Page 93 of Falling

“I had to take a phone call,” Miss Hackerly says, holding her chin high.

“In the middle of my performance?” Wren asks, her voice tight. Miss Hackerly nods, and I wince. “You couldn’t have waited until after and at leastpretendedyou enjoyed it?”

“What good would it do either of us if I pretended to enjoy it?”

Silence falls between us.

I don’t know what to say, because all the thoughts I have right now are not very nice. What kind of mother treats their kid like that? Especially one like Wren, who is kind and selfless and talented and smart and way too fuckinggoodto be treated like this by her mom.

I remember what she said to me the other night about how she doesn’t think her mom loves her or sees her as her daughter. How she’s probably the pawn in some game for her to relieve her glory days. It’s a fucking shame that someone so kind and loving could have someone so heartless as a mom.

Miss Hackerly directs her attention to me, her gaze not friendly in the slightest. “Isthisyour boyfriend everyone has been telling me about? I thought you would have at least told me in person.”

“I’ve been busy,” she mutters.

“It seems like it,” she says, “It makes sense now that your performance was off. You’ve been distracted.”

“I haven’t been distracted,” Wren argues, huffing out a breath. I don’t feel like I should be here for this. They’re talking about me as the distraction, and I’m standing right in front of them.

“You were never like this with Augustus. He pushed you to be better.”

“Yeah, and look where that got me,” Wren snaps. She takes in a steadying breath. “Look, Miles is a good person, and he’s a really fucking good boyfriend, so I really don’t care about what you have to say about that.”

That’s my girl.

If we weren’t in front of her mom, I would have covered her face in kisses by now. She probably would’ve rolled her eyes and pushed me away from her, but still.

Miss Hackerly doesn’t even acknowledge what Wren said, or me, and it pisses me off. “Listen,” she says, sighing, “your performance was fine. I know I was distracted, but it doesn’t take a genius to point out your Lutz needs more work.”

“Of course, you found space in your busy schedule to critique me. You’re unbelievable,” Wren says, scoffing. She hooks her arm into mine. “We’re going.”

She tugs at my arm, looking up at me with teary eyes before walking in the other direction. I don’t say anything because what am I supposed to say? I knew they had a difficult relationship, but I don’t think it’s my place to step in. She doesn’t need me to save her. All I can do is just follow after her like the lost puppy I am.

“You said you needed to speak to me about something, Amelia,” her mom shouts after us. Wren stops walking and turns around, her cheeks red as if she’s been caught.

“It’s nothing. I’ll call you,” she murmurs.

“Okay, fine. I was going to go away to Palm Springs after Christmas and into the new year with Mike,” her mom begins, but Wren interrupts her.

“Great. Have fun.”

“Buthe has an important surgery coming up, and he doesn’t want to disrupt his schedule. That’s why he called me. We were going to reschedule, but he suggested that we let the two of you go. If you’d like,” Miss Hackerly explains, not seeming happy about the idea at all.

“I need to practice as you so clearly pointed out,” Wren argues. I look down at her, and her face is hard. I put my hand around her waist and pull her into me.

“You need to take a break,” I whisper for only her to hear. She tenses at the way my breath tickles her skin as she inhales a shaky breath. “You deserve it, Wren.”

“Did you hear what she just said? Clearly, I don’t.”

“You do.”

“I do?—”

I quirk my head to the side. “Do you really want to do this right now?”

She rolls her eyes. “Okay. Okay, fine,” she murmurs before turning to her mom, her voice stronger. “Thank you. We’d like that.”

The secondwe get back to her apartment, we order Thai food. Well,Iordered Thai food, and she took a salad out of the fridge. We’ve been sitting on the floor around the coffee table in silence until she finally speaks.

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