The panic fled as my lips curved. “It was one party.”
“Yourfirst.” Her hands wrapped around her matching mug. “Were there any other firsts tonight?”
Heat hit my cheeks fast and hard as my gaze dropped to my hot cocoa.
Mom’s hand covered mine. “You know you can always talk to me. I’ve been there. First parties, first crushes, first kisses…”
I bit my bottom lip, and then it all came out in a rush. “Felix kissed me. I like him. Likereallylike him. He’s nice and cute, and every time I’m close to him, I feel like I’m on one of those Tilt-A-Whirl things. But he didn’t say anything when we left. What if he doesn’t like me back? What if I’m a bad kisser? What if?—?”
My mom’s light laugh cut into my panic-induced spiral. “Rho,” she said softly.
My gaze lifted to hers.
Those hazel eyes, the same ones she’d given me, stared back at me. “He’d be afoolnot to like you.”
My shoulders slumped. “You’re my mom. You’re biased.”
“You’re right. I am. But I’ve seen him looking at you when I pick you up from school. He likes you back.”
Hope flared to life somewhere deep. “Really?”
She grinned. “Really. Although I’m not sure how I feel about that. Thirteen is young for a boyfriend.”
“So many girls in my class have them,” I protested.
My mom sighed, squeezing my hand. “If he asks you, group dates only. No one-on-ones.”
“Mooooom, come on.”
She gave me a look that said arguing was futile.
I sighed. “Fine. He’s gotta ask me first anyway.”
Mom released my hand. “He will. Just give him time.”
I’d have given anything for just a little bit of her confidence. But I was still a jumble of nerves and countless other emotions I couldn’t identify. So, I drank my hot chocolate as Mom asked me about the party. Thankfully, she stayed away from the Felix subject.
“What about Fallon? Anyone she has her eye on?” Mom asked.
I shook my head. As fun and free as Fallon could be with me, she shut down completely when we were in a group. She pulled everything that was so wonderful and special about her away and put it behind the shell she’d constructed to keep everyone out. “Not really.”
My mom tapped her fingers against the island. “Just make sure you include her in those group dates, even if she doesn’t have anyone she wants to go with.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Like I go anywhere without Fallon.”
Mom laughed as she took our mugs and put them in the sink. “How could I forget?”
As I slid off the stool, she wrapped me in another hug. “Love you to infinity.”
“Love you to infinity times infinity.”
Mom smiled against my dark brown hair. “Infinity squared.”
I squeezed her harder. “Infinity to infinity power.”
She released me with a chuckle. “I guess you have me beat. This time.”
I grinned as we headed up the stairs, my mom flipping off lights as we went.
