Total pages in book: 186
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 883(@200wpm)___ 706(@250wpm)___ 589(@300wpm)
1031
Trust is a fragile thing, isn't it?
One whisper, one lie, and everything falls apart.
Who do you think’s lying to you, Sanjana?
I sat down on the edge of the bed and texted back.
Why don’t you leave me the fuck alone?
1031
Because you’re my favorite star.
You’re not having the effect you think you are.
1031
You sure about that?
Remember, the final girl always screams the loudest when no one’s left to hear her.
Final girl? Please. That wasn’t me. I’d made too many bad calls. Too many selfish choices. I was impulsive and emotional, and reckless, and I’d just spent the weekend cheating on my boyfriend with a guy who hadn’t even dumped his girlfriend. At this rate, Cloe’s analysis would be spot on. I stood up and headed downstairs, trying to shake off the frustration at this person.
I found Mom and Sugarmama in the kitchen.
Mom was cooking up something, and Sugarmama was doing her usual Sunday crossword puzzles.
“Morning,” I greeted, trying to keep my voice steady.
My mom glanced up, her smile soft. “Morning. Sleep well?”
“I did.”
Sugarmama looked at me with a knowing grin.
Oh, God. My stomach dropped. Had she heard us? That would be mortifying. I suddenly regretted every breath I took last night.
Sugarmama leaned back in her chair, tapping the pen against her lip. “Your boy toy left not too long ago.”
“Don’t call him that," my mom chastised.
Sugarmama chuckled.
“Hey, Sanj.” Mom turned away from the oven. “I meant to ask, you know, Dr. Hadler, Layla’s mom? I saw her the other day at the store. She seemed…”
“Like she needed an exorcism and a shower,” Sugarmama filled in, not missing a beat.
My mom gave her a tight look. “Unpleasant.”
“Semantics,” Sugarmama muttered, going back to her puzzle.
“Is Layla alright?” my mom asked, focusing back on me.
I didn’t want to get into Layla logistics right then, but if it meant dodging the Ryder conversation that I could see coming from a mile away, I’d take it.
“We’re not really close anymore,” I confessed, going to get a glass and pouring some water from the filter. “I don’t think we will be again.”
“Oh, what’s happened?” Mom asked.
“Nothing in particular. I just found out we have different ideas of what friendship means.”
My mom’s expression softened. “I’m sorry, my love.”
Sugarmama hmphed. “I hate to say I saw it coming, but I did. The girl never rubbed me the right way. She was like a water bug. Fast, jittery, and always in places she didn’t belong.”
I huffed. “Everyone used to call her a ferret.”
Sugarmama cracked up, slapping the counter once. “A ferret!”
My mom and I shared a look, then she straightened, wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. “Now, tell me about you and Ryder.”
I opened my mouth, but she held up a finger. “Don’t say nothing. I already saw quite a scene on the camera feed.”
I had been expecting that. I was hoping I would be back on campus before she went back and watched it. I swallowed, my voice small. “It’s complicated.”
“Try me,” Mom insisted. “Let’s see if I can uncomplicate things.” She turned back to the lemon squares she was transferring into a container, dropping each finished one with careful precision.
“I might as well tell you both now, I’m ending things with Ashton tomorrow.”
Sugarmama snorted, setting her crossword aside. “I think that’s for the best. That boy always looked at you like he was trying to figure out which shelf you belonged on.”
My mom’s head tilted slightly. “I agree with her for once.”
“Once you say? If you agreed with me more often, you wouldn’t have wound up in half the sticky situations you dealt with,” Sugarmama pointed out.
Mom ignored her. “When you’re holding onto one person and looking at another. Someone is bound to be hurt.”
There was nothing quite as humbling as your role models knowing you were stepping out on your relationship.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make such a mess out of everything. I don’t even know what I’m doing right now.”
Sugarmama reached for my hand, her fingers warm and strong around mine. “Listen to me, meri Jaan. You don’t need to apologize for finding your way, just because the path is a little bumpy. I might not agree with all your choices, but I know you aren’t cruel. You’re not some brazen harlot snatching up college boys left and right.”
My mom nodded, her eyes going soft, that gentle mom tone slipping under my skin like a balm. “You don’t owe us an apology. You’re young yet. Smart and beautiful…” Her words faltered, her eyes turning a little glassy, her lips pressing into a thin line as she blinked hard. “This is just part of your journey. Mistakes come with the territory. You’re going to stumble and learn lessons the hard way; that’s life. Rarely does it go exactly to plan, but that doesn’t mean it can’t still be beautiful.”