Rm w/a Vu(10)

“And the woman you’ll be renting from? She seemed nice?” I freeze as I reach for my brown v-neck shirt, unable to meet her gaze. It’s true; I may have withheld a thing or two. “Juliette?” She drags out my name, using the tone that mothers use when they know you’re keeping something from them. It’s like a superpower.

“The, uh…landlord seems great,” I tell her quickly. I’m a little terrified to tell her that this person is a guy. While my mother is a pretty open-minded person, she’s also very loose-lipped. If she were to tell my dad, well, he’d activate the GPS I know is in the cell phone they bought me for my last birthday and have me followed. Cop, remember?

I know it’s stupid and irresponsible to keep this from them, but I still don’t even know if I’m taking the place. Why upset them—well, mostly Dad—if it doesn’t work out?

With a laugh, I pull my shirt down over my face and turn to Mom. “Definitely not someone in the boyfriend-stealing market…not that it’s really a concern since I don’t plan on having one for quite a while.”

Mom rolls her eyes, probably because she doesn’t believe I can refrain from having a boyfriend. Well, I’ve got news for her; I went without almost all the way through high school…I could so do it again. I’ll show her.

“Do you want me to come with you? Your father is working all day, so I would be happy to tag along,” she offers.

I admit, it’s probably not a bad idea, but that whole “her telling dad I went to look at a place that some guy was renting through the classifieds” thing keeps me from accepting. Not wanting to hurt her feelings, I try to quickly work out how to let her down easily; I know she likely just wants us to spend the day together.

I meet her eyes through the mirror to find her perched on the edge of my desk while I go about brushing my hair. After securing a ponytail at the back of my head, I set the brush on my dresser in front of the mirror and turn to her. “Thanks, but I’ll be okay. You should stay home in case Dad stops by for lunch. You guys haven’t had much alone time since I’ve been back.” Not that this has stopped them, and I’m pretty pleased with myself for not cringing or gagging when my brain is suddenly plagued with the horrific sounds.

Once I’m ready, we head downstairs where we eat a small breakfast of eggs and toast. After I do the dishes, I kiss Mom on the cheek and grab my keys so I can take the first step toward moving back out. I’m sure to promise that I will text her when I get to the house and again when I am heading home.

“Good luck!” Mom calls after me as I bound down the three porch steps and into the sun. It isn’t terribly hot, definitely a little more seasonable than it had been yesterday, and I am glad I had chosen longer sleeves as opposed to the tee I’d been contemplating.

My beast of a car seems to take a little more effort to start, which only worries me that it’s going to conk out on me sooner than I’m ready for. There’s a very good chance I’ll be bussing to and from school in the days to come. Awesome.

Having watched Dad fiddle with all the little gadgets and whats-its under the hood, I want to assume it’s the alternator causing me grief. Or maybe the starter? Okay, I really have no clue. I should have paid more attention.

“Come on, come on, come on,” I whine, turning the key once more, pumping the clutch a little more forcefully before something clicks and my car roars to life. As I pull out onto the street, I make a mental reminder to tell Dad to have a look at the engine when he gets home.

I grab my phone from the seat next to me and search for directions. The address is in one of the newer areas of town that I’ve never been to. I start to imagine the style of house, and if there’s a yard—not that I need one; it’s just a passing thought. The ad also said that it was a three-bedroom home; did that mean it’s just a basic one-story house? Honestly, I’m not quite sure what to expect.

Throughout all my musing, I almost don’t realize when I’ve come to the street I need. Or at least, I think it is; I have to look at the address on my phone several times to be sure. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve lived in Phoenix, I always seem to get lost whenever navigating one of the newer areas. And I can tell you, with absolute certainty, that this is not one of the areas I’ve ever been to; I’m pretty sure there’s some kind of cover charge just to look at these houses.

Of course, the minute the street sign I’m looking for comes into view, I catch a glimpse of a few of the homes along the block, and my jaw drops. These houses are stunning, multi-level homes with balconies above large front porches.