We Are All Made of Molecules (19 page)

A FEW DAYS LATER
, Dad took me to Michael's warehouse space, and I spent hours looking through the racks of amazing clothes. I bought bags and bags full of stuff with the Christmas money Nana had sent me, for next to nothing.

Dad and Michael helped me carry all my loot up to my room. Michael and I agreed that a few items could use some added flair. “I can lend you my BeDazzler,” he said.

“I've always wanted a BeDazzler!” If I am one hundred percent totally honest, I kind of love Michael, and I hope my dad can hold on to him.

The three of us headed downstairs just as the bell rang. I answered the door.

It was Jared.

“Oh. Hi! You're home early.”

“Just got in this morning. Dad got called back for some big meeting.” Then he saw my dad and Michael. “Hey, Mr. Anderson.” He shook hands with my dad, then looked at Michael.

I didn't know what to say. When it became clear I wasn't going to introduce them, Michael stuck out his hand. “I'm Michael.”

“Jared.” They shook.

“Michael's a friend of the family,” I said.

Dad and Michael shared a look. And yes, I saw the disappointment.
It's complicated
, I wanted to say.

“We'll be on our way,” Dad said.

I followed them to the patio doors in the kitchen, feeling a twinge of guilt. “Thanks again for bringing me to your warehouse,” I said. “I really, really appreciate it.”

“You're welcome,” Michael replied. His tone was a bit frosty. They stepped outside and headed to the laneway house.

Jared had followed me into the kitchen. He helped himself to a banana from the bowl on the counter.

“I'm glad you're back,” I said.

“Me too.” He kissed me, and he smelled like banana, which wasn't entirely pleasant. “We still on for New Year's Eve?”

“For sure.”

“We can't hang out at my house 'cause my parents will be there. They're having a party.”

“You could come here. My mom and Leonard are going to be away.”

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

I nodded. “We could invite Lauren and a couple other people over, too.” I still wasn't sure I wanted to be alone with him.

“You could have a New Year's party.”

I shook my head. “A few people, maybe, but that's it. My dad's going to be checking in on us, and he lives right there.” I pointed at the laneway house.

Then I froze.

I could see my dad and Michael in his little living room. Michael was hugging my dad and stroking his hair.

My eyes darted to Jared. But he was turned away, throwing out his banana peel. I grabbed his arm and practically dragged him out of the room. “Let me show you all the stuff I got for Christmas.”

I'm almost one hundred percent totally definitely pretty much positive he didn't see a thing.

MY NEW YEAR'S PLANS
were solid. I'd invited Alistair over for five o'clock, and we were going to have an epic Risk tournament, fueled by root beer, Twizzlers, and pretzels. Then, at around eight, Phoebe and Violet were going to come over. I told them we could just hang out and watch a movie, but instead I had a surprise: we were going to have a marathon TV-watching session of the first season of the original
Doctor Who
, which Alistair had gotten for Christmas. I couldn't wait to see Phoebe's face when I told her. I also couldn't wait to see her face when I gave her the unicorn pin.

Phil left early in the morning to go skiing in Whistler for the day with Michael, a two-hour drive north of the city. He promised to be home by eight at the latest, when most of our friends would be arriving. Dad and Caroline made
us a big breakfast before they left at eleven to catch their ferry. “What's up for tonight?” Dad asked as we wolfed down scrambled eggs, sausages, and toast.

I told him my plans. Ashley said, “You can't hog the family room with your nerd-fest. I'm having a few people over, too.”

“How many people?” my dad asked.

“Just three. Jared, Paulo, and Lauren.” I wasn't thrilled to hear Jared's name, or Paulo's, for that matter.

“Can't you all hang out together?” asked Caroline.

“Mom, please. Reality check!”

So we agreed that Alistair and I would have our “nerd-fest,” aka the
Doctor Who
marathon, in Dad and Caroline's room, since they also have a TV/DVD player, and Ashley and her friends would have dibs on the family room.

Once they were gone, I did a bit of work on my electric bike. At five, Alistair arrived, and we got the Risk game set up in the kitchen. We'd been playing for over two hours when the phone rang. It was Phil.

“Stewart, hi.”

“Hey, Phil. How was skiing?”

“It was great. But the traffic's a nightmare. We're still north of Squamish. The radio's saying there's a bad accident up ahead. We're at a standstill.”

“Maybe you should pull off and go to a restaurant till it clears.”

“We may do that. How are things there?”

“Everything's fine,” I said, just as Ashley wandered into the kitchen for a glass of water. “Your dad's stuck in traffic,” I told her. “He's going to be a lot later than he thought.”

She shrugged. “Okay. Say hi.” Then she left the room.

“Listen, Stewart,” Phil said. “I love my daughter, but she doesn't always show the best judgment. I'm counting on you to be the reasonable one until I get there.”

“I will.”

“Thanks. I'm really sorry about this.”

“Phil, it's fine. We're just having a few people over. What can go wrong?”

Famous last words.

I TEXTED JARED AFTER
Dad called.
Dad stuck on Sea to Sky highway. Won't be home for hours!
A few minutes later, Lauren arrived. I took her upstairs and showed her all the stuff I'd bought at Michael's warehouse.

“Omigod, you're so lucky!” she squealed. “Who is this guy again?”

“A friend of my dad's. He's a costume designer.” Then I let her pick out a couple of things to keep.

At eight, the doorbell rang. Jared stood on the doorstep with Paulo—and about five other guys. “I hope you don't mind. They're friends of mine from my old school. They had nowhere else to go.”

“Jared,” I started, “I can't—”

“You said in your text your dad won't be home for ages, right?”

“But he could walk in any second—”

“He won't. I listened to the radio. They're saying it's going to take hours to clear the highway. These guys will be gone before he gets back.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

What could I do? I let them in. They were carrying bottles of vodka and rum and stuff, probably stolen from their parents' liquor cabinets. “You should invite a few more of your girlfriends,” Jared continued. “You know, even things out.”

So I called Claudia and Lindsay, and Lauren texted Amira and Yoko. By nine p.m., there were twelve kids in our house, not including Spewart, Albacore, Feeble, and Violent, who'd taken their nerd-fest upstairs.

Jared was very sweet to me, which I really enjoyed, because everyone else could see it, too. He kept putting his arm around me and kissing my hair and making me drinks. The first one was pretty strong, but the next two went down nice and easy. I knew I should eat something, but his friends had polished off the pizzas we'd ordered before I could get my hands on a slice.

At one point, Stewart came downstairs to get more pretzels. He looked worried when he saw how many kids were there. “Where did all these people come from? We're only supposed to have eight.”

I looked around. There were more kids in our house than there had been half an hour ago. I counted at least thirty. But
I was feeling great, so I just said, “It's no biggie. I just had another text from Dad. The traffic still isn't moving.”

“But we gave him our word—”

“We'll just make sure they leave before he gets here. He'll never know.” I lost my balance. I had to grab Stewart's shoulder. “Hey, you're getting taller.” It was true; I no longer had to look down at him to meet his gaze.

“You've been drinking,” he said. “I can smell it on your breath.”

“So what if I have?”

“I think we should ask people to leave—”

“Stewart,” I snapped. “Get lost.”

He got the hint and left. Jared appeared beside me and handed me a glass. “Drink up, beautiful,” he said, and I did. It was my fourth drink, or maybe it was my fifth; I don't remember.

I don't remember much of anything after that.