"Mom, Dad, what are you guys doing here?" I ask them in sheer panic. I just talked to my mom yesterday on the phone and she didn't mention coming to France. Although, I guess that's fair considering I've been keeping just the same amount of information from her.
"Maisie!" my mom cheers as she barrels toward me, hopping around the fallen vegetables to get to me. She quickly wraps her thin arms around me, squeezing me tighter than I've ever been squeezed. Slowly, I hug her back as the stench of her acidic perfume fills my nostrils. "Oh, honey, I've missed you so much."
Soon, I'm being swarmed by my dad and little brother too, still with no explanation as to what's going on.
"Brennan told me he was coming to France, so I assumed that was to help you with your project," my dad finally begins to explain to me why they're here as the hug ends and I can finally breathe again. "So we decided to surprise you, so that I can be here to make sure the deal is legit and then we felt like we should make it a family vacation."
"You're staying all week?" I ask them, my eyes still wide as I start to pick up the vegetables from the ground. Silas is still standing beside me, his expression unreadable.
"Yes, I thought it was a great idea. I'm dying to see where you've been staying all summer. You can show us around," my mom explains to me, still beaming with a giant smile on her face. She only falters a little bit when she glances over at Silas and asks, "Who's this?"
"This is Silas," I say quickly. Despite the air conditioning in the lobby, I start to sweat again as the panic continues to rise in my body. I hadn't told my mom that I'd decided to stay, and I hadn't told Silas that I hadn't told her. They're both bound to figure out the truth now.
"Hello, ma'am," Silas responds to her politely.
"It's nice you made friends here," she seems pleased.
"That's a first for you," Trevor teases me with a maniacal laugh.
"Be nice to your sister," my father scolds him, but Trevor continues to laugh. If I wasn't so mortified about the situation I've found myself in, I would tease him back. "We brought you an extra duffel bag. Just in case you have more stuff to bring home than you packed with you."
"To bring home?" Silas repeats, sounding confused. I flinch.
"Maisie has been sending us so many pictures of the new outfits she's bought," my mom explains. "I'm so glad you have a new wardrobe ready for Brown in a few weeks."
"Wow, you're going to Brown?" Silas asks, sounding shocked and impressed, as if this is the first time that he's even hearing the name of the university. I want to explain to him that it's not what it sounds like, but this lobby isn't the best place to tell my mom the truth.
"She didn't tell you?" my mom grasps onto the opportunity to brag. "She's studying Econ there in the fall. We're all so proud of her."
"Yeah, that's news to me," he gives me a hard look and then starts taking the produce bags out of my hands. "I have to go."
"Silas, wait," I try to get him to stay, thinking I can get him alone and explain to him that I really am staying. I need to apologize for lying to him about telling my mom, but he needs to know I'm serious about being here, and I'm serious about him.
"No, I'm leaving," he insists, his words coming out like solid bricks of ice. "Good luck at Brown."
He walks away too quickly for me to think of anything else I can say. He takes all of the produce and takes a few steps until he's out the door.
"Well, let's go see your room," my mom pays no attention to Silas's exit. "Our room won't be ready for another few hours."
I want to chase after Silas, but he looked so upset and he wasn't letting me speak. I'll just give him some time to cool off and message him in an hour or so. Hesitantly, I lead my family up to my hotel room. It's messy, since I've been living here for so long, but I just kick my dirty clothes toward the dresser so that it doesn't look as bad.
"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.
When it's just me and my mom in the room, we sit beside each other on the bed. It's silent for a while as I gather my thoughts. There's no escaping the truth now, I just need to figure out the gentlest way to break it to her.
"I know that this is going to be hard for you to hear," I warn her before I start.
"Dear God, you're pregnant," she assumes with a loud gasp.
"No, I'm not," I say quickly. "But... I mean, I just want you to know that I love you and Dad so much and I think you've done a great job at raising me. I've always looked up to both of you, and how successful you are. You are the strongest, most badass, smartest person I know. So as I was growing up, I've always listened to you. When you told me what extracurriculars to take, what sports to join, what schools to apply for, what to major in."
