“Okay,” she says.

“So that’s a yes?” I ask, practically holding my breath.

“Sure.”

Yup. I’m dead. Totally for sure dead.

Chapter Twenty

No Right Choice

After school, Dad is sitting at the kitchen table in his dirty old painting overalls, which would drive Mom nuts. It’s kind of funny to see all the things Dad does differently when Mom’s not around to have things her way. Like the silverware. He keeps it all the way on the other side of the kitchen. And he doesn’t organize his cups. Just puts them in any which way.

“Hey, Sweet Pea,” he says as I walk in. “I just got a, uh, interesting phone call from Mrs. Bryant.”

I hate the idea of Kiera not being allowed to come over just because of her dad, but I’ve also kind of had my fingers crossed all day that something would happen and she wouldn’t be able to come over. I sit down across from him with my backpack still on. “Uh. Okay.”

“Well, she says Kiera’s spending the night here tonight.”

“Um, yeah. About that . . . I totally forgot to check with you first. I’m so sorry. It was kind of an in-the-moment thing when I invited her.”

He nods. “It’s okay. I let Mrs. Bryant think I knew.” I want to ask about Kiera’s dad and what he had to say about Kiera spending the night here. But I don’t know how to bring it up without making things awkward. I wasn’t supposed to know about the big fight Dad and Mr. Bryant got into. But I heard him and Mom talking about it at the kitchen table after Dad had moved out. He came over late one night and I think I even heard him cry. Just the thought of Dad crying made me cry too.

“I played it totally cool,” he continues. “But she did say that Kiera wouldn’t be allowed to sleep over if there was a boy here.”

“What?” I ask. “It’s Oscar. Why do people have to make such a big deal about boy-and-girl stuff? He’s my friend. If we wanted to do . . . ya know, stuff, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t take a sleepover for that to happen.”

Dad shrugs and shakes his head, like he’s trying to rid himself of the thought of me + a boy + doing stuff. “I hear you loud and clear, Sweet Pea. I’m not saying you’re wrong. And I’m happy to have the two of them over, but if you want to play by Mrs. Bryant’s rules, you gotta choose one or the other.” He stands up and knocks the top of the table with his fist. “I’m gonna hop in the shower. Kiera’s number is on the fridge. You let me know what you decide.”

I shake my head. “Yeah. Okay.”

I plop my elbows down on the table and cradle my face in my hands. This just stinks.