Would I have ever been ready for this?
Inside, my bed had been pulled from the wall it had sat up against and repositioned to the middle of the room. The bookshelf was against the far wall. On top were two stereos, one newer, more modern, and that one was playing the music.
A boy stood inside. He had tight curls of hair against his head, although his hair was very short, almost buzzed to his scalp. He wasn’t broad. We were actually close in height, but he had bulky arm muscles. He wore a sport tank shirt in dark blue, and sport shorts and sneakers.
He turned, meeting my face. He had lean cheeks and a square jaw with dark eyes and a broad nose. He smiled at me, his bright eyes widening.
He looked me up and down curiously and then looked again at my face. “How old are you?” he asked.
I harrumphed quickly. “Old enough,” I said. I didn’t mean to be rude, but it felt like something rude to ask without asking my name first, or even saying hello.
I shocked myself by saying it out loud. Snapping back...that wasn’t like me.
His face fell for a second, confusion settling in. He scratched at his stomach through his shirt. “I...uh...”
Marie pointed to the bed awkwardly positioned dead center in the room. “Why’d you move the bed?”
He shrugged. “I wanted to vacuum under there once Mom was done downstairs. It’s dusty.”
“You keep saying that about everything. Dust. She’s vacuumed the living room three times.”
His grin turned sheepish and he rubbed the back of his head. “Sorry. She’s really picky about that sort of thing.”
Marie scanned the room, but my bedroom never had much inside it, just a bookshelf and trunk. It was always clean, except for perhaps some dust. There was more of it since I’d been out of the house for weeks.
“Or delusional,” Marie said. She raised her nose at both of us and walked out, across the hall and then into her room, closing the door. It was still open a crack, though, and I sensed she’d be listening.
I wished I had another room to run to. My heart thumped in my chest. There was an awkward silence as he looked at me, and I couldn’t meet his eyes. I glanced at the light maroon carpet, noting the flattened footprints along the fibers.
A few going to the window, and to the attic door.
“Sorry if I offended you,” he said. When I glanced up, he held a lopsided smile. It made his teeth look really big. “It was just what popped into my head. I couldn’t remember how old she said you were.”
“It’s okay,” I said, although I didn’t really feel that way. I was angry and upset, but he wasn’t really the cause. It wasn’t his fault that his mom, and my dad, were turning my entire life upside down. “It’s just...”
“Weird?” he asked.
I nodded and studied him, looking for something to dislike about him. I didn’t want to be nice. I didn’t want to get to know him.
I didn’t want to be here at all.
I was trapped all over again.
He was quiet for a moment. He kept a pleasant smile and stood straight, more confident. He put a hand out in offering. “I’m Jimmy.”
I studied his lean fingers and the way his palm was pale compared to the darker tones of the back of his hand. I bit my lip, unsure of attempting to make friends. I didn’t want to get lured into trusting him and say something I shouldn’t that got reported to his mother. Gingerly, I placed my palm in his. “Sang.”
He squeezed my hand snugly once and then released it. “I didn’t mean to rearrange your room on you. Figured since you were at camp, you’d probably be tired. I was going to try to get the cleaning part done before you got back.”
My mouth twitched, wanting to smile since he was being nice. My face felt numb. I wasn’t sure if I was actually smiling or not. “I can help. I don’t mind.”
“It’s not bad,” he said with a small smirk. He motioned to where the bed had been. “It’s just dusty. This wallpaper is coming down sometime, too. She hates it.”
The maroon-and-white wallpaper matched the maroon carpet. She said she was moving, so why change it now?
What else did she hate? Did she really want to change everything?
I wasn’t sure I should even care what she did to the house. I said nothing and stared blankly at him.
He laughed shortly, as if to cover up the awkwardness. “I didn’t mean right now,” he said and then grimaced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, I know this is really weird. I just learned about you a few days ago, and then two days ago my mom said we were moving and to pack up my things. I’ve had to pack up some of my brother’s stuff, too, since he’s off at college. I’m not even sure how much he knows, just that we were moving. That’s how she is. She makes up her mind and that’s what happens.”
Two days ago, he’d learned he was moving? The surprise threatened to choke me. She’d move us overnight if she could.
She seemed to have made up her mind about moving. How soon?
Could I stop her?
If I were him, and I learned my possible new stepdad had lied from the start and we had to rearrange our lives, I’d be very upset with him. I couldn’t imagine what Jimmy thought of me.
The hard pit in my stomach twisted tight. I glanced at the door, still hearing the vacuum downstairs. I pictured Carol running it over and over along the carpet. “I never knew...” I spoke softly, unsure about speaking so she could hear, or even Marie. I wasn’t even sure if I should be speaking to him at all.
It wasn’t the complete truth. I’d known Dad was staying in another house with someone else, but I hadn’t known the details. Carol had been a faceless person, and he hadn’t existed at all.
He smiled sympathetically and then motioned to the door. “Close it?”
I did it automatically since he asked, but then realized I was alone with a boy in my room with the door closed.
I stiffened, staying by the door, ready to open it and get out of here.
I didn’t know him, and while I didn’t want to assume, my brain was super paranoid of any more surprises. I wanted easy access to the door if I wanted to leave.
The last thing we needed was for Jimmy to try anything, and for the boys to see it and rush in to stop him.
Because they would.
He looked at the bed, and then knelt on the floor and then repositioned himself to sit cross-legged, patting the carpet. “Do you wanna sit?”
Not really. However, I was tired. I considered whether I could beat him to the door if he did try anything.
I knelt across from him, feeling the phone behind my back sliding around and adjusting it so it remained in the waistband of the shorts. Kneeling was the easiest position to rise from if he tried anything. I sat back on my ankles, putting my hands in my lap, waiting.