Audre & Bash Are Just Friends(35)
“Did you like it? Was it good?”
“It was excellent. You’re a genius. You should give speeches professionally! Is that a profession?”
Audre bit her lip to stop herself from beaming. She’d impressed Bash, who’d never seen her do public speaking before. She was standing there in a salty, rapidly-drying-but-wrinkled-as-hell dress and smeared mascara—not presidential at all—and he was still mesmerized. It meant a lot.
It wasn’t until this moment that she realized she might’ve gone too far with him today. She never showed her cards and she barely knew Bash. What would he do with this information?
“Hey, don’t tell anybody what I told you today. Okay?”
“I’d never. And same. Please keep it between us, the stuff about my parents and track.”
“I will. This is a circle of trust.”
“You’re dangerous—you make me want to talk.”
“Last fall, I was the most-requested peer helper on the Teens in Crisis app,” she said, by way of explanation. “East Coast only.”
They smiled brightly at each other, with clear delight at finding a new friendship. They were bonded after this day. And that was that.
An hour and a half later, Audre floated into her apartment, feeling happier than she had in ages. Until she heard Eva’s panicked fury.
“WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?”
1, 2, 3, 4… THRIVE!
A Teen’s Rules for Flourishing on This Dying Planet
By Audre Mercy-Moore
Rule 5:
Wearing a light-colored summer dress? Any chance you’ll jump in the ocean? Wear nude-colored underwear. That way, if you get wet, no one will see your orange panties.
CHAPTER 14
Audre should’ve never let herself have fun.
She and Bash had strolled along the boardwalk for hours, just talking, talking, talking. Like learning about each other was their new favorite pastime. It was a thrill, stumbling across a kindred spirit in the most unlikely person. She hadn’t made a new friend in years.
Yes, she had fallen to pieces in front of him. But being so emotionally raw had created an instant bond between them—and then Bash let his guard down, too. Outside of Reshma, Audre had never had such an instant, I-get-you connection with anyone. It was no wonder she had lost track of time. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize that she’d lost her phone, too… until she was face-to-face with her mad-as-hell mom.
“Where were you?” shouted Eva. “I’ve been calling you for hours!”
“I—”
“Where WERE you?”
“I—”
“What the hell, Audre?” Eva stormed over to her, raging and all dressed up in an off-the-shoulder jumpsuit. “I was supposed to have a dinner meeting with my editor tonight! To go over publicity plans for my new book. It’s launching in September. One month after the wedding, Audre. It’s crunch time! You were supposed to watch Baby Alice!”
Audre gasped. She’d totally forgotten she was supposed to babysit until now. How did this happen? “Flaky” wasn’t even in Audre’s chemical makeup.
“Oh no, Mom. Oh no…”
“It’s on our joint Google calendar. We talked about this! Shane’s at a speaking engagement, upstate! What’s going on with you? I was depending on you!”
“I’m so sorry, Mom.” Audre stood in the doorway, feeling utterly useless in her wrinkled, sun-dried dress and salty skin. “It just slipped my mind.”
“I’ve been calling all day!”
From her playpen, Baby Alice the Hypewoman repeated, “Ahhl ayyy!”
“I know, I know. It was so irresponsible. I forgot my phone on the beach! It’s all my fault.”
Eva stormed over to the couch and sat down. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and rubbed her left temple with two fingers. “Jesus Christ.”
Stunned by the onslaught of her mom’s fury, which happened next to never, Audre gingerly walked over to the kitchen and leaned against the island. Whenever there was strife in the family, the accused party hovered near the island. It felt like a no-fly zone.
“I’ll make it up to you, Mom. I’m really sorry. But don’t overreact.”
“Overreact? Excuse me? I have one major rule. Always tell me where you are. You know how scared I get when I can’t find you.”
“But why? I literally never do anything wrong. I’ve never given you a reason to worry about me. You said it yourself the other day. I do everything right!”
Eva glared at her. “You ran away from home two years ago.”
“This again.” Audre threw up her hands. “Mom, you know I didn’t run away.”
“You were missing! I called the police!”
“I fell asleep at the twenty-four-hour McDonald’s on Fulton,” she said. “I was studying for the PSATs. I got tired. I can’t believe this is still a thing.”
“A thing?” Eva’s eyebrow arched. “Snap at me again and you can move into that McDonald’s.”
To solidify the point, Baby Alice picked up a toy tambourine and, with the aim and precision of a major league pitcher—plus truly theatrical timing—hurled it directly at Audre’s midsection. She yelped, doubling over and clutching her stomach.