She boils water and puts in two heart-shaped diffusers.
They’re cute. I’ve never seen them before. When we’ve had
tea here, she always uses regular tea bags.
I start to ask her how school is going for her, how her
classes are, her students, but she speaks first.
“My mom came over this morning.”
“Really?”
“Just walked into the house. Scared the heck out of
me.”
“My parents never do that. Thank goodness for
buzzers, right?”
Steph blanks for a second, then she nods. “Right. Yeah.
They can’t get in the front door of the apartment building.
They don’t have a key?”
“No. It’s better that they don’t. My mom is amazing,
but she’d let herself in constantly, and I don’t need her tidying
up or doing laundry or something for me when I’m not there.
That would be humiliating. I know she’d try it. Probably bring
the stuff over to cook a pie and leave it on the counter for me.”
“That sounds awesome. I’d give her a key.”
I smile, relaxing slightly. Maybe there’s nothing
wrong. Maybe I read too much into Steph’s call. Or maybe I’m
wrong. Because her smile is gone and she looks incredibly
serious all of a sudden.
“My mom heard that we had gone to the spa. Someone
saw us holding hands. And, uh, they saw us kiss. They called
my mom.”
“Holy shit!”
I can’t imagine what Steph would have said to her. I
know we should have talked about her telling her parents, but I