If she knew Mom a little bit better, she’d have realized that the pretty comment Mom made was also aimed at Kelsey’s makeup—I could tell from the moment I introduced them that mom thinks Kelsey’s makeup is overdone. It’s not that Mom’s trying to be mean, she just thinks her way is best on every level.
Kelsey spots a funky dress. “For when Hugo takes you to the restaurant that is made for you.”
Mom perks up. “What’s this?”
“Something that’s not happening, that’s what it is,” I say. I told Kelsey about Hugo’s offer and she’s been going crazy trying to figure out what restaurant he could possibly have in mind.
“Hugo wanted to take Stella on a date, and she’ll have none of it,” Kelsey says.
Mom’s laser beam of a gaze is now boring into my face. “Hugo wanted to take you on a date?!”
“I know, right? Has he lost his mind?” I joke.
“No, I’m sure lots of boys want to take you out. It’s just that you and Hugo are so different.” Mom pauses here. “Though you two always did have fun together…the rare times you’d stop sparring.”
“Yeah, those rare moments between the long stretches of him hating me.”
“Actually, thereweretimes when I wondered if he had eyes for you,” she says.
“Well, it’s not happening.” I don’t tell her about our exciting plans to meet secretly at Hotel Luxe later this week.
“You and Hugo.” Mom is pondering this hard.
“Not to mention that Charlie would go cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.” I grab a pair of maroon cowboy boots. “I wonder if they have these in my size.”
“Oh, it’s true. Smoke—out of his ears. Even now—” Mom looks at me alarmed. “He doesn’t know about Hugo wanting a date, does he?”
“Are you kidding?” I say. “He’d hop a plane so fast. He’d probably break his hand banging down Hugo’s door, and then he’d break the other hand punching his face.”
“Wait—why would your brother be so against it?” Kelsey asks.
Mom looks baffled, as though she’d never thought about it before. “Charlie’s very protective over Stella,” Mom decides. “When Stella jumps into something, she goes feet first.”
I roll my eyes. So much for Mom trying to see me as a capable adult.
“She doesn’t stop to comb through options,” Mom continues. “That is the trust that she has.”
I do nostril dragon at Kelsey, because apparently I’ve regressed in age by fifteen years at least.
Kelsey’s frowning now. “I don’t know about that—I have known Stella to be very thoughtful about things. Very sharp and shrewd. And she gives great advice!”
I could kiss her.
“And when she loves, she gives her whole heart,” Mom adds.
“It really is amazing I’ve managed to stay alive for so long,” I say.
“You have a generous heart,” Mom clarifies.
I turn back to my boots.
“Here’s what I don’t get,” Kelsey says. “If Hugo is such a good friend of Charlie’s, why wouldn’t he be happy for Hugo and Stella to date? It’s not as if they’re kids anymore.”
It’s an excellent point—whyisCharlie so rabid about it? I always went with a combo of him being a jerk and doing a big brother thing.
“Charlie can be a little sensitive when it comes to Hugo,” Mom says. “And he knows that Hugo is not like other boys. Hugo has always been more interested in the life of the mind. A relationship would be low on his hierarchy of priorities. Hugo is uncompromising in his quest for great things—a hard-driving and rigid boy with no time for romance.”
Nostril dragon comes back out, and Kelsey looks away, working hard not to laugh. It’s official, shopping with my mom has transformed me into a teenager.