It took me three solid mees of dating fax to finally accept that it went some elaborate fever
The reason was simple: despair his ront, aloof public persona boyfriend
dream
had half of UCLA’s female population wooning, le
Dady good morning tests that arrived like clockwork, random hanc selfies with captions like “wish you were here,” and Face until one of us fell asleep. He’d text me about what he was eating, warn me about weather changes mine armurately than my weat redhind me to bring an umbrella when rain was forecasted.
Dur winter break started mid December,
I booked an early morning flight home to Missenpolis. After a fingeringling and kiss with fun at LAX drop off and his dramarie T wither ey without you” speech, hoarded my plane.
The moment we touched down, Mom called
“Liana, I’m in the pickup zone. Silver Handa
Over the entire semester, she’d called me exactly one month–perfunctory five–minute conversations that felt like she was checking a box on her parental duty list.
Probably because with Rosalia taking a gap year to retake the SAT, Moon’s attention was fully consumed by her favorite project.
I wheeled my carry on through the Minneapolis airport exit and spotted Mon’s car idling by the curb
When she saw mg, her eyes widened like she’d seen a ghost.
“You. what on earth happened to you?–
I’d dyed the ends of my hair purple just a week ago on a spontaneous trip to a salon with my roommate Jax had called it “hot as bell” which was al the validation I needed
With my hair down, the purple ends created this ombre effect that was definitely eye catching against my winter pale skin..
“Just trying something new,” I said flatly.
She pressed her lips together, clearly holding back a lecture.
I knew she hated the purple hair–anything that drew attention to me seemed to make her uncomfortable–but since we’d barely spoken in months. she didn’t feel entitled to criticize.
When Mom and I walked through the front door, Rosalia was sprawled across the living room couch eating chocolate–covered strawberries and scrolling through her phone.
Mom set down her car keys with a disapproving frown. “Honey, don’t you have two SAT practice tests to finish before your turor comes tomorrow?
“Mom!” Rosalia whined, her voice slipping into that haly talk register that made my teeth hurt. “It’s just two practice best I can fush them in like an hour.”
y hair
As she spoke, she glanced up and froze when she saw me, her eyes immediately zeroing in on my!
Then she quickly looked away, as if my existence was beneath her notice.
Theaded straight to my room to unpack already counting the days until I could return to LA
By dinner time, Dad had come home too.
With Christmas approaching, everyone seemed determined to maintain the facade of a happy family, so our precious blow–ups wat strategically unmentioned
“Mom, are you really going to play cards with Aunt Jessica tomorrow? Rosalia asked, twirling her fork in her spaghetti without actually roting
Mom nodded. “That’s the plan.”
“Does that mean I’ll get to see jax? Her voice mot hide her exchement, and something pinsalve owisted in my poach
You won’t.” I answered before Moms could, keeping my voice deliberately campal
Rosalia stared at me like I’d suddenly started speaking.
I continued buttering my dinn roll, not looking up. “He’s still in L.A. His break starts next trek.”
Rosalia’s fork clattered against her plate. “And how actly would you know his schedule?”
1 smiled slightly. “We test
The smile evaporated from Rosalia’s face. “So you two are, what, friends now or something?”
“Something like that.”
My deliberately vague response made Rosalia’s breathing audibly quicken. She dropped her fork with a loud rlang
“Liana, seriously? You need to take a good look in the mirror. Why would someone like Jax Xavier ever give
Perfect. She’d taken the bait, and the shark was now thrashing in the net
I didn’t respond, just looked toward our parents, who sat there with identical stunned expressions
They clearly y couldn’t reconcile this vicious outburst with their mental image of their sweet, bubbly daughter who could do no wrong.
Rosalia was too angry to read the room. “I’m calling Jax right now. Let’s see what he says about your little text boddy fantasy.
“Let me save you the trouble”
Icalmly pulled out my phone and dialed Jax’s number, my heart racing with a misture of nervousness and vindictive excitement.
I placed the phone on the table and put it on speaker, the dial tone filling cur suddenly silent dining room.
After a few rings, his deep voice came through, sending a familiar warmth through my chest even as I maintained my poker face.
“Hey gorgeous missing me already?”
Rosalia’s face drained of all color so rapidly I thought she might fait.
“A line.” I replied with forced casualness, keeping my eyes fixed on Rosalia’s crumbling expression. “My sister was just asking about us, thought you might want to say ha
“What, Rosie? Tell her I said hey. Also, are we still on for New Year’s? My parents want to know if you’re flying back early for the party or if I should pick you up from the airport. His voice was relaxed, intimate–the voice of someone who’d fallen asleep on Face Time with me multiple nights a week
I watched as Rosalia’s lips trembled, her expression morphing from disbelief to devastation. I saw her struggling to breathe, her carefully constructed fantasy world imploding in real time,
So this is what it feels like, I thought with a rush of dark satisfaction. To finally have something someone else desperately wants.
For the first time in my life, I was on the winning side of the equation.
Because I was quiet and reserved, my parents affention had always been easily stolen by Rosalia’s theatrics.
But this time, Mom and Dad heard Rosalia’s true colors with their own ears, and even they couldn’t spin this into my fault
Their expressions changed from shock to disappointment as they stared at their perfect daughter ke they were seeing her clearly lie the first time Rosalia’s eyes filled with tears as she looked between them, searching for her usual allies. “You always take her side sow Ever since her stupid test
Hearing that pathetic attempt to reclaim victim status, I suddenly lost interest in the family drama. The sweet sound of my boyfriend’s infinitely more appealing than watching Rosalia’s long overdue reckoning.
Chapter 17
So I grabbed my phone mid conversation and retreated to my bedroom, leaving the fallout behind me,
“So.” I said into the phone once my door was closed, flopping onto my childhood bed with a smile. “What are you really,
