Dad’s intentions had anything to do with purity,” Mom jokes, and Gwen looks at me while she gags, making the two of them laugh.I’m still trying my best to keep my discomfort from engulfing my face.
“No other intentions.” Dad interrupts our laughter. “We’re just happy to finally be home.”
“Hey!” Mom slaps him in the chest. “Don’t give away the surprise.”
“What surprise?” I ask.
Mom’s grin is bigger than I’ve ever seen as she bounces on the balls of her feet. “We’re back until the summer!”
“What?” Gwen asks in shock, already jumping in the air and hugging Mom again. The only time she pulls away is to ask, “Are you serious?”
“We’ll be here full time until June,” Dad confirms.
Tears form in Gwen’s eyes as my feet cement themselves to the floor. I’m stunned.They haven’t been home for that long since I was in middle school. Until this year, Gwen and I had nannies and chefs living in our house because of how little our parents were home.
My heart stings as I think of all the times I was Gwen’s age, wishing for them to come home for longer than a week. It was safe to say prioritizing has always been one of their greatest strengths, and I was never their priority.
“Genny?” Mom asks, coming up and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “Isn’t that exciting?”
I blink harshly, breaking myself out of the daze I was in. “Yeah, it’s good, Mom.”
“We’re going to be here for everything!” She grabs me by the shoulders, looking me in the eye. “Spring break, prom, graduation.”
Tears fill my eyes at the idea of Mom and Dad being here every day when I come home from school, eating dinner with Gwen and me.It’s everything I’ve had to learn to live without.
“It’s really great.” A fake smile fills my face. “Really, really great.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom coos. “You’re going to make me cry.”
“Let’s stop the tears while we’re ahead.” Dad smiles, clapping us both on the shoulder. “We’re going to dinner.”
“Did you guys know Gen is sharing Valedictorian?” Gwen mumbles through her mouthful of noodles.
We were going to eat at a restaurant tonight but decided against it after some deliberation. Instead, we ordered takeout from Gwen’s favorite Chinese restaurant, and are eating it at the dining table.
“I heard something about that,” Dad answers as he wipes his mouth with a paper napkin.
“With the boy staying at the Callaghan’s, the one you went to homecoming with, right?” Mom asks.
“Yes, his name is Jameson,” I tell her, picking up a rangoon with my chopsticks and taking a bite of it.
“He’s really cute,” Gwen says. I discreetly kick her under the table.
“Oh, I know he is.” Mom directs her words toward me in a teasing tone.
“And he’s going to Oxford.” My sister adds before I can answer.
That grabs Dad’s attention. “Oxford, huh?”
“Yeah.” I sigh, mostly because this is not what I was expecting to be talking about at my family dinner. “He wants to be a doctor.”
“This boy just keeps getting better,” Mom jokes, poking me in the arm.
I shrug. “He’s fine.”
“You should invite him over for dinner sometime,” she suggests, making me glare at Gwen from across the table.
“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” I tell her. “We are technically still competing for the position.”
“Is that why you’ve suddenly become best friends with him?” Gwen smirks.
“We’re not best friends,” I say through clenched teeth. “It’s not that serious, Gwen.” What I really want to say is ‘shut up and eat your damn noodles,’ but I’m trying my best to seem unaffected.
“A boy going to Oxford to become a doctor,” Dad muses. “It sounds pretty serious to me.”
I let my chopsticks fall from my hand and drop onto the table. How typical of my parent’s to make dinner about anything other than me or Gwen.
“I think I’m finished,” I say, picking up my takeout container and walking it to the trash can.
“Where are you going?” Gwen asks, also standing.
“Up to my room, I’ve got some homework to do,” I reply, sidestepping past her and into the foyer.
Before I reach the steps, I feel Gwen’s hand wrap around my arm.
“Gwen,” I sigh, prying my arm from her grasp. “Stop.”
“What is your problem?” She asks, stomping her feet as she follows me up the stairs. “I try to start a conversation to lighten up our silent dinner table, and you completely brush me off.”
We reach the top of the stairs, and when I enter my bedroom, she tries to follow. “You did that at my expense.” I try to raise my voice, but all it does is crack. “That wasn’t fair, and you know it, Gwen.”
“Wasn’t fair to who?” Gwen shoves herself into my room when I try to shut it. “Miss Valedictorian, who”s gotten everything she’s ever wanted? Or the little sister who hasn’t eaten dinner at her own house in over a month?”
Her voice is more volatile than I’ve ever heard, and the tears forming in her eyes throw me off. I’m not good at handling other people’s emotions, especially when I’m not feeling similarly.
I run both my hands through my hair, pulling at the roots. “I’m seventeen years old, Gwen. I’m sorry that I’m not here every night cooking dinner in place of our working parents.”
“You might be seventeen, Genevieve, but I’m thirteen and every time Mom and Dad leave, you agree to take care of me, and then you don’t.” She clenches her jaw, avoiding my eyes. “So, I’m sorry that I’m the one trying to give our parents a reason to stay!” She finally yells, storming out of my room.
Her words crash over me, like a bucket of cold water. Her resentment towards our parents is identical to mine, and I never even noticed.
I did the same thing growing up, thinking if I did better in school, or was quiet when asked to be, or wore the outfits mom picked out, it would give mom and dad a reason to stay.
“Wait.” I open my door, ready to go after her when I see our mom standing at the top of the staircase in complete shock.
“Mom,” I say, regret flooding me immediately. I’m not even sure why I care what she feels, considering she”s the one who caused this. “She didn’t mean any of that, she’s just upset.”
“No, no.” Mom raises her hands in surrender, her voice tearful. “I get it.”
