Free Flaw (The Flaw Series) by Ryan Ringbloom

car.”
    “No way! I’m not waiting in the car. I’m going in and meeting your parents. I have to.”
    “No you don’t have to. I’ll only be there two seconds. My dad won’t even be home, just my mom.”
    “Nooooo.” She looks up, smacks her lips together, and laughs. “Um, no, I’m pretty sure I have to meet your mom.”
    “Fine. You asked for it.” The overwhelming need to smile takes over. My mom is going to meet Becca.
    We pull into the driveway and her eyes go wide looking up at our house. I know it’s big and the fountain in front is a little over the top. That’s Dad’s doing. Flashy. That fountain caused a major fight in our house a few years ago. Dad may have won but me and Mom spent two weeks in Hawaii after that…without him.
    We start walking up the paved driveway. “Where’s your laundry? Isn’t that why you’re here, to drop it off?” Becca asks.
    I keep walking and point back to my car. “It’s in the trunk. My mom will come out and get it.”
    Becca just stares at me. The look she’s giving me is one I know well. I turn back and pop the trunk, reaching in for the two oversized bags of clothes, lugging them up the walkway to my house. The door opens before we reach it and my mom runs out, reaching her hands out for the bags. “Here, sweetie, give those to me.”
    “He’s got it,” Becca says for me. My mom pulls her hands back and stares in disbelief at the first girl I’ve ever brought home.
    “Mom, this is Becca. She lives across the hall from me. Becca, this is my mom, Helen.” I introduce the two of them.
    My mom is speechless for a moment. Her eyes devour every last detail of Becca, from the pink braids all the way down to the black flip flops she’s wearing in the cold weather. She gives a quick glance in my direction before her voice finally returns. “I am so pleased to meet you. Come in, come in. How long are you here for? I’m just about to make some lunch. Please tell me you’ll stay.”
    “We’d love to stay and have lunch.” Becca puts a friendly hand on my mom’s arm and follows her into the house. She turns around and when she gives me a wink, it does something funny to the inside of my chest. Did I bring her here on purpose? I could have dropped my laundry off anytime.
    My mom heats up the oven to bake a lasagna she had defrosting on the counter. I know that means it will be at least an hour before we’re ready to eat. Becca seems unbothered when I inform her of this. She gabs with my mother, looks at all the pictures my mom insists on showing her, and doesn’t say anything when my mom refills her glass of soda three times.
    I sit across the table spending most of my time staring at Becca, listening to the funny conversation taking place between the two women. Becca tells my mom about her big family and my mom shares a few stories about growing up in a big family herself. Some of the things I never even knew.
    “I’m surprised you only have Josh,” Becca says to my mom not knowing that having one child was never part of her plan.
    “We had hoped for more children but it just wasn’t in the cards for us.” My mom answers her casually, not mentioning the years of fertility treatments I know they went through. I had been the first of what my parents had hoped would be many children. “And I swore I would never spoil him but you know Josh.” She reaches over and pinches my chin.
    Becca tilts her head, encouraging my mom to finish her thought.
    “My boy’s a charmer. Josh could always sweet talk me into just about anything. Oh gosh, he always knew just the right thing to say to get what he wanted.” My mom tosses her head back and laughs. “He still does.”
    Becca shoots a strange look in my direction and the smile briefly leaves her face. I’m not sure why. It was just silly talk about how cute I am. Is it possible my mom is starting to say too much?
    “We got to head out soon. Becca, you ready to go?”
    Not surprisingly after all the soda,