Her Big Neighbor

I lift a hand in greeting, and she closes the blinds. That’s that, I guess. I don’t blame her. If I had known that it was her Kevin was calling, I would have stopped him. How much damage did his words do? In the state she’s in, there’s no telling. Especially since I have no idea how Julia’s talk with her went or if it even happened.

But I refuse to let Kevin control this narrative any longer. I’m going to show Jane that I’m not like my brother, and that I’m worthy of her daughter. It’s the only thing that I can do, and I hope that it’s enough. I walk into my house and grab my cellphone. Before I call my parents, I need to make a call to Patrick.

20

Julia

When I wake up in the morning—later than I’ve slept in a long time—my eyes are swollen from the crying I did last night. Because what the fuck?

How in the hell am I supposed to choose?

Never in a million years did I think that she would give me that kind of ultimatum. I don’t want to talk to anyone, especially her. I don’t want to talk to Edward, because I won’t be able to not tell him. And he’s such a gentleman, that he’d step back. Completely. And I don’t want that either.

I don’t know what to do.

It’s not an easy thing. I love my mom, even if things have been hard. And I love Edward.

Mom is banking on the fact that I love her more than ‘some guy.’ Which is again her projecting her feelings about men and their worthlessness on me. But I don’t feel that way.

Everything about this sucks. Complete and utter shit.

Glancing out the window, I see that Mom’s car isn’t here. That’s good. That means I can go downstairs without picking up where we left off last night. There are a couple of texts from Edward asking how it went, but I ignore them. Even looking at them and thinking about answering hurts my heart.

I grab some food, and I see there’s a note on the counter. It makes my stomach flip when I see it, but all it says is that she went out to take care of some things and if I could return some phone calls following up from the party. I sigh. Yeah, I can do that. Especially if it keeps me away from everyone and busy. There’s a list next to the note, and I take it back upstairs to my room with me.

For the next couple of hours, I make phone calls on behalf of the charity, answering questions that Mom was too busy to outline the night before, and for more than a few people, giving them the details on how to donate and the process for getting receipts for their donations. It’s good to know that the drama that happened last night hasn’t effected people’s willingness to donate. Our personal drama shouldn’t affect kids in need.

I’m thankful that it takes a long time. But Mom still isn’t back from where she is, so I don’t feel a huge amount of pressure. I shower when I’m finished, and take the time to dry my hair. Put on clothes that make me feel good and comfortable. When I come out, I’m feeling better physically, though nothing could possibly make me feel better mentally right now.

My phone chirps, and I look down and see Mom’s name. I don’t like the way my heart starts to pound and my stomach seizes up when I see the message, but I look and see what she wants.

Can you come to Grove High with the pamphlets from last night please? I ran out and I’m pretty desperate here.

I want to say no, that I’m not going to do anything for her until we get this worked out. But I literally just said to myself that our drama shouldn’t affect the kids that we’re trying to help. And if she’s at the school right now that means she’s trying to get the teachers—the ones who weren’t here last night—on board. And that’s important.

Sending a quick text that tells her I’m on my way, I pull on my shoes and grab the stack of handouts that are left over from the party. We haven’t even moved them from where they were sitting. Grove High is close, and it only takes me about ten minutes to get there. But I don’t at all expect the sight that I see.

The entire parking lot is crowded with people even though it’s summer break. There’s construction equipment and several long tables covered with food. There are more people here than are teachers at this school, that’s for sure. I do see both principals who were at the party last night in the crowd.