"Are you sure you don't want to stay a little longer?" Briar asks after dinner. She shuts the front door behind us, wringing her hands. "We could read another chapter."

I give her a quick kiss. "I should get home. Get things over with."

She swallows. "I know. But I'm worried."

Honestly, I am, too. At some point, all that calm recklessness faded. I don't know when it started, but by the time I realized how much I actually cared about what Roman might do, it was too late to calm myself down. But I don't want Briar to worry more. She shouldn't even be worried. It's not her problem. But that doesn't stop my chest from stirring when I see how concerned she is about me.

"I'll tell you how it goes when I can," I promise her.

Briar nods. "Okay. I hope things turn out fine. Sometimes they do for Hien."

I smile. "Yeah. Sometimes." Hopefully, things will work out for me then. I give Briar another kiss, lingering a little longer this time. "I'll see you later."

She hesitates. "I hope so."

I offer her a smile before heading home. I skateboard until I'm sure Briar can't see me anymore. Then, I start walking. Gives me more time to mentally prepare myself for whatever's about to happen. Worst case scenario, Nanay and Tatay will never trust me again and I'll be under constant supervision. Best case scenario, Roman hasn't said anything because he's actually a decent human being like he proved himself to be today.

I pause outside the front door, taking a deep breath. If Roman hasn't said anything before, what are the chances he will now? That wouldn't make any sense. So there's probably nothing to worry about. I hope.

I exhale and open the front door. The moment I do, I hear Tatay call me into the kitchen. Here we go...

"Yes, Tatay?" I ask in my usual monotone.

My eyes flicker between Nanay and Tatay at the kitchen table. Roman's nowhere to be found. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. But at least that means fewer eyes on me. It makes it a little easier to keep my expression neutral.

"What were you up to today?" Nanay asks, breaking the silent treatment for the first time since I went to Woodworth. "I thought you didn't have anything to do."

Is this a test? Why isn't she mentioning anything Roman might have said? I adjust my grip on my skateboard. "I went to run errands with Roman for a while after I finished all my chores."

Tatay nods. "And why did Roman come home without you?"

"We ran into the owner of A Quiet Café," I explain. "He said he had one last check for me." They better not ask to see it. "So I went with him. But Marlowe was there, and she wanted to hang out. I didn't want to be rude and say no." Nanay and Tatay glance at each other. That's not good. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Nanay says, her voice light. "We're just curious because you were out for so long."

I wait for them to bring up Briar and whether she was there or not. They don't. Instead, Tatay says, "I'm guessing you and Marlowe hung out for a while then?"

I nod. "Yeah. They're renovating or something, and Marlowe was painting the walls. That takes a while."

Nanay and Tatay nod. They ask a few more questions about what I did. I try not to sound too dismissive about anything, and I especially try not to sigh when they let me head upstairs to my room.

When I reach the top of the stairs, I stare down the hall at Roman's room. The door is cracked open. I feel my heart pound, and the blood rushing throughout my body propels me to his door. I knock and wait until I hear him tell me to come in. I slip inside, leaning right next to the door jamb in case he's in a mood and wants me to leave.

Roman turns from his desk, looking at me expectantly. "What?"

I peer down the hall towards the stairs. When it looks and sounds like no one's coming up here, I turn back to Roman, lowering my voice anyway. "You didn't say anything."

He shrugs. "I told you I wouldn't."

"Yeah, but..." But what? I totally expected you to because you've been a fucking asshole to me my entire life and it's hard to believe you're anything else? That's true, but it'd be rude as hell. "Just... thanks. For not saying anything."

Roman shrugs again, sitting back in his chair. "It doesn't do anything for me if I say something about how you're hanging out with that girl. Just don't be stupid about it and prove that you don't know anything about anything."

The words hit me, but they don't cut into me like they usually do. Maybe it's because of how well today went with Roman. Maybe it's because I'm tired. Or maybe it's because there's a hint of a teasing tone in Roman's voice for once. But whatever it is, I actually laugh.

"I'll try not to," I say.

I study my brother. If he's not lashing out at me, that probably means Nanay and Tatay haven't lectured or yelled or given him the silent treatment. If that's what pushes him into his moods. I've never seen it happen, so I'm not sure. I know I need to confirm it, but it's not a conversation I'm ready for.

