says Mom. “If you’re going to go off with someone else, then just break up with him.” “In her mind, she might think she’s doing the right thing,” says Jeff. “If she keeps it secret, no one gets hurt.” “Because it won’t all come out in the end …” Mom shakes her head. “She’s being a selfish idiot.” “We are inherently selfish beings,” Matthew pipes up from behind his book. I aim a kick at him under the table. “Mia!” says Mom, seeing the kick. “It’s enough that you’re sitting there being a thoughtless cow, but what the hell.” I don’t look at her and poke the peas on my plate with my fork. “Don’t you have an opinion?” “No,” I mutter. “I don’t care about your crappy friends and their sad lives.” Mom glares at me. “Is there a reason for this mood?” “I’m tired.” She nags at me for a while before I can escape to my room. I take my phone out of my sleeve and start plotting how I can get to the pool house tonight. I could say I was going to Gabi’s … My thumb hovers uneasily over her name on my phone.
