Page 58 of Bending Under Pressure

Whatever my birth father did must have been bad. Obviously, if he’s still in prison, but I don’t know if what he’s in for now is the same as when I was a kid.

“We need to get back inside, son, before they come looking for us.”

We return to where the women are still in the living room. Mom seems to have just finished sharing recipes with Keira.

“So, what does Keelan do to get in trouble?” Kiera asks my parents. “He seems like a good guy, but he’s probably not good all the time, right?”

“Hey,” I mock offense. “I never get in trouble.”

Dad laughs. “Do we need to remind you that I found you and Haley asleep in the hammock at six the morning earlier this week?”

“Are we sure this girl is good for him? He seems to get into a lot of trouble with her,” Natalie says. What is it with her and the use of the word we? Doesn’t she know she has no say so over my life? She isn’t my mother. She didn’t raise me.

“Oh, Haley is a good girl,” Mom jumps in. “Keelan doesn’t really get into too much trouble.” Looking to Keira, she adds, “You’ll have to ask him what he does, but hasn’t gotten caught doing yet. He’s a sneaky kid.”

“I am not,” I protest as any good kid in denial would.

Mom’s retort is cut off when we hear a door slam shut. Dad and I glance at one another because it can only be Cameron. He storms past us on his way to the stairs. Mom stands.

“Cameron,” she begins.

He swivels on his heels and yells, “What?”

Oh, shit. This isn’t good. His eyes are red around the edges, and I’ve never seen him so upset and angry before.

“Cameron Wayne Giddings,” Dad starts with a deadly tone. “Don’t you dare yell at your mother like that.”

Cameron seems to realize then that we have an audience. He holds up his hands. “Sorry, Mom. I just...” He shakes his head and turns to go upstairs without another word, defeat sounding with every heavy footstep.

“I’ll go check on him, Mom,” I tell her. She nods, looking as worried as I feel. We can all hear his door slam closed again.

“Tell him that stops,” Dad adds.

“Yes, sir.” I take the stairs two at a time, knock once, and then enter his room. He’s fallen backward on his bed and is staring at the ceiling. “What happened?” I ask quietly, lying next to him.

“I couldn’t do it and she went hysterical. I took Dad’s advice and tried to ask her why she wanted to do it now after all this time. She kept saying she just wanted to. That it was because she loved me and felt ready.” He takes a shaky breath. “She was so pissed when I told her I wasn’t ready. I’ve never seen Jess get so mad at me before. She didn’t get why. I don’t even know if I know why and then I started feeling like a dick, thinking maybe I was pressuring her into it.” He groans. “I think I lost her. I lost her over something I want to do with her, but am too fucking scared to do.”

Wow. If she does break up with him, it’ll crush him. “You didn’t lose her. Give her time to cool off.”

He shakes his head. “You didn’t see her face, Keelan. I’m never going to get that look out of my head.” He starts rubbing his knuckles against his jaw. “Go back downstairs. Ask Mom to leave me alone for a while.”

“Are you going to be okay?”

“As soon as Jess answers my texts.”

I nod, stand, and leave him alone.

Jess: SOS!!!!!! Come over please. I need a friend ASAP.

I read the text twice. Uh oh. Something must’ve gone wrong. I quickly respond to Jess that I’m on my way and then text Keelan.

Me: Jess has asked me to come over. How bad is it?

Keelan: Seems pretty bad from my end.

Dang it. Leaving my room, I find Walter in the living room. Mom is taking a shower because they are having another date night.

“I’m going to Jess’s. There’s a crisis or something.” There is most definitely a crisis.

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