41. A Serious Question

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Who's Persie?

With my heart thudding away, I continue to stare at Cruz in the dark. I need to answer him, but I'm struggling to find my voice. "Persie is—"

Cruz's gaze never leaves my face as he waits for me to continue.

"Short. For Persephone," I finish lamely.

He tosses me a funny look. "Okay? And?"

"Persie's named after a Greek goddess. Like me. Our mom was, uh, a fan of mythology."

Cruz blinks as he starts piecing together my words. "What do you mean... 'our mom?' Is Persie your..."

Taking in a deep breath, I finally force the truth out in low, halting tones, "Yeah, she's... my little sister."

Shock crosses his face. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah."

Cruz eyes me with disbelief. "Why haven't you mentioned her to me, like, ever?"

"I-I meant to tell you about her sooner," I explain in a rush, feeling anxious and flustered, "but it never felt like the right time."

When Cruz stays quiet, I probe nervously, "Are you upset that I didn't bring her up?"

"I mean," he mutters with a shrug, "I wish you would've told me earlier, but I'm glad you told me now. I guess."

"I'm sorry," I offer softly. "My relationship is kinda complicated with Persie, and everything between you and me happened so fast that—"

"It's okay," Cruz assures me, "you don't have to tell me your life story all at once. I get it. Family can be complicated as fuck, and it's not easy to dive into that shit. Especially in a new relationship."

"Thank you for understanding," I mumble with my whole heart.

To my relief, Cruz doesn't seem too upset with me for keeping Persie a secret from him. A frown is weighing down the corners of his mouth, though. It's followed by a deep crease on his brow. But he looks more confused than mad. More concerned than anything. I can tell he has questions.

So many questions.

As though on cue, Cruz asks, "If Persie is your little sister, then why isn't she living with us?"

I grimace. "Technically, she's my... half-sister. We have different dads. My dad and Aunt Katrina didn't want to take her in because she's not theirs."

"Damn," he curses softly, "that's messed up."

"I know, right?"

Cruz reaches for my hand, gives it a squeeze. "I'm sorry you guys had to be separated."

"It really sucks," I agree with a grim expression, squeezing his hand back. "I hate being so far away from her. I worry all the time. She's only eleven."

A pensive lull sits between us.

Quietly, he puts his boxers back on. Slowly, I slip back into my sleep shirt. Our sexy fun time is clearly over.

I need to call Persie back.

I also need to tell Cruz about my plans to adopt Persie.

I don't know which problem I should tackle first. Both conversations are probably going to take some effort on my part to sort out.

Cruz clears his throat and breaks the silence first. "So, who is Persie living with now? Her dad?"

"No," I mutter, "he's out of the picture. For good. Right now, she's in New Jersey with her foster family."

This would be the perfect time to add: Also, I'm planning to move to New Jersey once I turn eighteen to adopt my sister.

But I'm too much of coward to say it aloud.

Because those words will pop our happy, little bubble, and then Cruz will probably start stressing over our inevitable break up after graduation. Just like I've been stressing about it over the past few days. There's no point in making him miserable, too.

Right then, I decide to call Persie first and talk to Cruz about this shit. Afterward.

"Hey, Cruz?"

"What's up?"

I mumble, "Do you mind if I call my sister back? Right now? I wanna make sure that she's okay. But I promise to answer more of your questions later."

"Yeah, yeah, of course," he responds. "Do whatever you gotta do."

"Thank you," I supply gratefully.

Cruz gives my doorway a quick glance. "Should I give you guys some...  privacy?"

I don't know what Persie wants to tell me yet.

Hopefully, it's nothing too serious or too personal?

Hesitantly, I say, "Yeah, maybe that would be better."

Promptly, he rolls out of bed to step into his joggers. I'm reluctant to watch him go. As Cruz nears the door, he turns to face me again, pausing before asking, "Have you told your sister about... us?"

"Not yet," I admit.

Cruz's handsome features tighten with a pained wince, as though I wounded him, but he makes such a quick recovery that I don't even have a chance to address it. "I guess... I'll head out. I'll just stay in my room for the rest of the night. Okay?"

He's not coming back?

My expression crumples a little.

I want him to come back. I want to finish what we started before Persie's phone call. I want to talk to him, still, about everything. I feel horrible about the way we're leaving things at the moment.

Before I can stop him, Cruz grunts, "Good night, Athena."

He's gone before I figure out how to fix this situation. To the dark, empty night, I whisper after him, "Good night, Cruz."

God, I feel like such a shitty girlfriend. I plan to fix this, though. Soon. Tomorrow. I'll find a way to make things right with Cruz after I take care of whatever Persie needs from me.

A minute later, I call her up on my phone.

My sister picks up after a few rings. "Athena?"

She sounds anxious on the line. 

Her anxiety makes me anxious as well. "Hey! Is everything okay?"

"Sorry for calling so late. I-I didn't mean to bother you tonight. I wanted to wait and tell you about everything in the morning," Persie rambles on, "but I couldn't sleep. I've been kinda stressed about it."

Alarm prickles across my skin. My sister definitely doesn't sound okay. "Tell me what's on your mind, Persie-girl."

"You know... my foster parents?"

I nod even though she cant see me over the phone. "Rick and Willow Hoffman, right?"

"Mm-hmm," Persie hums. "Well, they sat down with me today and asked me a really serious question."

My pulse picks up speed. "What?"

Her reply comes out in a stunted, stammering manner, "They asked if it would be okay for them to adopt me."


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