Page 62 of Dire Straights

No, he was cool. I’m about to talk to my mom about the whole Gwen thing,I responded, taking a bite from my sandwich.

You think she’ll be cool about it too?

About the bi thing, yeah. The Gwen thing I don’t know.

She’ll just have to get over it,Maddy insisted.You should tell her what a bitch Gwen was and is to you. I’m sure that will change her mind about wanting you guys together.

I’ll tell her,I texted back.I’ll let you know how it goes. I miss you.

Already??

You don’t miss me?I asked, smirking as I finished the last piece of sandwich. If he said no, he was definitely lying.

I didn’t say I didn’t.

That was probably as close to it as I was going to get at the moment, so I responded with a bunch of cheesy heart and kissing emojis. When my mom and dad walked in to sit at the table with me, I set my phone face down.

The conversation was awkward starting out. She had a lot of questions about Maddy, like my dad. I answered them, but I really hoped she wasn’t trying to make comparisons between him and my ex. There really wasn’t any kind of competition, in terms of how happy I was in the two different relationships.

“I’m sorry you felt like I went behind your back, Ren,” she finally apologized. “If I’d known you didn’t want to date girls anymore, you know I would never have-”

Cutting her off with a groan, I rubbed my palms over my eyes in frustration. “It’s nothing to do with that! I like girls. I just happen to like some guys, too.”

“So you like this guy Maddox more, is all,” she determined.

“No! I mean, yes! I do like him more, but whether I had ever met him or not, I wouldn’t want Gwen in my life. What are you not understanding?”

“I just don’t understand what changed. You two were so great before. Is it just that you can’t forgive her for breaking up with you?”

I shook my head, inhaling deeply. “Do you really want to know why I don’t want her around? Or are you just going to argue with me no matter what I say?” I asked.

“Ren, I’m not arguing with you in the first place,” she denied. “I’m just trying to understand.”

I knew she was probably being honest about not deliberately trying to frustrate and annoy me. My mom had always been supportive and easygoing. This whole Gwen thing was really the first time we’d ever really butted heads in a major way.

I took a deep breath, trying to make a brief mental tally of all the stuff about our relationship that had been miserable for me. When I laid it out for her, bringing up lots of specific examples, her face became more and more distressed. But she didn’t interrupt me, just let me get it all out. By the time I was done, she was nearly in tears.

“Oh, honey, I had absolutely no idea. Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I didn’t exactly realize how bad it was until I was away from her and started hanging out with my own kind of people,” I said honestly. “And then I knew you were her friend so I didn’t want to upset you…”

“No, no,” she shook her head before coming around the table to hug me. “I liked Gwen because I thought she was good for you. You don’t have to worry about me talking to her anymore, I promise.”

“Okay,” I agreed quickly, relieved. “I would really like that.”

“I was worried you’d be lonely at school, but it sounds like I don’t need to worry about that,” she said, rubbing a hand down my back.

“No,” I promised her. “I have really great friends and I like my classes.”

“And you have Maddox,” she added teasingly. “Sounds like he won’t let you get lonely either.”

“Well, yeah,” I said, vaguely embarrassed to be teased. But at least I hadn’t slipped up and called him Maddy in front of them. That would definitely have intensified the ribbing.

“So do you have any pictures of him or anything to show us?” She wondered, and my dad nodded to show his interest in the idea, too.

“Well, I could pull up his Instagram if you want,” I said. I knew that, at least, was pretty PG. When I had his page up, I handed it over. As she scrolled, my dad hovering over her shoulder to look as well, her eyebrows raised up toward her dark hairline.

“Thisis your boyfriend!?” She asked, turning the screen toward me and jabbing her finger toward a picture of him. It was from the swim meet he’d competed in, a few months back.

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