CHAPTER NINE
THE SHIFT
I want to ask. A part of me is dying to; desperate to unravel the meaning behind Mateo’s reaction, the tension in Brian’s voice, the name Theo hanging like a shadow between their words. But I don’t. I don’t want to ruin the moment. Not now. So I stay quiet, even as we cut the cake and Mateo sings me the happy birthday song rather horribly. I eat a small piece, pretending I’m just caught up in the sugar rush, when really I’m trying to process a thousand questions, I’m too scared to voice.
When Jack excuses himself to use the bathroom, Mateo picks up the rest of the cake and heads back out to the party with a casual, “Be right back,” leaving me standing awkwardly with Brian.
I’ve never spoken to him before and understandably so. We don’t move in the same worlds. So
