“Oh, so you don’t like her?”
I wince. “I don’t have a lot of time before I have to head to my next class.”
“We can talk another few minutes, can’t we?”
I grin despite gritted teeth. It’s just as well she can’t see me.
“Ah, another minute,” I hedge.
“Good.” Mom sounds delighted, and my heart sinks. None of this can be easy on her. She’s in a new country, and she’s there by herself. We had been on the cruise together at least. Well, except for the time when I slipped away to be with Rob…
“There’s nothing wrong with my roommate,” I claim. “We just need to spend more time together, I think. Then, we can figure out if we can be friends or just roommates.”
“Why wouldn’t you want to be friends with her?”
“I never said I didn’t. We just didn’t quite hit it off the bat right away, but that doesn’t mean anything. I’m sure things will be just fine between us.”
“If you’re sure…”
“I’m not worried.”
“Have you made any friends yet?” Mom asks. “I can hardly believe that you aren’t able to have as many friends as you want. You’ve always been so popular.”
I roll my eyes. My mom sometimes likes to drink the Kool-Aid. She prefers to suppress bad memories, and she never remembers that I had been bullied a few years. In her eyes, everyone has always loved me, and I never was teased or picked on. All the girls wished they were me, and all of the boys wanted to date me.
I mean, in high school, was it possible some girls wished they were me? Maybe. I never really thought about it like that, honestly. I did think that Erika was too picky. She hardly dated anyone in high school, thinking the guys too immature, but those four guys of hers? I’m pretty sure they’re all her age, so… That just strikes me as hilarious.
And while I’ve only been with three guys sexually, I dated around a lot more than that. I just didn’t spread my legs for every guy I was with.
“I’ve made one—”
“And the boys?” my mom interrupts. “Have any caught your eye?”
“Mom. I’m not here to find myself a guy. I’m here to study and get my degree.”
“Of course, but that doesn’t mean you can’t look, right?”
“Have you been looking?” I huff.
“Honey, I called to talk about you. Why aren’t you answering me?”
I suppress a sigh. Honestly, I should give her something. She’s been through as much or even more than I have, and it hasn’t been easy on either of us. My brother doesn’t know everything, and with him being away at college, he’s been out of the loop and distracted by his own issues and problems. Thankfully, he opted to do a semester abroad during the summer, so he didn’t come home then. That helped greatly with my being able to convince Mom to head across the ocean. All of Kyle’s pics really helped to seal the deal more than anything I could’ve said to her.
But when I open my mouth, no words come out. What can I say? I really don’t know.
“It’s because of that one guy you seemed to really like on the cruise, isn’t it?” my mom asks shrewdly.
My jaw drops. I had no idea that she realized I had a thing for Ro on the cruise. She hadn’t said anything, and I had preferred to keep it that way.
“When you meet the one,” she begins.
Meeting the one? As if Mom should talk about that! She had been so thoroughly convinced my father was the one that she hadn’t wanted to divorce him immediately once she learned how deep into shady shit he had gotten himself. I mean, I get that leaving your husband after learning he’s in the mafia isn’t easy, but to have made a few excuses in the beginning…
Desperate to change the subject, I clear my throat. “Mom,” I start, but she cuts me off.
“Katie, you don’t need to hide anything from me,” she says.
I wince at how desperate and pleading her tone is. “Trust me, Mom. I’m not—”