CHAPTER 9 – AN INTIMATE WEEKEND #5
The house is silent, except for the TV in the living room. I step inside, and sure enough, my mom is there, sitting on the couch, scrolling through her phone.
Nancy looks up, eyebrow arched. “You’re home.”
“Yeah,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady.
She studies me for a second, then gestures at the kitchen. “Dinner’s in the fridge. Your father went to bed early. Wisconsin was fun, but we heard there was bad weather so we decided to come home early.”
I nod, inching toward the stairs. “Cool, I hope you had a good trip.”
My mom nods.
“Yes, we did. Your dad and I connected, and it was good to catch up with friends. But where have you been, Eliza? I see you have an overnight bag in hand.”
I smile wanly.
“Yeah, the house was so silent without you guys that I slept over at Tara’s.” Then I move towards the stairs, but my mom calls after me. “Did you have fun at least?”
I freeze. “Yeah. We went to the mall, saw a movie, gossiped. Nothing major.”
Nancy hums, skeptical but not pushing. “Good,” she says finally.
I manage a smile before making my escape. “Yeah, it was a fun weekend.”
In my room, I collapse on the bed, still trembling. I stare at the ceiling, replaying everything: Jack’s face when he said he loved me, the way my heart almost stopped. I want to text him, call him, tell him that I’m safe, that I miss him already.
Instead, I just lie there, counting my heartbeats, waiting for the courage to do what I know I have to do.
Tell him. Before it’s too late.
But not tonight.
Tonight, I let myself remember the way the handsome man looked at me, and let myself believe, just for a little while, that I deserve it.
The next morning, it’s barely 6:30 a.m. when I creep downstairs, and the house feels colder than it should for this time of year. But surprise, surprise, Nancy’s sitting at the kitchen table, scrolling on her phone.
“Hey, superstar,” she says, smiling too wide like she’s been waiting for me. “Did you sleep well?”
I nod, while striding to the cupboard to grab some cereal.
“Like a baby.”
My mom nods. “Did you have fun with Tara over the weekend?”
Oh shit, we’re back to this again. I decide to play it cool.
“Yeah, def,” I say, while pouring milk into my cereal. “It was chill. We just hung out and watched bad movies.”
She studies me for a long second, eyes scanning from my face to my hands. I’m dressed for work and nothing’s amiss. There shouldn’t be anything giving me away. But this is my mom, and she has eyes like a hawk.
“You look flushed,” she observes. “Everything okay?”
I force a laugh. “I’m good. I think I ate too much Panda Express last night for dinner. We hit the mall and got bored and, you know, orange chicken. MSG overdose.”
Nancy tilts her head, lips pursed. “What did you two do all weekend?”
My brain scrambles for details. “Just the usual. Watched Netflix. Caught up on work drama. Tara had this weird TikTok recipe for hot Cheetos mac and cheese, so we tried that. Regretted it instantly.”
Nancy nods, still watching. “And you were with Tara the whole time?”
I fight the urge to gulp. “Yeah. But what is this, Mom? The inquisition? Tara and I didn’t even go out after dark.”
Silence stretches. Nancy is excellent at interrogations, the kind where she just waits you out until you break or start babbling. My skin itches.
She finally shrugs. “You seem different, Eliza. Glowing, almost.”
Oh shit, oh shit. That shouldn’t happen after spending time with my best bud. I smile wanly.
“It’s just the sodium overdose from last night,” I insist, the lie sour in my mouth. “Listen, I need to get to work now.” Then, I grab my phone and wave. “Bye now!”
She lets me go, but I feel her gaze on my back all the way down the path to my car.
After starting the vehicle, I drive around the block and then pull over to the curb, trying to calm down.
My heart pounds and my pulse races. There’s even a sheen of sweat at my brow, so I need to get control of myself.
I whip out my phone, and oh shit, but there are three missed texts from Tara, who’s agreed to cover me in my lie.
(“hope u didn’t get caught LOL,” “tell me everything,” “I want details or I’ll die”).
There’s also one from Jack (“did you make it home safe?”), and a notification from the cam site reminding me of a payout threshold I haven’t hit this week.
I type a quick response to Jack: “Made it home. Parents are sus but I think I’m fine. Miss you already.”
He replies instantly: “Call me if you need backup.”
I almost laugh, and for a second, the anxiety lifts. Then it comes crashing back, harder than ever. I remember the look in Jack’s eyes when he told me he was falling in love, the way I’d promised him everything and given him only half the truth.
My hands shake so badly I can barely type. I send Tara a string of panicked emojis, then bury my face in my arms, trying not to scream.
The walls are closing in, and I don’t know how much longer I can keep my lives apart.
But for now, I just need to breathe and get to work.
I just hope I don’t blow everything up before I figure out what the hell I’m doing.