"You know that I'm always looking out for you, Maisie," she says with a warm smile, putting her hand over mine. She's looking at me with kind, soft eyes, but I know that in a few moments that's going to change. It's always been so astonishing to me how she can be so soft one minute and then so terrifying the next.
"I know," I agree with her. "But I've always been so caught up in doing what you have planned for me that I've never given myself the chance to ask myself what I want."
"You're right," she sighs softly with a slow nod. "And I've been thinking of ways that I can get better at listening to you. I've already set aside time next week for our shopping trip."
"Mom," I take one long deep breath to calm myself, and to stall from having to tell her what I'm about to say. The next words I'm going to say could very well end the relationship that I have with my mom, and that's so terrifying to me. "I don't want to go to Brown."
"What?"
I repeat myself.
She blinks at me a few times and removes her hand from mine. "I don't understand."
"I'm... I'm not going to Brown," I rephrase my statement.
"Maisie," she says my name apprehensively, as if I'm holding a bomb that could detonate at any second. "That's a very rash decision to make. Brown is an Ivy League school. Do you know how many people dream about getting into a school like that?"
"I know it's an amazing school," I mumble softly. "But what's the point of going to a great school if I'm not studying what I want to study? I am extremely proud of myself for getting accepted, and I'm so thankful to you and Dad for helping me get there. It's just not what I want."
"So, what is it that you do want, then?" she crosses her arms, her thin, dark eyebrows are raised at me. Her mouth is pursed, and her eyes are narrow as she looks at me expectantly. I call this look the Look of Death and it makes me want to shrivel into a human raisin.
"I want to live here," I rip off the rest of the Band-Aid. "I'm signing the papers for a house tomorrow, and I think I'm going to move in there and figure it out as I go."
"Figure it out as you go?" she repeats what I said in disgust. "You don't even have a plan? You are being ridiculous, Maisie. You cannot throw away an education at Brown, everything that we've worked for, for absolutely nothing. And what about the company? You're just abandoning us?"
"It's not absolutely nothing," I defend myself. I was expecting this anger, but that doesn't make it any less terrifying. I want a shield to hide from the glare that is burning a hole through my head right now. "I'm really happy here. I have never been this happy before, and everything about this town feels right to me. I don't want to work for the company, I'm sorry."
"I didn't realize you were so miserable at home," my mom starts throwing a guilt trip, but I won't let it get to me. I need to stick to my guns.
"I was just okay with how things were at home. Not miserable, but not happy either. Just going along with things, feeling very neutral," I try to explain it to her. "And I thought that it was normal until I got here. I don't want to spend my entire life feeling neutral, Mom. And honestly, you shouldn't want that for me either."
"Of course I want you to be happy," she assures me. "But not like this. Giving away everything. Our entire plan for you, are you crazy?"
"I'm not crazy. And I'm doing this," I promise her. I don't want her to try and convince me not to do this, I know it won't work, and it'll just make it harder for both of us. "I'm sorry that this isn't what you envisioned for me, but I hope that my happiness is more important to you than my career choice."
She lets out a gruff sigh and gets off of the bed. She situates her flowy sundress and slips her short heels back onto her feet. "I need some air."
"Fine," I'm frustrated that she's leaving, but maybe that's better than arguing. Hopefully, she'll give herself some time to think about it and she'll come around to the idea. The last time we argued, she was surprisingly quick to apologize.
"You are going to make our entire family a laughing stock if you go through with this, Maisie May," she snaps at me before stomping out of the hotel room into the hallway, letting the door fall shut behind her.
I feel my heart beating out of my chest right now, but I'm so proud of myself for getting the truth out there. I'm almost glad that my family showed up here so I could have that conversation in person. Although I'm struggling to calm down from that tense conversation, I feel a million pounds lighter as that weight is lifted off of my shoulders.
Now, I just need to fix things with Silas. I call him three times, but no answer. I message him, but no response. I try not to panic. I have to trust that once he's ready, he'll let me explain my side of things. I know that I have some making up to do, as it was clearly wrong to lie to him about telling my family about my decision.
Hopefully he'll understand.