Page 17 of Bending Under Pressure

After a moment, she lies down next to me. Our sides are touching from our shoulders down to our shoes. The sun is out and about, bright and hot, but we’ve got two large trees shading us and a nice breeze blows, keeping us cool. We can faintly hear a car driving down the street on the other side of the house. Haley takes a deep breath.

“You know,” she begins, staring up at the branches above us, “I was wondering how you could be so nice to someone you barely know, and then I spent time with your mom. She’s great.”

“Yes, she is,” I agree.

She turns her head to look at me, so I do the same. Our noses are inches a part and it feel likes her body is giving off more heat than the sun. I remind myself that she’s had a bad day.

“Sorry I’ve been bad company.”

“We all have crappy days; it’s okay.”

“Yeah, I guess so. What about you? Are you doing okay? You were quiet earlier this week.” Haley looks concerned, her eyes squinting a little as she looks at me as if she can figure out what’s been bugging me all week.

“I had a lot on mind, but I’m okay.” For half a second, I debate on whether to tell her before deciding maybe I need fresh eyes. “My birth mom contacted me.” Haley’s eyes widen. “She wants to reconnect and I’ve been struggling with how to respond to it. My parents told me it was my decision, and they’ll support me either way. I wrote back to tell her I’d meet with her.”

“Are you nervous?”

I glance up at the canopy of branches above us. “Yeah. Wouldn’t you be?”

“At least your family is there for you,” she says softly, turning her head toward the sky as well and tilting it so she rests against my shoulder. “I should go. My mom is probably freaking out since I’ve been ignoring her most of the day. Thanks for letting me hang out.” Haley lifts her head, smiles, and carefully gets out of the hammock.

“I’ll walk you.”

We walk inside so Haley can say goodbye to my mom and then I take her out to her car.

“If you need to escape again, let me know,” I tell her, holding the car door open. “We’re racing tonight if you want to ride with me.”

Her eyes are excited for all of five seconds before she remembers her day. “I’ll let you know, thanks.” She slides into the driver’s seat and I watch her drive away.

Once she’s out of sight, I find Mom in the kitchen where I left her. “What happened with her today?” I ask.

Mom raises an eyebrow at me. “If she didn’t tell you, then neither am I.”

“Mom,” I groan. “Why not?”

“Would you want me to tell her your problems before you were ready to talk about them?” When I don’t say anything, she adds, “That’s what I thought. You didn’t immediately spill your guts about Natalie to her, did you?”

I shake my head. “I see your point.”

I run into Walter first. I mentally brace myself for a smart-ass comment or yelling or something to make me dislike him even more. His eyes look sad though, which makes me wary.

“Are you okay?” he asks, the genuine concern reflecting in his voice.

I shrug my shoulders. I’m not okay, but I’m unsure about trusting him, even though I hear Octavia’s voice in my head that she thinks Walter and Mom are on my side.

“Your mom has been going crazy since your father called.”

I figured he called Mom based on the texts and number of times she’s called me, all of which I ignored except the one I answered when I arrived at Keelan’s. “Where is she?” I ask and she appears behind him, coming down the hall.

I’m expecting her to be pissed, but she rushes to me and hugs me, squeezing me so tightly that I have a hard time catching my breath.

“You could have let me know you were okay! Where have you been all day? Are you okay?” Mom pulls back and pats up and down my arms.

“I was at the courts.” She nods like she should have expected that. “And then I was at a friend’s house. Did you know?” Her sigh and sad eyes are my answer, which enrages me. “How could you not tell me?” I yell. “You’ve known all this time why he was ignoring me and abandoning me and you didn’t tell me? Why didn’t you warn me when I told you I was going to visit?”

“You said he knew you were coming,” she reminds me.

Furious and hurt, I push past her to escape to my room. I feel trapped. I’m stuck where I’m not sure I want to be, where I’m not sure I’m wanted. Did Mom even want me to live with her? Did she get stuck with me because Dad moved on fast with a new family? Somehow, I know any blame should be pointed at Dad. After what happened this morning, Mom was the only one who tried getting in contact with me. Dad never called or texted, even though I had left hurt and angry.

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