Page 31 of Bad Behavior

9

Emma

I’m walking down the sidewalk in my neighborhood, my phone pressed between my ear and my shoulder. It’s the early evening, and I have stuff going on. Unfortunately, my parents don’t really respect my time, so I’m listening to my mother complain.

“You just wouldn’t believe it,” Mom says. “I mean, there we are, at the opera of all places, and Karen Vannick had the nerve to show up. Really, I thought when she and Steve divorced, that that would be the last of her. But she was there, dressed like a complete tramp. She had the gall to look at me in my Versace dress and make a snide comment about it! I mean, really!”

“Mmhm,” I murmur. That’s all that is required for my part in these conversations. I just have to agree occasionally, and my mother keeps up her never-ending stream of complaints.

“Then she asked about how Asher is, knowing perfectly well that he’s not a part of our lives anymore. Can you believe it? She asked about that Jenna Kenner, asking about Asher’s engagement. Saying that she heard that there was trouble in paradise. It was totally ridiculous.”

“Ummm… actually, Asher broke it off. Their wedding was cancelled,” I say.

“WHAT?” Mom gasps. “Why? What happened?”

I chew my lip, then opt for the easy out. “I don’t know. You’d have to ask your son.”

She doesn’t care, though. She’s already off and running.

“If Asher had just listened to your father and I about going to Yale, this never would have happened.”

I roll my eyes. I turn the corner of my friend Cecelia’s street, switching the phone to my other ear. “Mom, Asher didn’t want to go to Yale. You and Daddy are the ones that threw down an ultimatum about it.”

“I just know that Jameson was behind Asher’s decision,” my mom says. I can actually hear her frowning over the phone. “Your brother always had a soft spot for Jameson, for reasons unknown. Actually, when your father and I found out that he was getting engaged to a woman, we were a tiny bit surprised. I thought that he was mooning over Jameson still.”

Not this again. I exhale and suck in a deep breath. My mom always jumps to homophobic bullshit whenever Jameson or Asher is the topic of conversation. I can’t get trapped in this fallacy loop again. Trust me, I know that it ends with my mother in tears and me enraged.

“You know what? I am just about to get to the house. I’d probably better let you go so I can get in the shower before I go to bed.” A bald-faced lie if I’ve ever told one, but it’s better than being stuck on the phone forever.

My mother sighs. “All right, darling. Don’t forget, your father and I are throwing a brunch next weekend. You’ll be expected to be there, with bells on. You’re the shining star of the family now.”

Yeah, but only after you drove Asher away with your ultimatum. I roll my eyes again.

“Uh huh.”

“I was thinking you would wear that baby pink Valentino gown…”

“Oh, Evie is trying to ask me something. I’ll catch you later!!! Bye, love you!” I say, hanging up.

My mom is definitely infuriating at the best of times, but at least she’s less of a control freak than my father. He sees the world as a chess board, himself as the chess master, and all of the people in his life as his pawns.

I have to live with the guilt of taking his money for law school. I’m supposed to be the perfect daughter, the perfect student When I graduate though, I will be free of their expectations.

Or that’s what I tell myself, anyway.

When I step into the yard of Cecilia’s house party, I am a little wide-eyed. She described it as being a little get together, but clearly it’s anything but that. On the porch, people are gathered around someone doing a keg stand. There are tons of people in Cecilia’s front yard, staring in twos and threes, laughing and talking.

Rap music pours out of the open front door. I can tell from here that it’s packed inside.

I hesitate, and think about going back home. But what’s at home? Nothing except for more studying.

I seriously can’t study for another second today. So I tug the hem of my short pink linen dress down and make my way up to the porch. I can feel the bass vibrating as I step inside. Cecilia’s whole house is crowded with strangers, especially the living room and kitchen. I edge through the party, looking for someone I recognize.

How is it possible that I don’t know anyone here? There’s a lively dance party going in the living room, and a mysterious red punch being ladled out by some girl in the kitchen. I accept a red plastic solo cup of punch, taking a sip.

It’s so sugary-sweet, it makes my teeth hurt. I assume that the sugar is just masking the taste of alcohol, which is okay with me. Glancing around again, I make my way out the back door. It leads down to the back yard, which is every bit as packed as the front yard. Instead of keg stands though, there are some people playing beer pong on one side. The other side has people wolfing down jello shots before they take a running leap onto a trampoline, randomly screaming.

I don’t see Cecilia anywhere, which is kind of a bummer. Cecilia’s one of my high school friends that I’ve kept in touch with, enough to know that she has a huge party going on tonight.

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