Gwen’s bedroom door opens, and as soon as my little sister sees Mom, I know she feels exactly how I do.
Guilty.
“All I’ve ever wanted was to give my daughters the lives I thought they deserved.” A tear falls down her face. “Never in my worst nightmare did I think most of your childhood would be spent with nannies, but I always tried to make it work. Always.”
“Mom.” Gwen grabs her hand. “We know that.”
We do, but that doesn’t mean we’re not upset by the fact.
“I realize I haven’t been fair, and that’s why I’m here now. I’m here to stay.” She wipes her last tears. “I’m done working.”
“No, Mom, you love your job,” I tell her.
This is exactly what I’ve always been afraid of, the hope that comes with her declaration. It’s usually a short-lived feeling.
“I think I’ve spent a little too much time loving my job.” She wraps an arm around each of us. “And not enough time loving my girls.” Clearly.
Gwen laughs into her hold. “The Alderidge girls.”
“For life.” Mom smiles.
Gwen and I make eye contact over mom’s shoulders before we say, “For life.”
128 days until graduation
“Jameson, can I talk to you?” Wren asks, standing in the entry of my bedroom.
I sit up in bed. “Yeah, come on in.”
She smiles lightly, but I can tell there is something weighing on her mind. “So, I just got off the phone with your dad,” she says, sitting in my desk chair.
“Yeah?” I shut the book I’m reading, setting it on my nightstand. “What did he have to say?”
Henry Beaumont is a businessman first, father second. I have no doubt he has barely thought about me since I got on the plane that brought me here, except when he’s bragging about my accomplishments like they’re his own.
“We were on the phone for quite a while,” she tells me.
I furrow my eyebrows. “That doesn’t make sense.” There’s no reason for him to be calling Mrs. Callaghan, especially since he hasn’t called me once the entire time I’ve been in Fairwood. “Why?” I question, picking up my phone to check for any missed calls.
None.
I see the tears forming in her eyes, which only worries me more. “Wren?”
“He’s giving you the option to come home, Jameson,” she tells me.
“What?” I stand from my bed.
There’s no way my dad wants me to come home. He was the one who sent me to Fairwood in the first place. He’s the one who disrupted my entire life, said I needed a change of pace.
“Since the semester is over, he said if you want to go back to London and finish the rest of the semester at home, you can.” Wren sounds pained telling me this.
“Do I have to decide now?” I look around my room, seeing reflections of my life in Fairwood staring back at me.
“Oh, no,” she says, standing as well. “You take as much time as you need. Your Dad said he’ll buy you a plane ticket whenever you’re ready to go home.”
“Thank you, Wren,” I tell her, the gratitude pouring out of me.
“Just know that we love you.” Her voice trembles as she hugs me. “And whatever you decide, we’ll support you full heartedly.”
“I love you guys too,” I breathe. The Callaghans have felt more like a family to me than my parents ever have, and I wish I didn’t have doubts about staying with them.
The truth is, if anyone would have offered me a plane ticket in September, October, or November, I would have done anything to get home.
But now?
Now, I’m not so sure.
“I’ll let you know when I make a decision.”
Wren finally releases me from her hold.“Okay.” She says before making her way out of my room and back down the stairs.
I’ve never been this guy before, one so indecisive. Yet, when it comes to going back to my old life—the one I thrived in—or staying in the one I’m currently living in, I’m full of hesitation.
Then, I think of Genevieve and how easy it would be for her if I went back to London—how good it would be for the both of us.
She would be Fairwood’s Valedictorian, and I would be head student of my prep school back in London.
It would be a win-win situation.
And all I can think is, What the hell am I going to do?
Everyone’s picking at their plates during dinner, which makes everything even more awkward.
“So.” Logan breaks the silence. “Jameson’s leaving?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” I say quickly, which makes Mae drop her fork and stand from her chair.
“You’re actually thinking about leaving?” I can barely look at her face, seeing it filled with devastation.
It’s been made apparent how much Mae hates change, and now that she’s just gotten use to having me around, I’m thinking of leaving again. That can be difficult for someone
“Jameson is going to make the choice that is best for him,” Kai cuts in, his voice calm.
“Mae, I haven’t decided yet,” I start, finally able to look her in the eye. “But when I do, I promise you it will have nothing to do with you, and everything to do with me.”
“None of us want him to leave,” Logan says, mainly to Mae, but I can tell his message is also directed toward me. “But ultimately, it’s his choice. He’s going to have to go back to London eventually.”
“But not now,” Mae says, tearing up. “You still have prom, graduation, and your speech with Gen.”
I sigh. “We’ll see, Mae.”
I can see why she’s so upset. She’s young and can’t see the full picture as well as the rest of us can. She doesn’t understand that this will be better for everyone because all she cares about is that I’m leaving.
“Okay. Who wants dessert?” Wren smiles, trying to break the tension in the room. She walks into the kitchen before anyone even answers.
“I can’t believe you’re seriously considering this,” Logan tells me under his breath, looking between Mae and me.
I’m being honest when I say, “It’s a tough call, man.”
Logan has become like a brother to me, and as someone who grew up a single child, the bond we have is something I don’t want to leave behind.But every time I attempt to make my decision of whether I want to return home or not, all I can think about is the difference between the negative effects my departure would have on Logan, and the positive ones it would have on Genevieve.
The reasons for me to stay are weighing on me heavily, but the reason for me to go is being able to make a girl’s dream come true.
I’ve been saying the entire time I’ve been here that betraying Genevieve was never a choice of mine, but now—just as we get on good terms—it has become one.
How can I decipher whether it’s fair to do this to her again, when we’ve already resolved the problem?
And how could I ever think of giving Genevieve a genuine reason to resent me?