My phone chimes. I smile, digging it out of my pocket. Of course, Briar would—"

I push myself off the door jamb, my skateboard clattering to the ground. "What the fuck?"

Roman's eyes widen. "What?"

I cross the room in three steps, showing him the notification that just popped up on my phone. "Nanay and Tatay are tracking me now?"

Roman's eyebrows furrow. "What the fuck?" He looks from me to the phone and back. "Why would they—Idris, don't!"

I'm already stalking down the stairs. I hear Roman come after me, but I don't acknowledge him. I don't even hear him anymore when I reach the kitchen entryway. Nanay and Tatay are both on their phones. They glance up when I come in, giving me cool looks.

"You're tracking me now?" I ask, holding my phone up.

Tatay sets his phone down, sitting back in his chair. "Yes. You lied to us."

I sputter. "Lie—I—What?" I whirl around, giving Roman a wide-eyed look. He shrugs at me. I turn back to my parents. "What makes you think I lied to you?"

Nanay glares at me. "You don't think we thought it was weird that you're out of the house all the time? Or that you come home later than Roman when you have nothing important to do?"

"But I wasn't lying about today." I gesture to Roman. "Roman told you the exact same thing I did, didn't he?"

I turn to Roman, expecting him to back me up. Instead, he backs away. "Don't drag me into this."

Is he fucking serious right now? He keeps retreating to the door, so I guess he is. I grit my teeth and turn back to my parents. "How could I be lying if Roman and I said the same thing?"

"You probably coerced him," Tatay scoffs. "I wouldn't be surprised."

I count to ten, hoping Roman will either step in and promise he wasn't lying for me or for my parents to admit this is some fucked up joke. But by the time I reach ten, no one has said anything.

"Just because you think I was lying," I say, my voice thick with emotion, "that gives you the right to track me?"

"How else are we supposed to know if you're telling the truth?" Nanay asks, narrowing her eyes.

I feel the back of my eyes burn, and I can't stop my voice from breaking when I say, "Just trust me. And respect me enough to give me privacy."

"You lost those privileges," Tatay says, shaking his head.

"Privileges?" I scoff. "They're not privileges. They're rights."

Nanay stands, the chair scraping across the floor. I stop myself from taking a step back, gripping my phone so hard I'm surprised it doesn't break. I grip it even harder when she walks towards me. She leaves an inch of distance between us, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well," she sneers, "you can get your rights back when you prove you deserve them, Anak."

"Staying away from that girl didn't do anything," Tatay adds. Well, at least I know for sure that Roman didn't say anything about that. Tatay picks his phone back up, a scowl on his face. "You're still talking back." I think he means I've started to talk back. "You're lying about where you are and what you're doing. This is for the best. You'll thank us eventually."

"I really won't," I snap before I can stop myself. But at this point, I don't think I want to stop myself from yelling. It feels a little good to yell at my parents right now. "You guys don't even have definitive proof that I'm lying to you. You're just going off a limb."

"Better safe than sorry," Nanay says, eyeing me. "Just go to bed. And be truthful about where you're going tomorrow, Anak."

I grit my teeth. I'm about to say more, but both my parents glare at me. No matter how hard it is to cap the anger, I know I have to right now. It feels good to yell, but that'll screw me over even more right now. I wordlessly turn and walk upstairs to my room, brushing past Roman. I hear him say something to our parents, but it sounds muffled compared to my beating heart. I should know better than to slam my door, but since they already think I'm rebellious...

The door shuts with a bang, rattling some of the books on a nearby shelf. I collapse on my bed and lie on my side, staring out the window. A few moments later, I hear footsteps, but they go past my door.

Good. I don't want to talk to anyone in my family right now.

I keep staring out the window. The sky is that transition blue color right now, so it's not too dark. I glance at my phone and back at the window. They're tracking my phone, but they're not tracking me...

I shove a chair under my doorknob and turn on some music. Loud enough to make them think I'm trying to drown them out but not too loud to make them come knocking on the door. I quietly but quickly open my window, slipping into the night.