Page 65 of On My Side
“Uh, Mom?” Piper calls nervously after a few moments of silence.
“Be right there!” Audrey answers as I groan and straighten, taking a brief moment to admire the hickey already forming before she adjusts her collar. “I’m sorry, I have to…”
“Hey, no need to apologize,” I promise, cupping her face and briefly pressing my lips to her forehead. “It’s fine.”
She quickly pecks me on the cheek before spinning around and going back inside the house.
I stare at the wreath on her door for a good ten seconds, trying to process what happened because holy shit.
Holyshit. She wants me.Me. Not the concept of Sky, butme. Her friend.
The smile spreading across my face is gradual and bright and before I know it, I must look creepy as hell, a full grown man beaming at a door.
I spin on my heel and pump my fist because Audrey fucking Hinton wantsme. Then I’m leaping off the stairs like a ballerina and ending on a twirl and…
Audrey’s holding the door open and staring at me, eyes wide.
I clear my throat and shove my hands in my pockets because I am manly and cool about this.
“Um, Piper broke your pie pan,” she says after a few moments of silence.
“No worries, it was thrifted.” Is my voice gruff? I hope my voice is gruff and she never mentions what she saw because that would be embarrassing as hell. I have to keep some of my dignity.
But her smile is as bright as the stars above us and she’s giggling. Her eyes glisten—not like she knows a secret no one else does, but because she and I are the only ones who do. “Me too,” she says, and I stare at her in confusion. “I feel like that, too.”
My smile is as bright as hers and our happiness seems to reflect each other's.
“Good night, Ren,” she finally says.
“Good night, Audrey.”
I smile the entire drive home.
Chapter 23
Audrey
Playlist: So High School | Taylor Swift
Halloween has always been my favorite holiday. I love wearing a costume and the candy and the scariness of it. And, lucky for me, Piper loves it, too. Every year, we dress up, stop by the inn for “impromptu” trick-or-treating, and then drive to a nearby town for “real” trick-or-treating. I always pick one of the bougie towns in Fairfield County, where they always have elaborate decorations and hand out full-sized candy bars.
When she was younger, Piper got overstimulated by the Halloween festivities, but over the years, we’ve learned what works to make it easier: trick-or-treating before it’s dark and the scary costumes come out, earplugs, loose costumes she’s comfortable in, and a safe word if she needs out.
This year, I have a boring teenager who decided last year she’s too old for trick-or-treating. We stayed home and I introduced her to theScreamfranchise, butthisyear, she was invited to her first Halloween party.
I know I should be happy. She’s growing up, finding her own way, blah blah blah blah. But it’s hard to be happy when I’msitting alone on my porch in the same witch costume I’ve worn for a decade.
When Piper told me yesterday she was going to a party, I realized with sadness the two bags of candy I bought for us to enjoy would have to be used for trick-or-treaters. Last year, we’d left a bowl of candy on the porch for trick-or-treaters to watch the movie uninterrupted. But what am I supposed to do this year? Watch theScreamfranchisealone? That’s basically how Drew Barrymore gotmurderedin the first film.
So now I’m the pathetic mom sitting on her front steps in a witch costume—complete with green and black striped thigh highs, of course—coming to the sad realization the little cottage behind the inn isnotprime trick-or-treating real estate.
“Have fun,” I tell Piper, trying to put pep in my voice. I want her to be a teenager, to go out and have fun and not spend all her time with her mom. That’s normal and good development! I’m the abnormal one.
“I will,” Piper says, fixing the toga she has wrapped around her. Her choppy blonde hair is curled and she’s painted her nose pink.
“What are you supposed to be?” I ask, opening my third Kit-Kat of the night.
“Pig Latin,” she says with an eye roll, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
