Page 88 of Something Rad
My dad tilts his head at me, his eyes narrowing. “Ah,” he nods. “So that’s how you must have met her. Serving your detention duty in the library.”
Shit. I swallow.How does he always find something?
“She must have very high standards,” he deadpans.
C’mon, Robbie. Recover.
“She does,” I say. “She’s actually going to NYU in the fall. She got accepted to a prestigious screenwriting program there.”
My dad leans back in his chair. “NYU, huh?” he asks.
“Yep,” I nod, a grin of pride on my face.Try to find something about that to pick apart.
“And how are your college application efforts coming along?”
My face falls. “Well– Um, I–” I stutter.
A smile spreads across my dad’s face. “Sounds about right,” he nods. “Couldn’t expect too much out of you.”
“But I–”
“My mistake,” he says, closing his book and rising from his seat, coming over to stand in front of me. I don’t meet his eyes. “But don’t worry, it won’t happen again,” he says, reaching up and ruffling my hair. Too roughly.
Just like always.
“Dad–”
“Goodnight, Robert,” he says, not even looking at me as he continues walking past me.
I push my tongue into the side of my cheek, my fists nearly shaking at my side. I wait until the moment I hear the door to my parents’ room click shut and storm up the stairs. My head hits my pillow less than a second after my own door slams closed.
I cross my arms behind my head, staring at the ceiling.
“What a fucking night.”
nineteen
SARA
I tap my fingers anxiously against the phonebook as the dial tone continues. I blink hard, shaking my head in an attempt to fight off an incoming yawn and wake myself up.
I didn’t sleep well last night. Well, the lasttwonights actually. Every time I closed my eyes, I was back in the Bay View High gym. I tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable, continuing to feel the sensation of fingers in my hair and warmth against my lips. No matter how many pillows I buried my head under, I couldn’t keep myself from hearing the same songs from the dance on a loop. Over time,Forever Youngstarted popping up more frequently in the line up, until it was the only song playing on repeat. I was so desperate to sleep that I even resorted to counting sheep, but all of the sheep eventually turned into chocolate sheep. That’s when I knew I was losing it.
My heart suddenly drops into my stomach at the sound of someone picking up the phone on the other end of the line, making me realize how truly out of it I must be for not having expected that to happen.
“Summers residence. This is Donna speaking.”
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. “Hi, Mrs. Summers. This is Sara Cooper. Robbie’s…um…girlfriend.”
I lightly smack my palm against my forehead. I didn’twantRobbie to be the one to pick up the phone. Mostly because the whole purpose of me calling is because I don’t want to talk to him. I’m realizing now how I didn’t really think this through. But I hadn’t thought of the possibility of one of his parents picking up instead. I don’t know what Robbie’s told them. And if we’re keeping this thing going, I suppose it’s best we cover all our tracks.
“Oh,” Robbie’s mom says. I can’t totally decipher if she knows of my existence by thatohor not, but I’m weirdly leaning towards yes. “Right. One moment, I’ll just get Robert for you–”
“No,” I say, entirely too fast and entirely too aggressively. “That’s okay,” I say, sweetening my tone. “Could you just pass on a message to him for me, please?”
There is a short pause on the line, and I worry for a moment that she may have gone to get Robbie anyways. “I suppose,” her voice comes back, making me sigh with relief.
“Great,” I say. “Could you please just let him know that he doesn’t have to pick me up this morning on his way to school? I have a…uh– dentist appointment. So my mom will be dropping me off instead.”
