Page 37 of Apparently, I’m Trouble

There weren’t many moments in my life where I considered myself speechless. In fact, there were many times where I probably should have kept my mouth shut. But as Rochelle’s excitement sank in, question after question raced through my mind, and I couldn’t settle on a single one to ask.

Finally, I managed a strained, “What exactly have you heard?”

She laughed. “Oh god, you’re fantastic. Look at you. My brother said you were beautiful, but that voice?”

Theo said I was beautiful?

As a sweltering flush spread from the tips of my hair to my toes, Gem piped up from behind me, excusing herself. “I’ll just go check on the costumes.”

Rochelle let my hand go, then slid her gaze up and down my torso while I stood there and mentally sorted through every moment I’d had alone with her brother.

And I wanted to slap myself because what was I doing? I had to stop thinking about him.

The fact that he’d spoken to his sister about me shouldn’t have mattered this much.

“Well, that’s just great, isn’t it?” I muttered, trying to deflect. “Theo’s been talking about me.”

There was so much mischief in her voice. “Almost constantly.”

I folded my arms and forced a grin. “Well, you must hate me then.”

She laughed, and it was this full-bodied thing that sounded larger than the woman it came from. “Oh Mia, anyone who can twist my brother around her finger the way you have gets a pass from me.”

I frowned at her. “I don’t have him twisted… He doesn’t even like me.”

She didn’t try to deny it, and I instantly liked that about her. “I’ve heard about your run-ins, but I couldn’t get a lot of detail out of him.”

“It’s a gift of his, isn’t it?”

“That he doesn’t say much?”

“He’s so quiet half the time, and the other half, he’s...” insulting me.

“That’s just how he is.” She gestured to Kira with her paintbrush and said, “Kira’s mom was the only one who could really handle him.”

I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and thought about asking something I knew was none of my business. Then I looked at Kira, watched her sit up in her chair as she recited a line, and decided I’d do it anyway.

“Is it okay if I ask about what happened with her mom?”

Rochelle gave me a questioning glance.

“On Kira’s entrance files, Theo was listed as a single father, and there wasn’t much about her mother. Did they divorce a while ago, or…?”

“Didn’t anyone tell you about Tash?”

I shook my head.

Rochelle frowned. “Theo and Tash were friends since they were kids, but the big dope got her pregnant. After that, they decided to co-parent.”

“So… if they were friends and co-parents, why isn’t Kira’s mother in the picture anymore?”

I watched a thread of sadness touch her features. “She died in May.”

My hands flew to my mouth. “Oh. Oh no.” I bit my finger and said, “I didn’t know that.”

My heart sank as Rochelle looked away. “Kira took it hard. Theo found her having a panic attack under her bed after the funeral. They decided they needed to get out of Oakhaven. It was what Tash wanted for them anyway. They were meant to move together after Kira got accepted, but then, when she got sick, it happened so fast.”

Oh god, this sounded familiar. Lilly’s mother died of cancer when she was only a couple of years younger than Kira was now. She developed chronic anxiety in the months that followed, and now it was something that had to be managed daily. If Kira didn’t get the support she needed to handle her grief, she might not completely recover from it.