No More Confessions by Louise Rozett

Author:Louise Rozett [Rozett, Louise]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Contemporary, Young Adult
Publisher: Stonesong
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“Paradise,” Ghost Stories, Coldplay

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Chapter 10

“Dad, do we have a fire extinguisher?!”

Dirk leaps up from the couch, dropping his cocktail napkin, sending two pigs-in-a-blanket down the front of his crisp white shirt. They bounce off his pressed jeans and land on the floor. He dashes into the kitchen—where Holly is allegedly taking a roast out of the oven—looking like an overly tanned Clark Kent.

“I feel like I’m watching a sitcom,” Peter whispers.

“You are,” I grumble.

My mother is too concerned about whatever’s going on in there to shoot us a look telling us to cool it.

I’m still not the biggest fan of my mother’s movie-star boyfriend. Everything is a huge production with him, unlike with my dad, who could have handled this particular situation without jumping out of his chair and spilling his food even if flames were actually shooting out of the kitchen.

Dirk came back to town for a few weeks after the holidays, and Holly temporarily moved into a condo with him in New Haven. It’s a furnished corporate condo so there isn’t a piece of furniture in the entire place that Dirk or Holly would have actually chosen for themselves, which makes the whole thing feel like a set, which is appropriate. I figured Dirk would just stay with us, but things have been weird since Mom came back from her trip to LA, and I wonder if she’s thinking about breaking up with him.

A girl can dream, right?

The thing is, my mother is the last person who should date a movie star. She doesn’t like being the center of attention—I still don’t think she’s recovered from the premier she went to with Dirk in the fall where he expected her to walk the red carpet with him and she vigorously declined in front of the cameras, which got her more attention than if she’d just gone ahead and walked on the damn thing.

Also, I wonder just how helpful Dirk has been during this whole video fiasco. I honestly have no idea—my mother doesn’t really talk to me about him. Maybe he’s being great about it, or maybe he’s being a clueless idiot about it—Dirk can be full of surprises in either direction.

There is definitely tension in the air, and Mom is trying to pass it off as concern about the snow that’s coming, and the fact that Steph, Holly and I are supposed to take the train into the city tomorrow and spend the night with Tracy at her aunt’s. My mother doesn’t like anyone traveling in the snow, but it’s going to take more than snow to keep me from getting on that train—if the train is going, I’m going.

I’d say we have an hour before my mother starts talking about heading home to avoid the bad roads. And if things are truly weird with Dirk, more like 30 minutes.

She hovers about an inch out of her chair as the commotion in the kitchen increases—she’s probably trying to decide if she should help or leave them with their dignity.

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