shooting at me, but something colder, like I’m just dead to her. It’s so blank, I have to take a step back, but I won’t let her just block me out like this.
“What’s your problem?” I break. “Do you have any idea what I gave up back there? My friends are never going to speak to me again!”
Jolene snorts, kicking gravel along the road. “Great friends.”
“Because you’d know all about that,” I shoot back. “Seeing as you don’t have any!”
“Better that than putting up with those dumb bitches all day. Ooh, Brianna, what do you think of this lip gloss? I don’t know; does it match my bra? For God’s sake, get a freaking brain!”
“And you sit around debating politics or whatever?” I yell. “At least I won’t end up in jail before the end of summer!”
“Only because your rich-bitch parents will pull enough strings to get you out!”
“That’s enough!” Meg suddenly steps between us. She glares. “Both of you, over there.”
“What?” Jolene stares.
“Line up, against the car.”
I blink, but there’s something kind of terrifying in her voice, so I shuffle over to where she’s pointing. Jolene doesn’t budge.
“NOW!”
She moves.
“What’s going on?” I ask when we’re both up against the side of the car like this is a police raid. The highway is empty and dark, nothing but our headlights for miles around. “Did you get through to triple A?”
“Yes, but they won’t be able to come pick us up for hours. And I’m not going to stand here, listening to you two bitch at each other.” Meg folds her arms, glaring at us. “So, Bliss, apologize.”
“I already did,” I complain, “like, a hundred times.” I’m surprised by how bossy she’s being. I’m beginning to understand how Frankenstein must have felt: I’ve created a monster here.
Meg stands her ground. “Yes, but the point of an apology is to make the other person feel better. And since Jolene clearly doesn’t, you need to do it again.” She waits, standing tall, a lifetime away from that girl who used to flinch when I looked her in the eyes. But now, she means business, so I sigh.
“I’m sorry I blew you off at the party,” I say for what feels like the hundredth time. I shoot Jolene a sideways look. “I . . . I was a bitch. And wrong. But I made up for it!”
She shrugs, still avoiding my eyes. “Too little, too late. Just because you made a scene with Kaitlin, it doesn’t undo being a bitch to me.”
“See?” I appeal to Meg, since she’s apparently the one in charge here. “I tried!”
Meg sighs. “Jolene, let it go. She’s not your father.”
“Uh, what?” We both look up.
“Well, obviously she’s not your father,” Meg tells Jolene. “But you’re acting like she is. You’re so angry at him, you’re putting all that pain on everyone else. Bliss and Dante, too. Classic transference.”
Jolene clenches her fists beside me, and for a second I wonder if she’s going to lunge right at Meg. We’re stranded way out in the middle of nowhere here, and it would be a while before the ambulance could get to us. . . . “What makes you the psychological expert?” she growls.
Meg shrugs, like she doesn’t realize just how close she is to a full-body cast. “Nothing but a couple years of therapy. I get it, Jolene; I do. They both messed up, and you’ve got a right to be mad at them.”
“Thanks for validating my feelings,” Jolene mutters, sarcastic.
“But in case you haven’t noticed, they’re trying to make it right. Bliss apologized, Dante showed up.” Meg sighs. “So are you really going to keep punishing them, just because your dad is the one who’s still letting you down?”
There’s silence.
I wait, expecting some kind of carnage — literally. I can’t believe Meg has the nerve to say all of this, and more than that, I can’t believe Jolene is even letting her.
Then Jolene exhales, and it’s like all the fight goes out of her body. “Fine,” she murmurs, sagging back against the car. “You’re sorry. I get it. We’re cool.”
I blink. Is she serious? “Umm, OK.” I look carefully, but she doesn’t seem angry anymore, just worn out. I guess carrying all that anger around can really take it out of you.
Meg claps her hands together in triumph. “There you go. Now, hug.”
“What?” I blink. “Come on, what is this, a Lifetime movie?”
But she insists. “Hug!”
Jolene and I look at each other, rolling our eyes, but Meg is waiting, so