Page 123 of Intermission

“I’ve always helped with makeup for the shows at school. And I’ve gotten to watch Lissa a lot—she’s the esthetician Grandma hired last year. I think I’d be good at it.”

Mom inhales sharply. “I should have known.” She crosses her arms. “This wasMadeleine’s idea, wasn’t it?”

“No. This was my idea. All of it.” I was worried this would happen. “Ididtalk with Grandma about it. Since she owns a salon, it seemed like a good idea.” I look back down at my plate and the omelet that’s turned to mush from all the fiddling I’ve done during this conversation. “She did loan me the money for the deposit to La Bella, but I’m going to pay her back as soon as possible.”

Mom shoots a seething glance at Dad. As if he has any more control over Grandma Maddie’s decisions than over his wife’s? Please.

“It wasmyidea,” I reiterate. “I know it seems a little sudden, because it’s the first you’ve heard about it. But it’s not sudden. I’vebeen planning this for months. I was just waiting to tell you until I was eighteen so you couldn’t tell me no.”

Mom sniffs. She won’t make eye contact with me.

“I’m not going into this blindly. I know it’ll be rough this fall, adding night classes at La Bella to all I’ve got going on already, but it’s only for a couple of months, and then I’ll switch to days in January.”

Mom presses her lips together, and a fast breath exits her nose “Aren’t you going out for the musical this fall?”

“Yes. Most of my practices are right after school. My classes at La Bella don’t start until six. Mr. Barron said he would work around my schedule.”

“Well, isn’thehelpful.”

I ignore Mom’s sarcasm. “I’ll finish up at La Bella in early May. That gives me plenty of time to find a job and a place to live wherever I end up going to school.”

“Why are youreallydoing this, Faith?” Dad asks. “Graduating early, I mean. Racing into adulthood before you’ve finished the time allotted for being a kid?”

An ache presses around my throat. “I left ‘kid’ behind a while ago. Last year was really hard.”

“But you did fine! You were at the top of your class!”

“I know, Mom. It wasn’t school that was difficult. Well, not exactly. There were a lot of rumors, and—”

“It’s a small town. You were the flavor of the month for a while, but it’s over. You need to move past all that.”

Heaven forbid she should take an ounce of responsibility.

“I know the last year or so has been... ah, difficult for you,” Dad adds. “Socially speaking. But you’ve kept your grades up under a heavier course load than either Ryan or Gretchen could have handled. I suppose there’s no reason why you shouldn’t graduate early if that’s what you really want.”

“Itiswhat I want. The sooner I can get out of KHS, the better.” I set my fork down. I really need to stop messing with this omelet. It’s gross. “There’s nothing for me here. After Noah left, I—”

Noah.

The shock of saying—hearing—his name aloud after so long isintense.

I pull in my breath, wishing I could remove that last phrase from the air before it registers in my mom’s ears with as much resonance as it did mine, but it’s too late.

I cannot believe I said his name. Out loud. Tothem.

Why,whydid I have to go and bring Noah into this?

“Oh, for the love of... This is abouthim? Unbelievable.” Mom huffs. “Now we get to the truth, Joseph. This isn’t about wanting to go to beauty school or wanting to put herself through college. This is about that Noah Spencer again.”

She says his name like it’s a disease. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle upward.

“There is still a restraining order in place. Have you been in touch with him? If you have, I—”

“I haven’t spoken to Noah Spencer in over a year.” But now that I’m eighteen, I can—and will—have that restraining order rescinded.

“I bet you got online with him as soon as you got your computer privileges back.”

“No, I didn’t.” I blink at her accusing stare. “You don’t believe me?”