Chapter 42
CHAPTER
FORTY-TWO
MYLO
One week later
We sit around the dining room table in the same places we always did.
Dad’s face is softer, his hair greyer.
Mom looks the same with her bouncy teal curls and honey-colored eyes, so I suppose I have the typical omega’s slow aging to look forward to.
“You’ve gotten so thin, honey.” She scoops an extra-large helping of buttery mashed potatoes onto my plate. “Eat up.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
She reaches over and fusses my hair out of my face. “That horrible dye is faded a bit. It’s nice to see your roots. Oh, I know. I’ll take you to Millie and she can give you a nice short cut, get rid of all this…” She tucks my hair behind my rounded ears and hesitates. “…darkness.”
I run my fingers through my hair and pull it back over my ears and face. “I’m good. Thanks, though.”
Mom looks like she wants to say something, but she just glances down at her plate.
Dad clears his throat. “That trendy coffee shop downtown is hiring. You’d fit right in there. Could be nice to have something to do, depending on how long you’re staying.”
“Of course he’s staying,” Mom says. “The coffee shop is a lovely idea. Even if they did change their chai tea recipe, and it’s terrible now.” She slices the turkey on her plate as if it’s directly responsible.
I stare at the fresh-cut flowers in a little vase on the table as I shovel mashed potatoes into my face.
I have exactly one suppressant dosage left—I never took my evening dose the night of the wrap party—and it’s still in my backpack.
My heat symptoms haven’t come back, so… I guess it’s over.
Time to catch up on meals, even if I haven’t really felt like eating.
Time to face the music, too. I looked up that doctor, Giovanna Heath. She’s legit. So is suppressant resistance syndrome. There are more questions than answers, but it’s clear that I can no longer rely on suppressants to hide what I am.
Annie ventures carefully, “Maybe Mylo can decide for himself what he wants to do…”
“Of course he can,” Mom says, too cheerily. “And Mylo wants our help doing just that. Don’t you, sweetie?”
Annie takes a breath to say more, but I flash her a placating look. She closes her mouth and exhales.
Once I’ve swallowed my potatoes, I say, “Yeah, Mom. I appreciate it.”
“See? Dad, why don’t you drop him off tomorrow when you head to work? He can go introduce himself to the manager.”
Annie frowns. “Mom, I don’t think that’s how—”
I kick her under the table.
Annie flashes a confused look at me, then recovers. “…how would be most efficient. Why don’t I take Mylo? I’ve been meaning to go to the library, and it’s right next door.”
Mom looks up from her plate with a bright smile. “Even better. It’s so lovely to have the family back together again.”
When the food is gone, Annie stands and gathers our plates.
“I’ll take care of the dishes. Mylo, mind giving me a hand?”
“Sure.”
Mom and Dad head to the sitting room for coffee as Annie and I take all the plates to the kitchen.
Annie scrapes the dishes and hands them to me to wash, just like when we were kids. Mom still hasn’t gotten a dishwasher.
Annie’s lips are pressed into a thin line as she hands me a plate. “I thought you wanted things to be like old times. Not… whatever this is.”
“What? This is like old times.”
Annie scoffs. “Mom being totally on your case every five seconds?!”
“Yeah.”
She pauses for a moment, then keeps scraping. “Oh. I guess I never noticed…”
“She wasn’t always such a helicopter. And… she has her reasons. I guess I… understand them now.”
Water suddenly splashes my face, and I jump back, nearly dropping the slippery plate in my hand. Annie glares at me, hand still next to the stream of water.
“Hey!”
She splashes me again.
“What the fuck?!” I set the plate down, grab the sink sprayer, and point it straight at her.
Annie sputters with shock, then bursts out laughing and grabs the sprayer out of my hand, nailing me in the chest.
I join her laughter, and we lean back against the counter.
“Alright.” I toss her a towel and start drying myself off. “You gonna tell me why I deserve that?”
“Listen… you and Mom are like… polar opposites. She’s spent her whole life hiding, and you… you were out there, doing things, not letting being an omega slow you down.”
I sigh. “I was running on borrowed time. And that loan… ran out. It never really worked.”
She grabs my arms. “But it did work! Just look—look at how much you did! You were—” She lowers her voice, wary of our parents in the next room.
I told Annie about half of what happened, and them…
about a tenth of that. “—you basically starred in a big-time movie! If Mom and Dad had their heads screwed on straight, they’d be…
they’d be super fucking proud of you. I’m proud, Mylo. I’m really fucking proud of you.”
Something pangs through my chest, something bright and real through the hazy sludge. “I thought you hated me for breaking Mom’s heart.”
“Well… I did. But I’m your little sister. I’m allowed to hate you. But I hate this—” She gestures at me. “—even more. I never realized how much she… suffocated you.”
“She means well. And I… What else am I going to do?”
Annie narrows her eyes. “The Mylo I know wouldn’t just give up. What you’ve already done was like… impossible. You can do it again.”
“Annie, it’s not…” I sigh.
She smacks my arm. “Quit it with the wounded puppy act!”
I roll my eyes. “Okay, what do you want, then? The doctor said that—” I lower my voice again. “—that I’m building resistance to the suppressants. So… that’s it. I’m done. Game over.”
Annie huffs. “Oh, would you—wait.” Her eyes light up as a smirk pulls across her face. “Hang on a second.”
“What?”
“No, this isn’t a wounded puppy act… this is a lovesick puppy act.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”
“Uh huh, there it is. You’re mad, which means I’m right. Ooooh! Oh you like Christine.” She puts her hands to her cheeks. “Mr. Mylo ‘I’m too cool for popular culture’ is in love with a mainstream movie star.”
I whip my towel at her. “You shut up! Take that back!”
