Page 8 of The Perfect Son
I’ve got to stop thinking about this boy. He’s just a boy. My education is much more important. I’ve got to focus.
Focus, Olivia.
Except when Liam comes into the classroom today, he’s not wearing his usual jeans and a T-shirt. He’s dressed in nice khaki slacks and a dress shirt. And a tie. Oh my God, he’s wearing atie. Usually, he’s cute, but in dress clothes, he’s upped his game. It’s like a sneak peek into how handsome he’ll look when he’s an adult. Against my will, my stomach starts doing cartwheels.
Focus, Olivia!
As Liam slides into his seat in front of me, he flashes me that grin that makes my legs weak. “Hey,” he says.
“Hey,” I say back. I search my brain, trying to think of something clever or funny to say. I spend most of math class trying to do that. “You’re all dressed up.”
Good one, Olivia.
“We have a debate today,” he explains. “It’s sort of a big deal. We’re competing against another school.”
“Wow. Are you nervous?”
“A little.” He laughs, although there’s a bit of a tremor in his voice that makes me think he’s more nervous than he lets on. “If we win, we get to go to the state competition up in Albany. That’s pretty cool.”
“What do you do during a debate anyway?”
He scratches at his dark brown hair. “Argue, mostly. It’s sort of fun.” He raises his eyebrows at me. “Do you, um… do you want to come watch?”
“Me?” I say in an embarrassingly squeaky voice.
Oh my God, that wassucha stupid thing to say.Obviouslyhe’s inviting me. Who else would he be inviting?
And what does thismean?
“Uh…” His smile slips slightly. “I mean, if you want. It’d probably be pretty boring for you. You probably don’t want to go.”
Oh no, he’s taking it back. “No, it sounds like it could be fun. I don’t have anything else I’m doing.”
That’s an outright lie. I’m supposed to be at chorus practice after school today. But the truth is, I’ve soured on chorus since I didn’t get the last two solos I tried out for. And even if I had, I can’t say no to Liam. This is the first time he’s ever invited me somewhere.
His eyes light up. “That would be great. I mean, if you can come. But if something else comes up, that’s cool too. No big deal.”
I can’t believe it. He actually seems really happy that I’m coming. Oh God, there’s nowayI’m going to be able to focus in class now. I’m going to get a terrible grade in math this semester. And the scariest part is, at this moment, I couldn’t care less.
Chapter Six
ERIKA
As soon as I walk into Charlie’s, I blink my eyes to adjust to the neon lights overhead. Those lights have been flickering for as long as I can remember, but it’s part of the diner’s charm. Just like the plastic tables and ripped bench covers. Charlie’s been around forever and makes no effort to hide that fact.
Jessica has already got a table and is sipping on a cup of coffee. I watch her for a moment before approaching the table. I know she’s my age, but she looks fantastic. She’s got the same laugh lines that I do on her face, but somehow she makes them look sexy. She has mastered the casual stay-at-home-mom look, with her T-shirt that boosts the high school football team and the fitted yoga pants, paired with ballet flats. I threw on the first thing my fingers touched when I got into the bedroom to hurriedly get dressed so Hannah and Liam would get to school on time. Mom jeans and a sweater, as it turns out. What can I say—mom jeans are comfortable.
Jessica and I are both essentially stay-at-home moms, like a lot of other parents out here. You could almost say it’s epidemic. When I met Jason, I was working as a journalist at a newspaper in Manhattan. I was getting paid practically nothing, but there was a lot of upward mobility at the paper, and if I had stayed on, I’d probably have a pretty good job there by now. Maybe I would’ve moved on to a better paper. Maybe I’d be an editor-in-chief. But after I got pregnant, Jason convinced me to move out to the island. I agreed because I was sick of our tiny Manhattan apartment, but once we got to the island, the commute was insane. He pointed out that I didn’t earn even close to the amount we would be paying in child care, and that his income could easily support us.
So I quit. Temporarily.
I had every intention of going back to work after Liam started preschool. But then Hannah came along two years later. And between the two of them, there was always some emergency popping up. Hannah got ear infections every other week, and on the weeks she didn’t get ear infections, she got conjunctivitis. And then there was the whole mess with Liam.
Right now, I work for a local newspaper called theNassau Nutshell. You can tell by the name that they do a lot of hard-hitting journalism—not. They put out onepaper per week, and I contribute a couple of articles, mostly on local events or parenting advice. Last week, I wrote an article featuring three meals you could cook for the whole family in twenty minutes or less. What they pay me each month didn’t even cover the price of the groceries I bought to cook those three meals, but it stimulates my brain and I could write the articles from home. Jason always makes a big fuss when the paper comes out and reads all my articles, and it’s fun to see my byline in print. No, it’s notThe New York Times. But it’s something. For now.
Jessica, on the other hand, has absolutely embraced the stay-at-home-mom lifestyle. She is the most visible parent at the high school, and her kids are involved in every sport and extracurricular activity you can imagine. In my more optimistic moments, I hope that’s why Tyler and Liam aren’t friends anymore. Because Tyler is just too damn busy.
“Erika!” Jessica flashes me a bright smile as I slide into the booth across from her. “It’s so good to spend a little time with you. It’s been ages, hasn’t it?”
