had been purely political and manipulative. Nothing she did for me was done out of something as simple as mother-daughter love. That thought was only laughable. And now that I knew the difference, now that I knew the truth, I didn’t miss her attention, or her affection.
“Who knows,” I sighed.
“How can you be so casual about this, Ivy?” Anaxandra snapped. “You need to fix whatever is broken and fast.”
“Ana, let her be,” Exie spoke up for the first time, tossing her golden curls over her shoulder. “Whatever’s going on with her mom is her business, not yours.”
“We look out for each other,” Anaxandra defended and I saw a spark of the old her flash brightly. “Ava will throw you to the wolves if you’re not careful,” her voice dropped to an earnest whisper and her eyes pleaded with me to take her seriously.
“She’s right, Ives,” Evaleen leaned forward with critical eyes. She dressed to kill tonight, which surprised me a little since this was just a girls’ night. Her chestnut hair was lifted off her neck in an intricate updo that piled on top of her head. One lone strand of long hair had slipped out and curved gracefully around the back of her neck. Her dark eyes were beseeching at the same time they were cunning and her perfect, rosebud lips were pressed into a frown. “You’re the firstborn, that means she has an entire other child to turn her attentions to if you screw up anymore.”
“Maybe in other families, but not so in mine,” I divulged. “Honor is in no way ever leaving Smith. He has her on complete lockdown.”
“How is that possible?” Anaxandra hissed.
“Plus, it doesn’t matter how Ava feels about Ivy,” Exie spoke up conspiratorially. “Nix wants her, so she’s safe.”
“Shut up!” Eva gasped. “Nix wants you? Like he wants to take you?”
I blushed a deep, revealing red and stared intently at the flower pattern on the ivory China. “Uh, yeah.”
“When?” Ana demanded.
“After I graduate,” I whispered.
There was silence at the table then as we all absorbed this information. A pain shot out from my chest and pierced every piece of me. I recognized the feeling as debilitating fear, the kind of fear you couldn’t pretend didn’t exist or ignore or runaway from. This fear reared up and made itself known, promised more and never, ever let go.
Tinkling, forced laughter came from the hallway and as if on cue we all sat up straighter and put hands to our hair to make sure it was in place. Our mothers entered the room as one unit, smiling and beaming at each other. Their cold gazes assessed us at the table like they were robots sharing the same brain. When they finally decided everything was as it should be they joined as at the table, sitting together at one end so they could continue their business.
Dinner was served as soon as they sat down. A hired team of caterers brought out cold soup and small bread platters that went untouched. I never understood why so much food was ordered for these events, when these women barely ate any of it. Even I knew better than to snatch a dinner roll even though I had been eyeing one for the last twenty minutes.
During soup the conversation was mostly lulled to topics like the weather for traveling, winter break destinations and new purchases. The salad course was next and discussion deepened to subjects like education beliefs and local elections, which was mostly important for how the courts ruled over Honor and my mother. The third course, prime rib cut into tiny little strips and served over a creamy risotto intensified the dialog further and we began to discuss the politics of our circle.
“So, Ava,” Thalia began, “Nix is planning to stay in town for a while, is that right?”
Echo jumped in, “I heard that too. It has something to do with Ivy, doesn’t it?”
“Nix wants her,” my mother answered proudly. Her eyes lit up for the first time all night, and a real smile played at the corner of her lips. “He’s asked her to join him after graduation.”
All other conversation stopped at this point and we all turned to my mother. Anaxandra, who happened to be sitting next to me, put a hand on mine under the table to reassure me. This surprised me more than my mother’s forwardness. I thought Ana was completely converted to the dark side, but maybe not.
“And she agreed of course?” Thalia’s cool gaze