Page 4 of Girl Violence

Scowling, he breaks eye contact and storms away instead. She lets out a breath she had been holding the entire time.

She should have slammed the damn door. Why didn’t she?

CHAPTERTWO

“How’s summer classes?”

“Boring,” Jenna replies, sounding fed up. The only time Josette can talk to Jenna is after eight when Jenna secretly uses her cousin’s phone to call her. As if they’d let their dads rule their friendship and keep them away from each other. “I don’t know why I’m being made to go. Everyone sits off, and I’m sure the teacher is drunk half the time.”

“But you’re only there for two days a week. You get to spend the rest at the beach at least?”

She makes a noise, which is a cross between a snort and a cry of outrage. “There are no beaches here! I swear Yasmin made sure of that when she sent me over here, the witch.” Yasmin is her cliché, wicked stepmother. “Picture the setting from that movieThe Wrong Turnwith Eliza Dushku. The one you shit yourself watching.”

Josette winces. She didn’t soil herself in any way, but she very nearly.

“Ugh. No thanks.” When it comes to anything horror—movies included—Josette’s a wimp. “I won’t lie. Knowing you’re as miserable as I am makes me feel better.”

“No way. You’re having a much better time than I am. I know it. I’m going to live life through you. What are we doing tonight? Please tell me it’s something exciting?”

“Are you joking?” Josette laughs out loud. “I’m still on lockdown.”

“Try asking him. He can’t punish you forever. How is he anyway?” She’s talking about Josette’s dad. Jenna knows everything that went down between her parents.

“Won’t admit he’s depressed.” She sits up from lying on her bed. “She finally sent the divorce papers through the post the other day.”

“Oh. Your mum is a ‘she’ now? How nonchalant of you.”

“Because I don’t care.”

“You do. You’re just stubborn.” Although she’s right, Josette won’t agree with her. Especially when it comes to her mother. “I don’t understand her, though. Your dad is hot.”

“Ugh! Jenna!” Josette complains. “Don’t be sick. That’s like me telling you I thinkyourdad is hot.”

There’s a slight pause. “Yeah, okay—that’s pretty gross.” They both laugh, and the line crackles from the terrible reception between the phones. “All I’m saying is that I don’t get why your mum left when your dad is that easy on the eyes. He should start dating.”

“I doubt he ever will. Although, I think he and the neighbour had a moment before.”

“That old lady who lives next to you?” Jenna asks with confusion. “The one who smells like mushrooms?”

“No, not her.” Josette laughs. “We have neighbours on the other side now. They used to live here years ago and have just moved back. Her name is Diane, and he was laughing with her.”

“Is she single?”

“Think so,” Josette says, recalling her dad mentioning Diane saying she’s not with David anymore. They must be going through a split like her parents are. Maybe it’s why Vince is the way he is—who knows? “I think she’s in the same boat as him. It’s just her and…her son.”

Josette’s forehead creases, but she’s not ready to talk to Jenna about Vince. Maybe not ever. Especially when she’s stupidly hurt by his reaction to her. She knows friends often drift and move on, but she thought…she doesn’t know what she thought. She never told Jenna about him. They’d met a few months after Vince left town, and he’s never come up in any of their conversations. Maybe because Josette never wanted to talk about him.

Even though Jenna is her best friend, Josette always considered Vince closer, even when they lost contact. As girly as it sounds—they were special. Their friendship was one of a kind, knowing things about each other no one else did. It was natural and comfortable. But she guesses Vince found someone else to tell his secrets to and decided she was no longer adequate, which makes Josette glad she found Jenna.

“What about the son?” Josette hears the smile in Jenna’s voice, and her heart skips a beat. Did she pick up on her almost mishap? “How old is he? Is he hot?”

“He’s nineteen, and no, not my type,” she says quickly. Lying, obviously. He’s always been Josette’s type, especially now that she’s older and appreciative of the male species. And there’s a lot to appreciate about Vince.

There’s mumbling in the background, followed by a sigh. “Okay, okay. Jesus…I have to go. I’m being kicked off the phone because Beth wants to have phone sex with her boyfriend.”

“I do not!” Jenna’s cousin, Beth, yells in the background. She’s thirteen. Josette smiles, but the usual weight of sadness in her chest comes now that her friend is going so soon. She also finds it stupid that Jenna’s much younger cousin can have a phone and she can’t.

“I miss you, Jen.”

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