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I was wondering if you wanted to maybe hang out tonight, see a movie. My mom said I can borrow her car.
I don’t know.
It’d be nice to see you.
My brain:Say yes.
My heart:Say yes.
Hold on,I text.Have to ask my mom.
My mom’s at the sink, rinsing plates. She peers over her glasses at me when I come into the kitchen.
“Mom?”
“Hmm?”
“My friend from rehab, Josh, texted. Can I go to a movie with him tonight?”
She takes her glasses off. “I don’t know, Bella. Isn’t it too soon?”
“He’s sober now, Mom. I have to, like, go out sometime, I guess, right? We’re just friends.”
“I don’t know how I feel about this.”
“We’re only friends, I told you.”
She looks at me carefully.
“I have to go out sometime, Mom,” I say, pleading. “At some point, you have to trust me.”
“Do you think it’s the right thing to do?”
“It’s just a movie. He’s nice, I swear. And I have to go back to school next week. I want to do something a little fun before then.”
“All right,” she says finally. “But I’m driving you there and picking you up. You can text me when the movie’s done. And I want to meet him first, outside the theater.”
I stare at her.
“Those are the conditions. You’re fifteen. You lied about dating Dylan and you’re just out of rehab. I feel like I’m being pretty nice, considering, don’t you?”
I run to my bedroom and plop on my bed.
It’s cool,I text.But she’s taking me to the theater and has to meet you first.
Okay. Wow. But sure.
He sends me the time and place for the movie.
—
Ricci jumps up and down in front of the theater.
“Stop!” I hiss. “So embarrassing.Mom.”
He’s walking toward us down the sidewalk of the El Con, his hands in his hoodie pockets, smiling. I can tell he’s a little embarrassed, too.
“Ricci,” my mother warns. Ricci sticks out her tongue.
