Page 227 of Nobody's Girl

“Hey, Toni. Mother. Is there room for one more decorator on this cake?” I ask as I enter the kitchen.

“Of course there is,” Toni says as she hands me some little, white, candy pearls. “Place those around the edge, darling.”

I open the container and begin pushing the candy into the icing. A bit gets on my finger and I bring it to my lips, licking it off. “Go wash that hand, son,” mother says.

“Aw, I shouldn’t have done that,” I whine as I go to the sink and wash my hands.

“Where’d Ally go?” Toni asks.

“To see Kyle and Laura,” I answer.

Both our mothers look at me as if I’m crazy. “And you allowed that?” my mother asks.

“Yes,” I say as I resume the task of placing the candy pearls on the cake. “She needs closure with them.”

“Best to put them behind her. Her future is far from them anyway,” Toni says as she dollops icing on a pedestal, creating a pink rose. “Again, Eden, you will never know how sorry we are for letting her and Kyle get close. At least that’s over.”

I give a chuckle. “It will never be over. They were more than close. They had real love for each other. He’s a permanent part of her now. Once we change, it will be even more cemented into her soft heart.”

My mother stops her icing piping and looks at me. “What are you talking about? That girl is completely enamored with you. There’s no room in her heart for another man.”

“But there is and he’s there. He’s never going away. I’m okay with it. I have to be. It’s a part of her and I have accepted it,” I say as I push another pearl onto the side of the cake.

Toni places the rose on the cake, then pats my back. “Ally told you this, Eden?”

I shake my head. “She doesn’t have to. I can see inside her mind now, since she’s been enlightened. I have the majority of her heart and all of her soul. He only has a small piece of her heart.”

Mother dabs at the cake with a knife to remove a messy line of piping. “Perhaps you're wrong, son. Perhaps you’re seeing something which is not there. I can’t see her having love for anyone but you. You two glow with the connection you have. There’s just no room for anyone else.”

“I’m not wrong and its fine. I can deal with it. I can also see she will never hurt me. Whatever their relationship is will not threaten ours,” I say as I place the last pearl on the side of the cake. “There, how does that look?”

Toni peers at my handy work. “Perfect. Is there nothing you can’t do, Eden?”

I laugh. “You know what I cannot manage to accomplish?”

“No,” she says.

“To beat your son at a video game,” I say, and she laughs.

The day marches on and Alyssa is not back yet. It’s been several hours. Though I’m not worried yet, I will soon be if she doesn’t return. I’ve sent out thoughts to her, but I suppose we’re too far away from each other to hear them. I hope that gets better after we change.

The home phone rings and David answers it. “Hello, Devlin residence. Ally, where are you?” he asks. “No, ma’am. Come home, we’re all going together," he says. “I think that’s a bad idea,” he says, then turns towards me, holding the phone out. “She wants to talk to you.”

I take the phone. “Alyssa?”

“Hey, Eden. I want to go with my friends to get our gowns on for the graduation. We’re hanging out, talking about our pasts and our futures, and I want to go talk to the rest of my class too. I’m going to miss them, you know,” she says.

“Of course, princess. You do that. Have fun and we’ll be there for the graduation. I’m glad you made peace with them, Alyssa. I’ll see you when it’s over,” I say.

“Okay, I love you, Eden.”

“I love you too, Alyssa,” I say, then hang the phone up.

Her father stares at me. “You didn’t have to let her do that. You know you can make her come home and go with us,” he says.

I look into David’s eyes, because I know he’s raised her under strict conditions for my sake. I can’t blame him for being so over-protective, but I do need him to see the difference in being protective and being unreasonable.