"You're married? You promised, Mom! You promised you and Dave would wait for me to come back from Chicago to get married! Why didn't you wait for me? And why are we here, and not at home?"
"Sweetie, I did not marry Dave."
"What? Who did you marry then?"
"George."
"George? George who? There are thousands of Georges in the world. But how could you leave Dave and get married in two weeks? You probably haven't been on one date with the guy. And plus, Dave was so nice! He was perfect for you! He was the only one who could tame you!"
"First of all, I can't be tamed; and second of all: it's George Thompson I married."
"Of all men who live in this city, you had to choose my best friend and my ex boyfriend's dad? How could you? You hardly ever spoke to George. Two weeks earlier you didn't even know his name!" I yelled.
"Oh please, I have always known George!"
"Did you even think of asking me my opinion? Do you think I want to live here? Excuse me, Mom but I don't! I want to go home."
I turned around and opened the door to leave. What was she thinking? Marrying George? Seriously? Not only I am going to have to avoid eye contact with Lizzie and Leo for a while - but now I have to live with them? All the time? For the rest of my life? They're going to turn my life into a living hell!
"Come back here, young girl!" Mom screamed behind me. "We still need to talk!"
"What? Tell me, please, what's there to talk about? You really think you can undo what you did? Oh wait, you already did it once. I'm sorry, I'm not moving in, because I know that it's not going to last. You can't even keep a boyfriend. You can't cook for your daughter, and now you have to cook for a husband and three teenagers! And again, have you thought about me? About what I thought?"
"This is my life, Emily, I have the right to be happy."
"You had the right to be happy. Now you have to make sacrifices, for your daughter, for me!"
"Look, we'll talk later, when you're not so PMS. I have dinner to prepare."
***
"How was your holiday, Emily?" George asked to break the silence.
"It was fine."
"What did you do there?" Mom asked like nothing happened.
"May I be excused? I'm really not so hungry."
And not waiting for anyone to answer, I slammed the door behind me and went to my room.
***
I sat a moment in silence, then decided to call Mark or Barrett.
"Hi, you've reached Mark. I can't pick up the phone right now - probably am at baseball practice - so leave a message and I'll get to you later. Thanks!"
"Damn, Mark!" I said, ending the call, then dialing Barrett's phone number.
"Hi Emily! What's up?" I heard Barrett's comforting voice in the phone.
"God, Barr, it's so nice to talk to you! Everything's so screwed up!"
"It hasn't been four hours since you've gotten back and already you've messed up? Wow, congratulations."
I told him everything.
"Um. Okay," was all he could say at the end.
"Oh, and guess what? Lizzie's captain of the cheerleading squad now. She used to hate cheerleading. She even wants to be prom queen. Imagine, she used to say prom was lame, and that she'd rather stay home and watch a movie than to go there and dance like an idiot. Barrett, I'm rotting in hell!"
"Come back."
"What?"
"It's just as simple as that. Come. Back. To. Chicago."
"You want the truth? I really want to."
"Well, I need to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"I'm giving you a hug."
"Me too. Bye!"
I sighed.
"Is something wrong?"
I turned around, and there was Leo at the door.
"I'm sorry, the door was open."
"It's fine."
"I know you're not used to this new modification in our lives. One day, I'm perfectly healthy, and boom boom pow, the second I'm in a coma for three weeks."
''And one day you live happily with your mother, and the second you have to move out because she married you're ex boyfriend's father. I'm sorry," I apologised, "That came out wrong. I love George. But I never pictured him as my stepdad, you know?"
"Wait, we used to...date?"
"What?"
"You just said I was your ex. How'd that be possible if we hadn't dated? Did we use to go out together, Emily?"
I bit my lip. I didn't know what to say.
"Answer me, Emily!"
But I couldn't say a word. He ran to me and shook me, "Answer me!" he ordered. "Lizzie told me Lauren and I used to date. And you and I...we were not even friends."
"What? She told you that? So you really have no memory of what we had? Yes, we used to date...But for a very short time only. It didn't work out so well."
I was well aware that I was lying. But if Lizzie'd told him rubbish, I shouldn't get myself into trouble. So I lied.
"I...I don't. I don't remember...I just know that my feelings are screwed up. I don't know who I care about and who I don't. But that feeling...About you..." he brushed my cheek, making me shiver to his touch. "It's different. I don't feel anything for Lauren."
"Hey what cha doin' Leo?" Lizzie appeared at the door, and I immediately stepped back, feeling my cheeks get red and hot.
"Leo, we're having a little celebration for your coming back," she said simply. "Caroline brought a cake for you!"
"OK. I'll be there. Just give me one sec," he explained, glancing at me.
"No," her tone got more serious. "Get back there. Now."
"Okay, okay."
He went out, leaving me at Lizzie's mercy.
"I don't want you to even talk to him again. If you meet him in the hallways at school, you don't even look at him. I don't want you to approach him, or me again. If you come within ten feet from us, I'll call the police."
"That's ridiculous, Lizzie. We live in the same house now, if you haven't noticed. And we're sharing bedrooms."
"Well, just do what I say and we'll be fine. No one will get hurt. I'll make sure you obey my rules."
On the spot, she left.
I followed her after a while. I thought Mom deciding to be a perfect mother marked my entry in hell.
I was so wrong.