Page 36 of Devil in Disguise

“Hey,” she said, “nothing’s going to get any cheaper while I wait.”

Which was all she had time for, because her mom came back.

* * *

Her mom wantedto stay to decorate, but Dyma wouldn’t let her.

“I’m good,” she said. “Seriously. We’ve got it. Anyway, you need to head back. Almost three more hours of driving, and you’re already pretty tired.” She didn’t want her mom to have to stand around getting insulted, and shealsodidn’t want to have to fight both of her new roommates.

Well, shewantedto. She just didn’t think she should. Plus, nobody else’s mother was here, and was there anything that said, “I’m a new freshman who’s hardly ever even left home before,” like having your mom hang around too long at dorm dropoff?

She felt guilty for thinking it. She still thought it, though.

Jennifer hesitated, her hands sort of hovering in midair, then blinked a few times like she suddenly realized the “nobody else’s mother” part, took a deep breath, and said, “Right. Fine. I’ll just … I’ll take some of these boxes down on my way out.”

“Mom.” Dyma gave her a hug. Out of guilt, probably. “No. Leave them, and I’ll walk you to the car.”

“We can take them down,” Fletcher said. “We’re not doing much anyway. Just hanging out.”

“All right, then,” Jennifer said. “Thank you. Sydney, Cassandra—very nice to have met you. Have a wonderful start to your year.”

“Thank you!” Sydney said. Brightly, the way she’d said most things since Fletcher had shown up. “We will.”

“Have a safe drive,” Avery told Jennifer, which was, see? Nice. She wanted to ask Sydney, “How hard was that?” Except that she usually didn’t manage to think of those nice-things-to-say in the moment herself, so that would be pretty hypocritical.

“You do need to be careful driving,” she told her mom instead. “And not cry, because I’m so happy to be here, and I’m going to be fine. You don’t have to worry.”

“My dad said my mom cried all the way home, freshman year,” Fletcher said. “I think it’s a thing.”

“It’s definitely a thing.” Jennifer was touching a tissue to the corner of her eyes, but trying to laugh, too.

“Not my mom,” Avery said. “She was too busy texting me last-minute threats.”

“I know, right?” Cassandra said.

“All right,” Jennifer said. “I’m going. Don’t let me hug too long, Dyma. One and done.”

* * *

Owen was in bed,reading a book and trying not to fall asleep, when the phone finally rang.

He picked up fast. Easy to do, since the phone was pretty much under his hand. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Dyma said. “OK to do a video call? What are you doing?”

“Sure. Reading, that’s all.”

“Yeah? What?”

“Lonesome Dove.”

“I thought you’d read that already.”

“About five times. It’s my comfort read.” He switched the camera on, and there she was. Wearing an old jersey of his, which came to about her knees. He’d worn that jersey in the AFC championship game last year. “Where are you?” he asked, not needing his comfort read nearly as much.

“Stairwell. I never thought about finding a quiet place to talk, you know?”

He could hear doors slamming, in fact, and music playing, too, in the background. In the foreground, there was Dyma’s face. Her earrings out for the night, just her little eyebrow rings showing, and no makeup. Her pale-blonde hair sticking up like she’d been running her hands through it, and some strain on the pixie face that he wasn’t used to.