The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Author:Goldy Moldavsky [Moldavsky, Goldy]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
ISBN: 9781250230102
Google: Ley3DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1250230101
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 2021-04-12T23:00:00+00:00

27

“WHO ARE YOU TEXTING?” Mom asked. She plopped down next to me on the couch and tried to peek at my phone screen, but I held it out of reach.

“No one!”

“Is No One cute?”

I rolled my eyes. “Mom.”

“What? I’ve noticed that your texting activity has skyrocketed exponentially all of a sudden. And I know it’s not Saundra.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’d tell me if it was her.”

She had me there. I didn’t particularly want to tell her about Freddie, especially since I didn’t know if there was anything to tell. We’d made out in his room. On his bed, to be exact. For a while. But that had been two days ago, and now it was the weekend, which meant that I didn’t get to see him again in school, which meant any number of things could’ve happened. Like, he could’ve forgotten about me. Or changed his mind. Or had a long forty-eight-hour think about how much he really wasn’t into my kissing style.

But at least we were texting. He sent me cute memes and asked about my plans for Halloween, and we chatted back and forth about a whole bunch of topics that were not about how we’d kissed. Hence, all my questions and doubts.

This was probably the kind of thing my mom could theoretically help me sort out. She was starting to ask a lot of questions about where I was running off to most nights. And I was pretty sure she wasn’t buying my knitting club excuse. If I was going to keep lying about the club, I could at least be honest about who I was texting.

“Do you know Freddie Martinez?”

A slow smile crept onto Mom’s face and I was already regretting my decision to tell her anything.

“I taught him last year,” she said. “Are you guys … hanging out?”

“Kind of.”

Mom tucked her lips between her teeth like she was biting back a grin, but a little squeal still managed to slip out.

“Mom!”

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You were thinking it.”

“So Freddie’s the knitting club?”

“Mom.” I grabbed a couch cushion and tried to fuse my face with it, still hearing my mom’s giggles as I did. She pulled the pillow away. “I’m happy you’re … making connections.”

“This isn’t, like, a Craigslist ad, Mom. We’re just friends.”

“Well, do you like him?”

I gave a noncommittal shrug. Which I knew my mom would know how to read. She confirmed that with another little squeal.

“You know, most parents would be wary of high school boys,” I said.

“Well, I know Freddie. He’s a very upstanding gentleman. And most parents don’t have a daughter as responsible and smart and not-quick-to-rush-into-things as you.” She squeezed a hug out of me and leaned her head on my shoulder. I let her because it felt nice, and because my mom deserved a normal moment with me. After last year, I guess this was like her hitting the Normal Teen Daughter jackpot.

“Are you two going out tonight?” Mom asked. “It’s Halloween!”

That was actually what Freddie had just been texting me about.

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