"Wh-what does that mean?" I looked at her, and I realized she was not joking. When her tone is calm and joking, that means it's over. She's just giving me a second chance to confess.
There was an arbitary moment of silence where I stared at her in utter disbelief and total horror.
"What? You thought I wouldn't know? Honey, we have shared accounts for everything; you do remember that, don't you?" She inhaled what sounded like a sigh of disappointment or exasperation.
My cheeks reddened, and I felt my body temperature rise. Not only did she know about the embarrassing pictures and videos on my computer, she also knew about my side hustle and my clientele.
We sat down that day and talked a lot. "I would never want you to feel like you're controlled in this house, Trish. It's your house as much as it is mine," she laughed, patting my head. Of course, she was drunk, so she wouldn't have remembered it, like she didn't for most of my teenage life.
"Calm down!" She kept a finger on her mouth. She was still spying on god-knows-what it was. The house was super rusty and dusty everywhere. My clean-freak mom would've already started to tear down the whole house and reorganize it like Lego.
"I thought you... I thought you respected my privacy." I flared. I wasn't paying attention to what was happening outside anymore; I had more questions than answers.
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I still remember when she was pregnant with Kiara. She took off all the cupboards, rebuilt them, repainted them in some floral designs, and nailed them back on, all in the span of a day. She was feral, and I loved that spirit in her.
"Look at her go," my dad had said, his eyes gleaming as he saw my eight-year-old pregnant mother lift the whole f-cking cup on her own and slam it on the garage table.
"Where does she get that energy from?" I flapped through the new mom's book, trying to figure out what it said about superhuman power when it's triggered.
"Did she drink coffee?" Avery came running from the kitchen. She had similar hair and eyes to Dad, rather than Mom. I was mom the whole way. Her messy auburn hair had been forced into a ponytail.
"God, you look horrible." I snorted, pointing at her.
"Better than you would ever look," she snickered.
I rolled my eyes, shutting the book with a dramatic thud. "Please, I was born better looking than you on your best day."
Avery crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe with a smirk. "Is that why you're still the teacher's pet in every class? Scare everyone off with your nerdiness."
I grabbed Mr. Horsey and threw it at her, but she dodged it with a laugh. "At least I don't have to beg Mom to help me with my homework every night."
She stuck her tongue out at me, her eyes narrowing mischievously. "You're just jealous because I'm actually fun to be around."
"Yeah, right. Only because you bribe everyone with candy from your secret stash," I shot back, grinning.
Avery pretended to be offended, gasping dramatically. "How dare you insult the queen of sweets? You know that's the only reason you hang out with me."
I groaned, sinking back into the couch. "Fine, I take it back. You're the candy queen. But only because Mom's hiding the good snacks from me."
She giggled, walking over to flop down beside me. "Speaking of candy, you still owe me for letting you use my Pokémon cards last week. How about you let me pick the game we play tonight?"
I raised an eyebrow, looking at her suspiciously. "Why do I get the feeling you have something sneaky planned?"
She shrugged innocently, but the gleam in her eyes gave her away. "Oh, nothing. Just a little surprise for you later. Think of it as payback."
I groaned again, burying my face in a cushion. "Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?"
Avery patted my head like I was a little puppy, her grin growing wider. "Nuh-uh, don't touch me!" I snatched her stupid hands from me.
"Catch me if you can lose!"
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"Trish! The man! He's coming towards us!" mom screamed, pointing and cursing at the window.