Oh boy. The perfect plan. This is going to be harder than I thought. He is not going to take kindly to Miss Chloe. No way, no sir.

"What do you mean this is never going to work?"

"I mean..." I say, as gently as humanly possible. Gotta keep it neutral. Business-like. That'll soften the blow. I hope.

"There are some contributing factors to the plan's demise that are outside of our control."

"Kiersten," he says, rather annoyed by my, admittedly, oddly robotic choice of words. "What in the Sam Hill are you talking about?"

"I don't want you to get too upset..."

"Just spit it out, will ya?"

I stop for a second. I think about how I want to say it. Obviously my strictly business approach didn't work. You know what, maybe it's better if I just say it. Just gotta rip that ole band aid right off.

"There's another woman."

"What?" Matt says in complete disbelief. "My dad? Another woman? You've gotta be kidding me."

"I know it seems a little crazy..."

"A little crazy? My dad hasn't so much as breathed the same air as another woman in 15 years!"

"I know, Matty, but..."

As suspected, Matt wants none of it. I barely get to finish my thought before he cuts me off.

"My parents are still together, Kiers, so what are you tryin' say here? My dad is having an affair?"

"No, of course not," I stumble over my words.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. I'm in quite the pickle here. What can I do here? Share his outrage and disbelief? Or, be real with him? Sure, do I want Mr. Purdy and Emily to get back together? Of course, I do. I want Matty to get the family he deserves more than anything. And I want to support this plan of his to get it, especially if it's the only way he'll come back home. But...

Drew is right. Technically Mr. Purdy and Emily are still married. But are they really? And I know what I saw. I felt the sparks. I mean, honestly, Mr. Purdy was blushing for crying out loud.

I know what I have to do. I can't let him keep believing this lie, this fantasy he's selling himself.

"It's just..." I say, treading lightly. "I know your parents are still married but..."

"But, what, Kiers?" He says, quite sharply.

It catches me off-guard for a second, and I think about turning back and just letting it go. But I can't let him go on like this.

"Matty," I say with only the most gentle tone. "Your parents haven't seen or talked to each other in 4 years. Don't you think...?"

"No, Kiersten, I don't think. My dad loves my mom. And if you would have listened to me, you would have known that my mom misses my dad. She said it to me! She said those exact words."

"Matty..."

"And you know what else, there's no technically when it comes to marriage. You're either married or you're not. That means they're still husband and wife. They're together. And in 2 weeks, I'm coming home for Drew's birthday party. And my mom's coming with me and goddammit, this time she's gonna stay."

I open my mouth to protest, but he hangs up before I can say another word. Now I really don't know what to do. I tried to tell him, I really did, but he doesn't want to hear it. He really believes his parents are going to get back together. No, not even that. It's worse than that. He doesn't even believe they're apart.

Unless, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Mr. Purdy wasn't hiding his ring. Maybe it really was a coincidence. It's not all that crazy is it? And, I mean, it was really hot that day and Mr. Purdy is, like, kind-of sort of a red head. Maybe he wasn't blushing. Maybe the heat just got to him.

Matt is right, too. I didn't hear him out. I didn't listen to his plan before I decided it wouldn't work and I don't know, maybe he knows something I don't. After all, he's the one that's been living with his mom, not me. Maybe she really has changed.

And there is no technically married. He's right about that, too. So, I guess...I mean, they are together then, aren't they? The answer, technically - God, I'm sick of that word - is yes. They are married.

So, there is hope?

If only I believe it as much as he does.

💚

The next day, the gang and I get together at Chellie's after school to debrief. I was hoping after a good night's rest and some more time to think that I'd muster up some optimism about Matt's plan. No such luck. I'm just as skeptical as the day before. It's not helping any that the peanut gallery doesn't believe it much either.

"So, this master plan of his is to bring his mom home for Drew's birthday and what? She's going to see Mr. Purdy and magically fall madly in love with him again?" Whitney says.

"I guess so. I didn't get a chance to talk to him about it too much."

"Oh, brother."

"I know, it's crazy, but I don't know, maybe..."

"Girl. Be real."

"I know," I say again, because believe me, I do know, but I have to believe in Matty even if I don't believe in her.

"And what about Miss Chloe?" Bridgette pipes in, albeit much more delicately than Whitney.

"We don't know that Mr. Purdy likes her. It's pure speculation at this point," I say.

I don't believe it. No one at this table does. But I want to believe it, which is almost the same thing.

Everyone, even Teddy and Sal, avoid eye contact with me. I know what that means, yeah bullshit, Kiersten.

"We just need to do more research," I state it confidently, but no part of me is confident about any of what I'm saying.

"I don't know,' Sal says. "Y'all spent three hours stalking her online. I'd say you've done enough research. Some would say too much."

"Okay, yes, I will admit that the internet stalking was excessive, BUT! We don't really know her, know her. Like who is she as a person?"

"You're gettin' into some real slippery territory here, girlie," Teddy warns, but really, what does he know? Whitney and Bridgette have always been the level-headed ones out of the bunch anyway.

Yes, I realize how ridiculous that sentence was, but gosh, I'm sticking to it.

"I know! We can get jobs!" Bridgette exclaims.

"Jooobbbsss," Whit says, real slow and drawn out like she's never heard the word before in her life.

"Yeah, at the country club! We can keep a real close eye on this Miss Chloe and make sure she's not up to any funny business."

"It doesn't sound like it's Miss Chloe you need to worry about," Sal interjects, heavily implying it's really Mr. Purdy who's being sneaky. Which to be fair, after the whole Ring Hiding incident, isn't totally off base.

"Him, too, obviously," Bridgette says, rolling her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm still stuck on this whole us-getting-jobs thing."

"Think about it, Whit, a job at a country club? Where all the rich boys hang out."

"Okay, I'm in."

No hesitation. Absolutely none.

"Awesome!" Bridgette says in her cheery-cheer captain voice and sticks her hand out. "Hands in team!"

Whitney slaps her hand over Bridgette and I quickly join in. Sal, always up for a good time no matter how crazy he thinks it is, throws his hand in with a big smile. Teddy, of course, is reluctant, but with a cutesy nudge and a batted eye from Bridgette, he puts his hand in too.

"Okay, ready, let's go!" Bridgette and Whitney both cheer in perfect unison.

All our hands go up in the air, and while yes, it is cheesy, I will admit having cheerleaders as your best friends does have its perks. I'm feeling better already.

Watch out, Miss Chloe, you're going down.