Letters to Audrine

27- I Have To Go

"This is cozy," my mom tries to smile, but I can tell it's too small for her taste. "I can't believe you've been cooped up in this little room all summer."

"Well, I've been out exploring," I defend myself. "I've gone to Nice a few times, they have beautiful beaches there."

"Oh, the beach," her face lights up. "We'll absolutely have to take a trip to the beach while we're here."

"Was that guy downstairs just a friend?" my dad asks me curiously.

"Yes," I say quickly, but it tastes bad on my tongue. I've been lying so much this past week or so, and it's gotten so exhausting having to keep up with so many realities. And saying that Silas is just a friend? That's the grossest lie of them all. "I mean, no."

"No?" he raises his eyebrows at me.

"Maisie's got a boyfriend!" Trevor starts to sing in a teasing voice. "Maisie has a boyfriend!"

"A boyfriend?" my mom repeats, sounding very shocked.

"Yes," I confirm with a nervous nod. I cross my arms over my chest to stop my hands from shaking as my anxiety begins to increase rapidly. "He's my boyfriend."

When I cross my arms, my mom glances down at my arm and her brown eyes begin to bulge out of their sockets. I realize now that she's probably noticing the wand that I got permanently placed on my forearm near the beginning of the summer.

"What the hell is that?" she demands, stepping closer to me. She grabs my arm to run her fingers over the ink, as if to try and rub it off of my arm. "You did not get a tattoo."

"I did," I pull my arm out of her grip. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I knew you wouldn't like it."

"Of course I don't like it," my mom snaps at me in her strongest disappointed voice. "It's trashy, and on your arm? Do you know how hard that will be to cover up in the summer?"

"I'm not trying to cover it up," I defend. "I like it."

"It has no place in a business setting," she still sounds extremely displeased. "You got a boyfriend, and a tattoo, without telling us. Is there anything else that we should know?"

"Yes," I admit to her. "But we should at least get you guys settled in before I drop that bomb."

"Too much time away from your parents has gone to your head," my dad shakes his head at me.

"Honestly, a lot has happened this summer that I haven't told you guys about," I warn them. "And I'm feeling really ambushed right now and I don't want anything to come out the wrong way. So can we please not talk about it right now?"

"You feel ambushed?" my mom says, looking hurt. "We were just trying to surprise you, sweetie."

"I know," I exhale. "I'm sorry. There's just a lot going on right now. But I can tell you that I'm not the girl that left Nevada three months ago."

"You're still our little girl," my dad assures me.

"Well, now she's your little girl with a tattoo," Trevor corrects him, as if he's trying to make this as bad as possible for me. I know that he's just teasing me, and we usually have a really good relationship, but he's just not reading the room very well right now.

"Dad, can you please just take Trevor down to the pool?" I hiss out between gritted teeth. I feel like a stray dog cornered in an alley, and I'm about to bite somebody's head off.

My dad waits for my mom to nod her permission to him before he agrees. Trevor excitedly changes in my bathroom to put his swimsuit on. The second he hears the word 'pool' he's racing for the door and my dad is struggling to keep up with him.