the manâor fatherâeveryone thought he was. Ria decides she needs to take desperate action to protect herself, her younger bother and her fatherâs reputation.
Chapter One
My boyfriend is trying to make me feel better. Heâs leaning against his locker, one arm over my head, making a little cocoon for me. He tucks a wisp of hair behind my ear and says, âItâs not the end of the world, Ria. Who knows? You might even end up liking it. So smile, would you? Câmon. Just a little⦠Please?â
I appreciate the effort. I really do. Colinâs sweetâbut itâs not helping. He doesnât know how I feel.
How could he?
His lifeâs right off the Disney Channel. The mom. The dad. The three kids. The mischievous but lovable dog. Everyone sitting around the kitchen table, laughing at dumb jokes and flicking corn Niblets at each other.
Colin couldnât possibly understand what itâs like to live without all thatâ any more, I guess, than I could have three months ago.
The weird thing is I didnât even know my life was perfect until suddenly it just wasnât anymore. It was like waking up after a car crash and realizing your legs arenât there. Who even thinks about how great walking is before something like that happens?
The word crippled pops into my head, and thatâs enough to get me started again. I have to close my eyes.
Colin says, âOh, no. Riaâ¦â I feel the air go out of him.
This isnât fair. I shouldnât make him miserable just because I am. Thatâs the type of thing my mother would do.
What am I saying? Thatâs the type of thing my mother did do.
This whole thing is all about her. Her life, her happiness, her whatever.
Itâs as if one morning she just decided she didnât want to be married anymore, and that was that. No explanation. No apology. No nothing.
Next thing we knew, sheâd kicked Dad out. Sheâd fired the housekeeper, cut up our credit cards, took a pathetic little job at an office somewhere and jammed the freezer full of these Styrofoam disks that she insists on calling pizza.
I donât get it. If weâre suddenly so poor, why wonât she cash the checks Dad keeps leaving for her? Heâs a big stockbroker. Heâs got tons of money. He doesnât mind giving it to us. He wants to.
Momâs trying to embarrass him. Thatâs what sheâs doing. She knows itâs going to look bad for him to be wining and dining his clients at the best restaurants in town when his own kids canât even âaffordâ take-out pizza anymore.
Iâm sure I sound mad and childish and spoiledâand I probably amâbut I canât help it. When this whole thing started, I tried to be supportive. I choked down the frozen pizza. I didnât complain when Mom canceled our trip to Italy. I looked after my little brother Elliot. I even attempted to be sympathetic.
I mean, Iâm not totally blind. I can see Dad isnât the easiest guy to be married to. Heâs away on business too much. Heâs involved in too many organizations. Heâs got too many friends, clients, acquaintances, whateverâand they all want to go golfing with him. I can understand how that would get to Mom.
I figured she just needed a break. After a couple of weeksâand maybe jewelry and a romantic dinner somewhereâ sheâd remember the good things about Dad, and then we could all just go back to being a family again. Thatâs what I thought.
At least until this morning, when I found out Mom went and sold our house. Now, on top of everything, sheâs making us move into some gross little condo, miles from all our friends and our schools andâoh, yeah, what a coincidenceâour father.
I canât be sympathetic anymore. This is her midlife crisis. We shouldnât all have to suffer from it.
Iâm not going to be like that.
I open my eyes and smile at