“Mom, come on. I’m happy you’re not moping around after Dad and are getting back out there, but with a married man? And he’s my friend’s dad! He’s going to end up finding out, one way or the other. It’s not going to be pretty.”

She puts down the knife and studies me. “Why does everyone always go after the other woman? I’m not the one lying to my family and cheating on my wife. I’m not breaking my family. I’m a grown woman and can make my own decisions, and so can Brian.”

She makes a valid point, but this is Mason’s family we’re talking about here. “But you know that he’s married. You’re choosing to be a part of possibly ruining his family. And we’re leaving soon, so you’re a part of all this drama and it’s not even worth it in the end.”

“I don’t need an ethics lesson from my daughter.” She picks up the knife and starts chopping again. “And it’s different with Brian. He means more to me than just a fling, Amelia.”

“What . . . what do you mean, Mom?”

“I haven’t felt this way in a long time. Maybe since your father and I started dating.”

“Mom,” I whisper. Does she know what she’s saying? What the weight of her words means?

She brushes her brown hair out of her face. It’s the same shade mine used to be. Would I feel more like myself if I hadn’t decided to dye mine? “Life is unpredictable, Amelia. We of all people should know that. With everything going on, we need to make the most of it.”

Those words coming from her lips are funny, considering she hasn’t been quiet about the fact she disapproves of Aiden and me, but I don’t want to keep fighting. It’s been a long day, and I don’t want to get into it even more with her. I get up to leave. She’s my mom; I can’t tell her what to do.

“Amelia?” she calls just before I leave the kitchen, and I turn to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not going to tell Brian’s son, right? You’ll wait for Brian to figure it out himself?”

I shrug and leave the room, not even knowing the answer to that question myself.

4

By Wednesday, the bruise on my cheek is finally starting to slowly fade, and so is everyone at school’s fascination with it. I know people still wonder about Aiden, though, whispering in the halls when we walk by, as he’s being used as the main focal point in the anti–Andrew Kessler for governor campaign, but only a few brave souls have dared to ask him anything about it.

Aiden officially turns eighteen today, and we bring him a cupcake-cake for lunch. We couldn’t get a cake knife in the cafeteria, and a bunch of cupcakes iced over to look like one cake is a lot easier for us to divide.

“I told you not to make a fuss.” He sinks into his seat, looking like he wants to disappear as Annalisa lights the candles on the cake, completely ignoring him.