Page 19 of Little Devil

“Yeah.”

“Are you sure?” She frowns, bouncing her eyes between mine. “You look.. I don’t know. Are you sad?”

I laugh lightly at that, surprised she cares.

But that’s not fair.

My mother does care about me, just not in the way I want her to. She cares about my social status and my popularity and my weight, whether or not I get accepted to an Ivy League school, whether or not I marry into the family she picked out for me when I was nothing more than an idea.

As for me and the way I feel, though..

I’m pretty sure she couldn’t care less.

As long as we’re good looking, rich and respected, nothing else matters.

“JJ?”

“Are you staying for dinner?” I ask, nervously wringing my hands together while I lead the way to the kitchen. “Maryanne’s not working today but she left me a salad in the fridge. You can have half if you want.”

“But it’s Thursday.”

“So?”

“So.. don’t you always have dinner with Noah and his parents on Thursdays?”

I nod and chew my lip, hesitating a second before I decide to bite the bullet. “We broke up.”

“You what?!” she screeches, making me cringe. “Why?”

I keep my mouth shut and grab two plates from the cabinet overhead, busying myself dishing the food out and grabbing two waters from the fridge.

“JJ,” she sighs, clearly displeased with me and my silence. “Whatever you did wrong, you need to fix it and get him b–”

“Jesus, he cheated on me with Penelope, Mom,” I cut in, dropping down at the island to stab a piece of chicken with my fork. “I broke up with him.”

Her jaw ticks and she props her hands on her hips, her obvious embarrassment for me reddening her cheeks and the tip of her nose. “Does everyone know?”

“Yep.”

She exhales an aggravated breath and takes the seat across from me, folding her hands on the counter like we’re about to negotiate a business deal. “Look, honey, I know this is hard, trust me, I know, but I need you to find a way to move past this. Your entire future depends on it, sweetheart.”

A bitter laugh leaves me and I drop my fork on my plate, leaning back in my seat with my arms crossed over my chest. “You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not joking, and I don’t appreciate your tone.”

“Yeah, well I don’t appreciate you telling me I need to stay with the guy who’s been sleeping around on me just to fulfil your big plan. I have my own plans, Mom.”

“What plans?”

“Washington,” I blurt out, swallowing my fear when I catch the look on her face, but I don’t stop talking. “I wanna move to Seattle to study photography.”

“Photography?” she echoes, scrunching her nose as if the thought insults her. “Since when?”

“Since always!” I shout, struggling to calm my sudden temper. “If you paid even a little bit of attention to me and my life, maybe you’d know that.”

“And if you paid even a little bit of attention to your boyfriend, maybe he wouldn’t have to go looking for it elsewhere!”

My jaw drops and my eyes burn with tears, my throat burning with a mixture of disgust and shame. She opens her mouth to say something else but I’m already gone, snatching my purse from the counter to make a beeline for the entryway.

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