Page 17 of Never Have I Ever
“I’m kind of going to need your number if we’re going to be seeing each other for these… lessons,” he says, his lips upturning at the last word. I guess he’s like my life coach.
“Oh, right,” I say, handing him my phone.
He puts his number in my phone and then reaches for his phone, putting my number into his. Then, hands it back to me, my fingers brush his, and I love the feel of it. They’re rough and feel completely different than my soft hands. I wonder what his hands would feel like on other parts of my body. I know now that will never happen, but it doesn’t hurt to imagine it. “Thank you. For helping me.”
He smirks. “No problem, angel.”
My breath hitches.Angel.He called me that before. I loved hearing it.
I reach for the gate and make my way out. I have no idea when I’ll see Grayson again, but I can’t wait. I wonder what he’s going to teach me first, what we’ll do.
My phone rings from my bag, and I pause. I reach for my phone, and my smile drifts when I see the name flash on my screen. I pick it up and bring it to my ear. “Yes, mom?”
“Rosalie,” she snaps. “That is not how you answer the phone.”
I sigh. “Sorry. Hello, mother.” I roll my eyes.
“That’s better. I’ve been running all day with Tilly trying to get this event planned. How have you been, still being a college girl?” she says those last words like it’s all a joke to her.
My mother didn’t go to college. She got married straight out of high school and moved in with my father at eighteen.
“I’m good,” I tell her. “Busy with classes.”
“Hmm,” she mumbles on the other end of the phone. She probably didn’t even hear what I said. “I spoke to Beth last week; you remember Beth, right?” I want to say no, but I can’t because she doesn’t let me answer. “Well, she said her son is about your age, and he’s single.”
I sigh. “Mom, please stop trying to set me up with people.”
“A young lady needs a husband. When I was your age, I was already engaged.”
Always the same story. I should mention that, before this, she had never allowed me to date or have a life of my own. “Mom, I’ve got to go to class,” I say. I wish I could talk to my mom about something else. I’m sick of hearing her talk about marriage and how much of a mistake I’m making by deciding to be my own woman and attending college.
She hums disapprovingly. “Are you sure this is what you want?” she asks me. “You could drop out, and we’d reimburse you for the tuition you paid without so much as even asking us first,” she spits out. My mother hates that I’m straying away from the life she wants for me.
I shouldn't have to ask her anyway. It was the money they happily gave me, so it's my choice to do with it what I want. “Mom, I don’t need your money,” I tell her. “I’ve got to go.”
“Wait, Rosalie. I still need to talk to you.”
“What about?” I ask skeptically.
“The event I’m planning. We’re having a charity event on Saturday, and I’m expecting you to come.”
I snap my eyes closed. I don’t want to attend another gala which is nothing more than a cesspool of people fighting over how much money they have. I want to be done with that life, those people.
“Mom. I told you—”
“It’s on a Saturday,” she interrupts. “There’s no reason for you not to come.”
I sigh. I know I’ve lost this battle. “I’ll think about it.”
“You will come, or I will fly out there and drag you back myself.”
Heat rises to my face. She’s still treating me like a child. “I’m eighteen,” I tell her. “I’m an adult.”
She laughs. “You are a naïve child, and I am your mother. I know what’s best for you.”
That word. Naïve. Grayson called me that before, and now my mother. Does everyone around me think I’m foolish and immature?
“And marrying someone I’ve never met is the best for me?”
