Every Little Piece - By Kate Ashton Page 0,10

house but they didn’t show themselves. Crap. Me and my big mouth gave us away. I’d slipped about this routine to Seth more than once. I couldn’t alert Kama and Brin without getting myself in trouble.

The screen door slid open, and Kama’s mom walked through, her curly blonde hair bouncing as she walked, the spitting image of Kama. She carried a tray with fluted glasses filled with what looked like sparkling apple cider, and a spread of thinly sliced Subway sandwiches.

Kama squealed. “Mom!”

We gushed our thanks. I plastered on a smile and tried not to look over at the hedge where the guys must be hiding.

Her mom smiled. “You only graduate once. And you only have the night before graduation once.” She placed the tray on the small landing that surrounded the tub. “Enjoy this moment, girls.”

I studied her and the brief wistfulness in her eyes and face. She kissed Kama’s head and then headed back inside.

“Your mom rocks.” Brin helped herself to the sparkling apple cider and an Italian sub slice.

“Yeah, I know,” Kama agreed. “Most of the time.”

“Excuse me.” I flicked water at Kama. “What’s that supposed to mean, ‘most of the time’?”

“Well, they’ve been giving me a hard time about the fall.”

I put a plate together, going for the chicken Parmesan. I never realized there were obstacles on Kama’s road to New York. I forgot about the covert operation only a few feet away. “How come we haven’t heard about this before?”

Kama shrugged but the fear flickered in her eyes. The bright shining hope that always twinkled briefly faded. “My mom is more than aware of life in New York for the starving actress trying to make her way. She knows what the drama life is like, or she can guess.” Kama paused and bit into her sandwich but she struggled to swallow it down. Tears glistened. “They sat me down the other day and laid it out for me. I have to prove I can find a place to stay, somewhere safe with adults or a family, and I have to share my finances with them biweekly.”

“That’s not too bad,” I said.

“I don’t know anyone in New York.” She sounded desperate.

“Since when have you ever let that stop you?” I played devil’s advocate. “At least they’re not saying you can’t go.”

Kama let that thought sink in.

Brin sipped her glass. Our eyes connected. I knew what she was thinking before the words left her mouth.

“At least your parents care.” Her voice broke. “At least your dad is around.”

Kama placed her plate on the side of the tub and immediately moved through the water and hugged Brin. “I’m so sorry. That was insensitive of me. You’re so right. We can’t reach our dreams without fighting for them.”

I slid over to the group hug. “We’ll make it. Together.” I promised.

Finally, Brin pushed us away. That was the longest she’d let either of us hug her. We returned to our spots a little more sober and teary-eyed. At that point, I didn’t know whether to tell Kama and Brin or not about our company.

Kama didn’t stop there. She pushed Brin. “What’re you going to do in the fall?”

“That’s easy.” Brin drained her glass and grabbed another sub slice. “I’m running as far away from here as possible. Maybe I’ll go to the west coast. I’ll find a great job and work for a year or two while I figure out what I want to do with my life. Then I’ll work my way through college.”

Brin spoke with a fierceness grounded in heartbreak. She’d do exactly what she said. But I thought how far away, how many miles it was to the west coast. My heart squeezed. “Do you have to run so far away?”

She scoffed. “What? Am I supposed to move to the next town? If I’m going to do this, I’m going all out.”

Kama squealed. “Come to New York with me! That’s the place to start. We could be roomies.” She reached for both our hands. “Haley, you could come too.”

“She’d never go that far away from Sethie boy.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.” I smiled weakly. But I did know I’d be attending a college within thirty minutes of his. “There’s not much in New York City for me either. Other than watching you hit the big stage.”

We fell silent. In a few short months, our lives would change forever. It had already hit me, but Brin and Kama were now briefly seeing the future.

“We’ll have to enjoy