Page 15 of Somebody to Love You

“No shit,” I deadpan.

That makes him laugh, which makes me smile, pleased with myself. “How did you find it?”

“I went through my dad’s office,” I say with only a tiny stab of guilt. Maverick lets out a low whistle, impressed. I pull up the sonogram on my phone and show it to him. “I found this.”

He leans in, squinting. “Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“Why is your head bigger than your body?”

I shove his shoulder even as a laugh escapes me. “Look.” I point to the text in the corner. “Marie Hall.”

It’s the first time I’ve said her name out loud. Goosebumps erupt down my arms. It’s barely anything, but it’s also a major piece of my past that I’ve been missing. Now that I have it, all the answers I’ve been wanting seem within reach.

Maverick mouths her name, then nods to himself as he slurps his shake. I wait. “So what now?” he asks finally. “What are you going to do?”

“I’ve been looking for her on social media and stuff. Turns out, there are a lot of Marie Halls in the world. The DNA test is supposed to be delivered tomorrow, I think. That’s probably more likely to turn something up than me scrolling through Facebook.”

“And if you find her?”

I haven’t thought that far ahead—on purpose. I’ve been focusing all my energy on finding her, hoping that by the time I do, I’ll have some idea of what my next steps should be.

My appetite evaporates. I toss the uneaten half of my burger in the bag and reach for my shake. It’s a sugar therapy kind of night. “I have no idea.”

Chapter Six

Maverick

“Howareyoufeeling?”I ask, leaning over the bathroom counter to be heard through the speakerphone.

“I’m okay. Just tired,” says my mom. In the past few months, she has already gone through one cycle of chemo, and that ended with her tumors staying stable. Not the worst news, but the goal is to shrink them. Today was her third round of cycle two.

“I can come home tonight,” I offer again. The cowlick on the back of my head springs up, and I run my hand over it, trying to smooth it down.

Mom makes apshnoise. “Stay there, Mav. I won’t be awake much longer, anyway.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. Come down tomorrow if you want, though. Your dad is taking me out for hibachi if I’m feeling up to it. You and Lilly can come.”

She wouldn’t be inviting me along if she knew how far behind I already am in my classes. I can’t drum up a modicum of motivation to learn about the accounting cycle, and calculus makes me want to drop out of school completely, baseball be damned. Nobody, not even Azalea, knows that the only reason I’m an accounting major is that when it was time to pick one, it was first in the alphabetical dropdown menu.

Even I can admit that was a dumb move.

“Lunch or dinner?” I ask Mom.

“Probably dinner.”

“I’ll head that way after Grant and I finish in the gym.”

“Sure. How are your grades?” she asks because no conversation between us is complete without this question.

“They’re fine.” It’s not even a lie—mostly because it’s only four weeks into the spring semester and there hasn’t been a ton of opportunity for me to completely drop the ball. I have missed some classes and assignments recently, though, and the season is about to start. It won’t be long before all that catches up to me.

“Fine as in…?”

“All Bs.”

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