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“Heaven forbid you have to do that,” my mom says with an amused smirk. She thinks I’m being difficult to be funny. “You could put your tampons under the sink. Next to the toilet. Isn’t that a novel idea?”

“The cable hookup is on the wall that gets the most sunlight, so, like, we’ll have a glare on our TV unless we have the blinds closed all the time. And with the blinds closed, we’ll just have these shitty lights and then our super bright floor lamp. And Idon’t like having a balcony off my room. Someone could easily get in.”

“It would be harder for someone to break in here than it would be at Grandma’s,” my mom says slowly, her brows dropping low on her face, her mouth slipping into a frown. “I thought you liked it?”

“I guess I don’t after all.”

“Okay... We’ll look at the next place, then.” My mom wraps an arm around Corrine’s shoulders and they head for the door. “How’s everything going with you, baby? Still holding the record for the busiest teenager in the world? How did you make time to deem us unworthy peasants with your presence?”

“Well, I had to reschedule a meeting with the president....”

My mom dismisses the comment with a wave. “Just cancel. Nothing good comes from politicians.”

I linger behind, taking in the space. It’s really not that bad, but it’s not home. It would never be home.