583495793235

A TALE OF TWO MADDYS
“YOUR MOTHER WANTS to know if I’ve noticed anything different about you lately,”
says Carla from across the living room.
I’m watching the first Mission: Impossible movie with Tom Cruise. He plays a
superspy, Ethan Hunt, who leads a double, sometimes triple, and sometimes quadruple
life. It’s toward the end and Ethan has just unmasked himself, literally, to catch the bad
guys.
Carla repeats herself, louder this time.
“And have you?” I ask as Ethan is pulling off his incredibly realistic mask to reveal his
true face. I tilt my head to one side for a better perspective.
Carla grabs the remote from my hand and hits pause. She tosses the remote into the
corner of the couch.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, feeling guilty for ignoring her.
“It’s you. And that boy.”
“What do you mean?”
She sighs and sits. “I knew it was a mistake letting you two see each other.”
She has my full attention now. “What did my mom say?”
“Did you cancel a movie night with her?”
I knew I shouldn’t have done it. She looked so hurt and disappointed, but I didn’t want
to wait until after nine to IM with Olly. I can’t get enough of talking to him. I’m
overflowing with words. I’ll never come to the end of all the things I want to say to him.
“And she says you’re distracted all the time. And you ordered a lot of clothes. And
shoes. And she almost beat you at some game that you always win.”
Oh.
“Does she suspect?”
“That’s all you’re worrying about? Listen to what I’m telling you. Your mother is
missing you. She’s lonely without you. You should’ve seen her face when she was asking
me.”
“I just—”
“No,” she says, holding a hand up. “You can’t see him anymore.” She picks up the
discarded remote and clutches it in her hands, looking anywhere but at me.
Panic sends my heart racing. “Carla, please. Please don’t take him away from me.”
“He’s not yours!”
“I know—”
“No, you don’t know. He’s not yours. Maybe he has time for you right now, but he’s