Page 6 of The Perfect Love

“I love you too, honey.” She clears her throat to pretend her voice doesn’t break.

Whose bright idea was this, anyway?

Oh, yeah. Mine.

This is supposed to be my fresh start. A chance to start over. New school. New major. New life plan, even if the wounds from the old one are still healing.

Still, I don’tneedto do this.

I want to.

That’s harder for me to admit because of my characternot-a-flawof always putting the important people in my life first. If anyone says it’s a flaw, they can suck it, because caring about the people I love will never ever be a bad thing. I’d go to jail or an early grave for Hyla or my mom—even a lot of my friends—and I’m good with that. It’s who I am. And, if I’m honest, who I am is pretty fucking spectacular, so there’s no need to change.

Hyla would smack me in the back of the head if she caught me saying that, but for being unbiologically related, she’d totally say the same shit.

Mom lets me go, then pinches my cheek.

“Mother, why?”

She laughs. “Because you’ll always be my baby.”

Then Hyla sings the Mariah Carey song of the same name from behind me, and yeah, I’m ready to leave.

“And on that off-tune note.”

Hyla mock gasps. “How dare you? I have a stunning voice.”

“Stunning’s a word for it.”

She slugs me in the arm. “Okay, you can leave now. I’m tired of you already.”

But she can’t even manage the words without tears filling her eyes.

I wrap her in another hug.

“Sure you don’t want to come with me?” Hyla recently took a break from college, but I’m sure she could easily find a job in the college town I’m moving to. “We could get bunk beds.”

She snorts a laugh.

“’Cause hearing you hook up is high on my list of priorities.” She blanches. “And living with my ex-girlfriend who I still have feelings for and sometimes hook up with even though I shouldn’t sounds like a dumpster fire waiting to happen.” She wraps an arm around Mom. “I’ll be in good company here. Plus, someone has to keep an eye on her.”

I slowly nod. “True. But probably not you.” I look between them. “I’m not sure who’s the bigger troublemaker and who’s the instigator.”

“Depends on the day.” Mom pulls me in for another hug. “Be good. Take care of yourself. Don’t forget to smile,” she whispers. Those words almost fucking break me. At the worst of times, she whispered them to me. A reminder to keep going, keep seeing the brightness in each day, even when it all feels dull and cloudy.

Which is a lot of the time lately.

Nope. Not going down that road.

I glance toward my car. Only one road I need to head down now. I already loaded up most of my shit into the moving truck my friends hired.

It’s going to be insane living with seven of them—including my ex. But we were friends first and we’re friends again, and I’m over the love we once shared. She ended things because she knew it wasn’t the right fit. Sure, we could’vemadeit work, but forcing something to work isn’t what you should do at seventeen. Now I’m grateful for it because I know she was right.

As long as my room isn’t next to the one she’ll be sharing with her boyfriend—or whatever he is to her—I’ll be fine.

“Stop standing there looking all melodramatic,” Hyla says. “We love you, but you’ve got a life to live. Go have fun. Party. Fall in love—or lust. And I promise I’ll be up to visit soon.”

“You better.” I toss a hand through my curly hair. “Okay, I better get on the road. Love you both.”

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