The Girl Next Door by Cecilia Vinesse

Author:Cecilia Vinesse
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2023-05-30T00:00:00+00:00

Eighteen

“Cleo.” Marianne’s stepdad opens the front door wearing an apron, reading glasses pushed on top of his head. He turns toward the back door where I typically show up. “This is an unconventional entrance.”

“Just mixing things up a little,” I say with a smile so wide it makes my dimples ache. Adults can never resist The Dimples. They wear down even the most practiced parental defenses.

I wriggle out of my Docs and am slipping into a pair of flip-flops they keep by the doormat when Zé races over from the living room, wearing his gi and a hat shaped like a chicken for some reason. “Hi, Cleo! Guess what? I’m getting a dog. His name is Captain Monkeypants.”

“That’s big news,” I say.

“We’ll see.” Dr. Lacerda joins us and gives me a wink before shooing her husband back to the kitchen. Even though she’s shorter than Marianne, they have the same deep golden skin, the same enviable eyebrows, and they both exude the same natural authority. They’re both the kind of people you couldn’t help but follow into battle.

“Olá, querida,” she says, pressing her right cheek to mine in greeting. “My daughter’s been hiding in the basement all afternoon. I assume she called you here for reinforcements?”

I hold up the pile of worksheets and textbooks I picked up from the office before I left school. “I brought her homework,” I explain. “I know you asked Chris to get it, but I figured this made more sense. What with us being neighbors and all.”

“Aren’t we lucky to have you?” Dr. Lacerda waves me inside, and Zé stands on the back of the couch so he can leap into her arms as she passes. “Oof. When did you get so heavy, anjinho?” she asks, balancing him against her hip. I blush and look away, feeling a little lost the way I sometimes do during tender mother-child moments. Like I’m watching a foreign-language film without any subtitles.

At least Marianne hasn’t told her family to shut the curtains and hide if I dare to show up. That’s why I chose the front door instead of the back. I’m determined not to make her worry that I’m becoming a little too comfortable around here. I’m determined to prove that we can barrel though last night’s awkwardness and keep the relationship we have intact. Seeing Chris so miserable today was what did it for me. I don’t want a breakup right now, not even a fake one. I don’t want to lose Marianne—not even as a friend.

Zé tries to follow me downstairs, but Marianne’s dad convinces him to stay and help with the nitamago eggs he’s making for dinner. I’ve always thought of Marianne’s house as cozy and vibrant, and right now, it feels even more perfect than usual. The smell of hearty, smoky broth fills the air along with the cloud of bossa nova music that Dr. Lacerda plays from the stereo. The paintings on the living room walls spill over with the colors of sunset.

The basement, however, is where I’ve always felt the most at home.

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