Page 36 of Butterfly

Chris spat on my floor. “Fine, you’re clearly in a mood. I’ll come back at a better time, cutie.”

I stood by the door, watching warily as he stood up and stomp-stumbled his way out of my room. As soon as he was gone, I slammed the door shut, locked it, and slid down onto the floor, burying my head in my hands. Should I report him? Or would that cause more trouble for me? College was supposed to be fun, wasn’t it? So far, it was more stressful than this summer had been.

On impulse, I picked up my phone and told Siri to Facetime my mom.

A moment later, her face appeared on screen. She was in the kitchen, her face and hands covered in flour. She was grinning wide as she brushed her blonde bangs out of her face.

“Honey! How was your first day?”

“Hi Mom,” I said, settling back against the wall and forcing a smile on my face. “It was good.”

“Yeah? Have you made any friends? How are your classes? Have you seen Mason?”

I nodded. “There’s a girl in my dorm, Lucy. She’s nice.” Mom didn’t need to know we’d barely spoken. “Ballet was good—I love the instructor. And I have an American lit class I like so far.”

It didn’t really count as lying if I didn’t say that Mason was in my class, right? It was only omitting a fact.

“Oh, good. I’m glad you’ve made a friend. I know it’s hard, being in a completely new setting—but you’ll find your group soon enough. And that stepbrother of yours should help—he promised us he’d watch out for you.”

“Yes, he did,” said Paul, and then the phone camera turned to show my stepfather in a suit and glasses. He, too, had flour on his clothes, sticking to his lapel and marring his otherwise pristine button down. “Has he been treating you well?”

I hesitated. I could tell Paul right now what his son had done. He didn’t know about Mason’s antics this summer, and certainly didn’t know about what had happened in the past forty-eight hours.

I hadn’t told them this summer because I was worried friction between us would weigh on my mother’s new marriage, and I desperately wanted her to be happy. After the way we’d learned that we were my father’s second family, and she was, essentially, his side piece, she deserved some joy in life.

God, my father, that fuckface. Proof that there were very few good men out there.

“Leslie?” Paul prompted, a frown appearing on his face and between his eyebrows.

I could tell. I should tell him. He’d intervene, punish his son, maybe even threaten to stop paying for school if he continued to be a dick.

I could. But I remembered the embarrassed look on Mason’s face when he told me he had a hard time concentrating, and that Paul “gave him shit about it.” And even though Mason was unequivocally an asshole, I couldn’t put him in a position where his father hurt him again…especially after he’d confessed something so vulnerable and private.

“He’s been very helpful. And kind,” I added, because if I was going to lie, I was going to throw my whole self into it.

Paul snorted. “Mason, kind. That’s a first.”

“Paulie!” my mom interjected off-screen. “Don’t be cruel. He’s changing.”

Paul shook his head. “I’ll believe that when I see it. Here, I’ll pass you back to your mother.”

The phone shook as it turned, and I heard whispering and my mother’s laugh. This time, my smile wasn’t forced.

“You sound happy,” I told her when she was back on camera.

“I am, honey. All I want is for you to be happy too, okay?”

I nodded. I wasn’t sure if happiness was in the cards for me anytime soon. “Okay.”

After we said our love you’s and hung up, I stared at my phone, clicking back to the text chain with Mason.

He’d read the last text, but hadn’t responded, and if I were honest with myself, it made me sad.

But it was for the best.

Even if it hurt.

14

---