Most Likely (Most Likely #1) - Sarah Watson Page 0,53
It was clearly something. A huge something. Victoria stepped forward and, without any warning at all, put both her arms around Martha and enveloped her in a hug. Martha stood stiffly, arms at her side. “Um, what’s happening?” asked Martha.
“I don’t know what’s wrong,” Victoria said. “But something is. I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. I just thought you needed a hug.”
Martha was completely annoyed. Because Victoria was right. She did need a hug. It felt good. Martha lifted her arms and hugged Victoria back.
It took CJ longer than she’d thought to drive to Wyatt’s house. Even with the unexpected traffic, she was still ten minutes early. She was always punctual, but even more so when she was nervous. Wyatt still hadn’t told her what their mission was. She looked at the clock on her dashboard and decided that it was close enough to the time that it wouldn’t be weird to knock on the door. It only took about two seconds before a woman in her fifties answered.
“You must be Clarke,” she said.
“CJ. Hi. You must be Wyatt’s mom.”
“Call me Katherine. Come in. Please.”
CJ heard Wyatt before she saw him. He was hollering from down the hall. “No. Do not come in. She doesn’t have to come in, Mom.”
A second later, he appeared in the living room. CJ felt both more at ease and more nervous when she saw him. “You’re early, Clarke.”
“There are three things in life that are certain: death, taxes, and me being ten minutes early to everything.”
“Yes, she’s hilarious.” Wyatt rolled up to CJ, and neither of them was quite sure if they should hug or shake hands, so they did nothing. “Hi,” said Wyatt. “Sorry my mom is weird.”
“I’m not weird,” said Katherine. “Now come in and sit, Clarke. Tell me about yourself.”
CJ sat on the couch. As she looked around the room, there were two things that were impossible to miss. First was the picture of Wyatt in a high school track uniform. It was positioned prominently on the mantel in an obvious place of pride. He had just crossed the finish line and had both of his hands raised in victory. His legs were tan and strong, and he looked so exuberantly happy. CJ would have dwelled on that photo were it not for the second thing she noticed. The room was absolutely filled with pottery. It was everywhere. Seriously. Everywhere. All over the bookshelves, perched on the end tables, and of course there was the giant one at the center of the coffee table. CJ was pretty sure that they were supposed to be vases, although it was impossible to ignore the fact that every single piece had a certain phallic quality.
“Oh,” CJ said almost involuntarily as her eyes landed on a particularly questionable and particularly erect piece of art. Wyatt leaned over and whispered, “Don’t say anything to my mom. She has no idea.”
“No idea about what?” asked Katherine.
“I think Clarke was just noticing your pottery.”
Katherine lit up. “See anything you like?”
CJ tried not to stare at anything directly. Was this a test? “Oh, well…”
“My mom made everything in this room.”
CJ smiled awkwardly. “How lovely. They’re very… elegant.”
“It’s a new hobby. I’m thinking of starting an Etsy store. But if you see anything you like, I would be honored to make it my gift to you.”
Wyatt shot CJ another look, and she tried not laugh. “Wow. That’s really kind.”
“Pick any piece. Any piece you like.”
The more CJ tried not to stare, the more she couldn’t stop herself from staring. Her eyes landed on one with a bulbous base and a tall—well, “shaft” was the only word that really seemed to work.
“You like that one?” Katherine motioned to the pottery that CJ was looking at and didn’t wait for an answer. “I’ll get some tissue paper.”
“Mother.”
“CJ wants it. And I want to give it to her.” Katherine waved Wyatt off and got up to search for the tissue. “So, Wyatt tells me you want to go to Stanford next year.”
“Oh, I’m not really sure.” CJ folded her hands in her lap, but that felt too formal so she unfolded them. “It’s on my list, but I have other things on the list too. So…” CJ folded her hands again. “I don’t know where I’ll end up.”
“Maybe you can talk Wyatt into going back to OSU.”
“Okay,” said Wyatt, cutting her off. “This has been fun. But we’re late.”