“What about your parents?” I ask. “Are they overprotective?”
“No, definitely not,” Estaine says. “I did just tell you I invite a bunch of teenagers over to stay at The Hamptons, right? My parents don’t give a crap what I do. As long as I make good grades and don’t embarrass them at social gatherings, they leave me alone.”
That’s incredibly sad.
My parents aren’t strict or anything, but they do love me. They make time to hang out with me. Even my dad, who is always super busy. I love him for it. I can’t imagine having parents who ignore me.
“What else do you like to do?” Estaine asks, changing the subject away from himself.
Huh.
Guess he’s not the only one who doesn’t like talking about himself. Though, I have a good reason. I am having problems lying about my identity. And I keep letting things slip. Eventually, the lies are going to catch back up with me. Like they almost did with Brooks, earlier.
“I’m learning MMA,” I say.
“MMA?”
“Mixed martial arts,” I answer.
“Right. I knew that,” he says. “That’s pretty cool. Why are you doing that?”
Because my secret service bodyguards are forcing me. “I guess I just want to know how to defend myself,” I say. “In a couple of years, I’ll be going to college. Even though I’ll have Charlie around, I know he can’t always be there to defend my honor. So, I’ll just have to defend it myself.”
The fact that my arms are going to be toned for the first time ever is just an added bonus. Charlie will be proud when I go back home and he doesn’t have to open jars for me anymore.
“That’s smart,” Estaine says. “How old is your brother?”
“He’s three months older,” I answer.
“Why isn’t he here too?”
“Because he didn’t get kicked out of school. I did. This is my punishment, or whatever,” I say. “Not really that much of a punishment. I kind of like it here. Charlie’s pretty much trying to find a way to get in trouble so he can come too, but I highly doubt it’s going to work. His dad can get him out of anything...”
“His dad?” Estaine asks.
“Um, yeah. His dad was married to my mom,” I say.
“Wait, so how did both of your parents die?”
“Plane crash,” I answer.
“Okay. So your parents were on a plane together?” he asks.
“Um...”
You know, one thing I always liked about myself was the fact that I always tell the truth. Or I try to. I hate lying. I’m terrible at it. But right now, I need to be a good liar. I need to come up with a story that is believable. But I can’t.
My phone starts ringing, which pretty much gives me the perfect excuse to avoid. I pull out my phone and see the name Dad with his face flash across my phone screen.
“I should take this,” I tell Estaine.
But he’s looking at my screen. And he’s probably thinking about how my dad definitely isn’t dead. And probably that I look a lot like my dad, because I do.
So, I do what any normal person would do.
I run.
9pm.
The rest is history.
“Hey, Dad,” I answer, sounding very out of breath. But it’s not from the running I just did. Nope. It’s from the fact that I now have to think of one epic lie to get myself out of the mess that I just got myself into. I can’t exactly tell Uncle Matty and Jake. If I did, I’m pretty sure if I did, I’d have a one way ticket straight out of Massachusetts.
“Hey, pumpkin,” Dad says. “You’re on speaker with me and Nora.”
“Hey, Nora,” I say, then add, “Hi, little brother or sister.” I look at the date on my phone. “Wait, wasn’t your appointment today? To find out the gender.”
Because, seriously. I see all these cute baby clothes and I need to know if it’s a boy or a girl. I am going to spoil my little brother or sister.
“It was,” Nora answers. “But the baby refused to change positions. So we still don’t know if we’re having a he or she.”
“Darn,” I say. “Sounds like the baby is going to be stubborn.”
“Like his older sister,” Dad says.
“We don’t know the baby is a him,” Nora says. “You could be calling our daughter a him, right now.”
I just laugh.
Dad and Nora have had this argument since she first found out she was pregnant. Nora thinks it’s a girl, Dad thinks it’s a boy. Me, I have no idea. I just know that I’m excited for January so I can meet the baby. I hope all of this terrorist nonsense is behind us so I actually can be there for the baby’s birth. I would never want to do anything to put my sibling in jeopardy.
“They also said they were a couple of days off on my due date,” Nora says. “Looks like she will be making her arrival on January first. Hopefully. I really hope I don’t go over my due date.”
“Aw, she’s gonna be a New Year’s baby,” I say.
Dad groans. “Now you’ve got Phoenix calling the baby a girl.”
“Have you guys picked out any names yet?” I ask.
“Not yet,” Nora answers. “Your father and I can’t seem to agree on any names.”