Coffee Cup Confessions - Trish Williford Page 0,59

and tried to make my brother his Wendy Peffercorn.

Drew had a nice shiner for a good part of the summer.

It was from Ally, not Bentley.

Bentley shrugs off Drew’s whines and pulls me in for a hug. “Good to see you.”

I kiss him on the cheek and open the front door.

Drew follows behind me, scowling at Bentley. “Thanks, friend.”

Bentley gives him a hard pat on the shoulder. “No problem, buddy.”

Mom and Ally are in the kitchen, preparing the food for the barbeque.

Mom notices me first, extending her arms. “Misha, you’re here!”

I walk straight into her open arms, needing comfort that only my mother can give.

“Thanks for having Drew and me over,” I mumble against her hair.

She squeezes me tightly. “I’m so sorry that Jake had to work today and couldn’t make it.”

Pulling away, I fake a smile. “Yeah, he’s working all right.”

Ally frowns at me but continues gathering items to take outside.

Mom looks down at my shrinking frame. “Wow, honey. You have lost too much weight. Good thing I made extra spaghetti last night for dinner. I have a container for you to take home with you. We’ll have you back to your old self in no time.”

I’m not sure that even my favorite food could cheer me up. “You shouldn’t have saved it for me, Mom. You should give it to Bent for opening the pool for you.”

She waves a hand at me and walks onto the patio. “Nonsense. I already made him peanut butter fudge. Besides, he enjoys doing that.”

“How are you doing?” Ally asks sympathetically after we are alone. I’m grateful for Ally. I’ve been able to confide in her about this situation without fear of her telling Mom or Dad.

Not wanting to get upset with Mom around, I shrug it off. “I guess I’m doing okay.”

She hugs me tightly to her. “I bet he misses you more than you miss him.”

I blink rapidly to keep my tears in check. “Doubtful but thanks.”

Over her shoulder, I notice there is one more place setting than needed on the table. “Mom, do you know that you set an extra setting?” I call from the kitchen.

She frowns and softly counts them to herself. “Nope, that’s right, sweetie. There are supposed to be seven. Dad and me, you and Drew, Bentley and Ally, and Mandy.”

Fuck. Me.

She disappears from the patio, leaving me scowling at Ally. She holds her hands up in defeat and runs outside to hide.

Coward.

Fury ignites in my stomach at the thought of being in the same room as Mandy. I’m getting the hell out of here.

I storm into the living room, holding my hand out to Drew, who’s sprawled out on the sectional sofa.

“What’s up?” He smacks my hand.

“Keys,” I hiss.

He narrows his brows. “Uh, no. No one drives Charlie other than me.”

Because he takes such good care of her. “Now, Drew. I’m driving the Green Turd home. I’m not messing around.”

He shakes his head, returning his attention back to the TV. “Nope. I’m eating steak. And you are too. You’re starting to lose your ass.”

“You knew Mandy was going to be here, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. Besides, you have to forgive her at some point.”

I slap him hard across the arm. “You asshole! You have no right, telling me what to do!”

He puts his hand over the red handprint I just left on his skin. “Ow! You’ll get over it!”

“You’re a dick!”

Fuck this. I’ll just barricade myself in my old bedroom for the night. Acting like a hormonal teenager, I stomp up the stairs and slam the door behind me before locking it.

“I’ll take the damn door off the hinges. Try me!” my dad yells up the stairs, giving me the old warning that he threatened Mandy with weekly when she threw her tantrums.

Lying across my childhood twin bed, I feel like I could scream at the top of my lungs. Seeing Mandy is the last thing I want to do. She’s probably even worse than usual now that Noah broke up with her, and I can’t handle another Mandy attack.

As I look around my room, nostalgia takes over me. The walls of my old room are covered with posters of the Jonas Brothers over the floral wallpaper. My goodness, I used to be so in love with Joe Jonas. He and I were supposed to get married, have two kids, and ride on the Jonas tour bus for the rest of our lives. Now, if I had to pick a brother, it would totally be Kevin. Boy glowed up