She jumps back just in time for the cotton to smack loudly against the kitchen cabinet.
“That’s the Mylo I know! Oh you fucker! I knew you weren’t telling me everything…”
“Oh yeah, because you want to hear about my sex life?!”
“EW!” Annie scrunches her face and plugs her ears.
“Yeah, exactly!”
Annie recovers, then grabs my arm. “Does she know?”
“Know what?”
She giggles. “That you like her.”
I roll my eyes. “I do not.” My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I’m grateful for the distraction. Even if it’s a spam call, I might pick up. I’d much rather hear about my car’s extended warranty than talk to Annie about this right now.
But then I see Haley’s name and a smiling selfie of us together on the screen, and I answer immediately.
“Hey, Haley—”
“Mylo! Oh my god, I’m so glad you picked up.”
“Are you okay?”
Annie leans toward my phone and shouts, “HI HALEY I’M ANNIE, MYLO’S REAL SISTER.”
I shove her away from the phone and hiss, “Shut up!”
Haley is breathless. “Oh, you’re with your family? Are you sure this is an okay time?”
“Yeah, of course.”
As Annie actively tries to eavesdrop, I hold her away with a stiff arm.
“Okay, I… I just wanted to see if you’ve heard from Christine.”
Pain crackles through my chest. “I haven’t, but I… didn’t expect to.”
Haley sighs. “Okay, maybe I just need advice. That last day of shooting, we like… were making plans, y’know…
and she kept talking about how we should meet up when we were both back in LA.
She told me about this, like, specific smoothie place, and we were gonna hang out at her pool, and…
Ugh, I don’t know, I’m feeling totally mental. ”
“Wait, so what happened? She cancelled?”
“No, she just… isn’t responding. To my calls or my texts.”
“You’re sure you have the right number?”
“It worked in New Zealand… I just, ugh, maybe I misread everything. That’s a thing, right? You say you’re gonna hang out but you don’t really mean it, and… I mean, Christine’s a big star and I’m just… y’know…”
“Christine’s not that way,” I say forcefully, and then only after the words are out of my mouth do I realize that I mean them. “She wouldn’t ghost you.”
“Okay, so then I’m kind of freaking out. Lana called me; she can’t get a hold of Christine either.”
“What about Christine’s agent? Her manager?”
“I don’t know, I’m assuming Lana tried them before me…”
“When was the last time anyone talked to her?”
Annie’s eyes widen, and she reaches for the phone again. I swat her away as Haley answers.
“At the end of the wrap party, I think… I can text everyone else, I just—well, I wanted to call you first to make sure I wasn’t being, like, totally cringe.”
“Shit. Okay, yeah, that’s a good idea. Someone’s probably heard from her. You said you’re in LA? You have her address?”
“No… or, well… I guess I could google it? Is that creepy? They won’t even let me past the gate, I’m sure!”
“Listen, you’re a star now. The only reason they’d stop you is for your autograph. Drop by her house, bring wine, say you were in the area. If she’s there, great—maybe her phone is just fucked up. You might even have heard back from someone by then.”
Haley takes a deep breath. “Okay. Yes. I’m sure she’s fine. You’re the best, Mylo.”
“Right back atcha. Keep me posted.”
“I will. Bye for now.”
“Bye.”
As I lower my phone, Annie’s shining eyes come into focus. She mouths something silently.
“What?”
“Go to her,” she whispers. “Go to her! You have to!”
I’m about ready to hit her over the head with the pan in the drying rack. “What?! What about Mom!”
“Mom’s a big girl. She’ll get over it.”
“Annie—”
She grabs my shoulders. “Listen to me, Mylo. You’re so obviously miserable. Dad suggesting the coffee shop? He thinks you’re depressed, and you are. Watching you mope around all week has been… fucking terrible. You hate it out here and you always have. And she’s clearly also miserable!”
“No, I’m sure she’s not—”
Annie shakes me.
“Okay fine, fine! Fine. I’ll go check on her. But that’s it. That’s. It.”
She’s practically wiggling with glee. “Uh huh. Sure. Yep. That’s it.”
I go to smack her with my towel again, and she dodges.
My voice drops to a whisper. “How am I going to leave? Mom will flip her shit.”
“Just do what you did last time.”
I wait a beat.
Annie doesn’t elaborate.
“What, you’re serious?!”
“Yes! Sneak out tonight. I’ll cover for you.”
“You’re actually cosigning this?” I level a skeptical look at her.
Annie flips her hair over her shoulder. “Listen, I want to go back to being the favorite child, okay?”
“Now, that I can believe. But I don’t have a car.”
She scoffs and smiles. “Yeah, I’m not loaning you mine.”
“Thanks.”
“Wait, what about that driver that dropped you off?”
“He did give me his card… But it’s going to be expensive…”
Annie’s eyes sparkle again. “Put it on Christine’s tab!”
“What? How?”
“I don’t know, it’s a rich people thing! It’ll work, I’m sure. They did something like that on Real Homegas of Orange County.”
I narrow my eyes. “You’re basing your confidence on reality TV?!”
“It has real in the title. You’ll be fine.”
“I’m gonna kill you.”
“Well, there you go. If you actually come back, you’ll get to kill me.”
Out of protests, I offer a weak smile. “You’ll come visit me in LA?”
“Yeah. And I’ll talk to Mom and Dad. They’d love to have you home for Thanksgiving.”
“Even if I have to sneak out again?”
Annie’s expression softens as she nods. “Even if you have to sneak out again.”
“Send me lots of pictures of Rusty?”
“Absolutely.”
I hold out my little finger. “Pinky promise?”
Annie hooks hers around mine. “Pinky promise.”