Page 66 of Sycamore Circle

What’s up?

First, when I woke up at my dad’s I realized that I forgot my French notebook. He lectured me the whole time about being responsible. Then, when we got there—I met Bo!

No way! What was he like?

Finn! You’ve met him! He was at the diner with that other man.

It was the same Bo he’d met with Seth. Finn just about fell off his bed.

Are you serious? Hold on. I’ll call you.

After scanning the room and debating about where he could get the most privacy, he grabbed a book from the library to put on his lap and sat on the floor. If someone asked why they heard his voice, he could say he was practicing reading. It was a dumb excuse, but whatever.

Finally, he arranged some pillows around him to try to muffle his voice, and called.

“Finn?”

“Can you hear me?” He was whispering.

“Yep.”

She was amused, and he didn’t blame her. “I’m still getting used to talking on the cell phone.” He was also getting pretty stupid. His father would be really, really mad at him if he discovered he was talking on a mobile phone to an English girl. “I don’t have a ton of time, so tell me everything.”

She giggled. “There’s not a lot to tell. Supposedly he’d come over, they watched a movie on television and fell asleep in the living room.”

“Uh-huh.”

She giggled. “Yeah, I found that hard to believe too. But my mom was still in her same clothes and Bo looked all rumpled too. Mom was so embarrassed.”

“How did your dad act?”

“You could totally tell he was freaking out.”

“Wow. What did you do?”

“Nothing. I was sent to get my French notebook, which I kind of didn’t even care about anymore.”

Finn had to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing. “I can see that. I would’ve just been staring at everyone.”

“That’s all I wanted to do. It was crazy. My dad kept staring at Bo like he couldn’t believe he was with my mom. Then my dad started asking questions and acting like Mom had done something wrong. Which made both my mom and Bo mad.”

“Whoa.”

“Right?” She sighed. “I guess in a way I can’t blame my dad too much. I always thought she’d date one day, but this Bo guy is a surprise. I mean, first I saw him talking to you—and second he’s obviously younger than my mom, and really handsome. It was so awkward. This Bo guy kept darting looks at my mom, like he was debating whether to say stuff or not.”

“No way.”

“Luckily, we didn’t stay long. Of course, Dad talked about Mom and Bo the whole time he drove me to school. He said all sorts of stupid stuff. Like she should be acting better.”

“Because she fell asleep watching a movie?”

Chloe giggled. “I think so. I mean, I was shocked, too, but it’s not like my dad has a lot to say, right?”

“Right.”

“I wish you could have been there.”

Finn grinned. “Me, too, though I probably wouldn’t have been much help.”