Read Online Opheliac by J. F. Jenkins - Free Book Online Page A

Mom.” He grimaced.
    â€œHi.”
    For the first time, Angela saw Orlando at a loss for words. His mouth opened and closed a few times before he cleared his throat. “Is all of that okay with you?”
    â€œYeah, that should be fine. Your father is already asleep. He’s still having a hard time adjusting to the jet lag. I was going to order a pizza and thought we could watch a movie together, but we can save that for tomorrow, or whenever you’re free next.” The sadness in her tone was obvious. While Angela understood why Orlando had so much disdain for his parents, she could tell how much love his mother had for him as well.
    He tapped his hands on the steering wheel. “If you want me to come home, you can just say so.”
    â€œOf course I want you to come home. I want to see you, but the fact that you want to go out and spend time with a friend is…”
    â€œNot a big deal,” he said flatly. “I’m tired of everyone acting like me spending time outside of the house is some kind of miracle.”
    â€œI won’t mention it again. The point is, I don’t want to stop you from doing whatever it is you’d normally be doing. I can wait, and I have to respect that you’re still not ready to bond with me.”
    Orlando rolled his eyes and muttered something under his breath that resembled “passive aggressive,” but Angela couldn’t be certain. “No, Mom, I’m ready to bond with you whenever you are. I’m not the one who keeps canceling.”
    â€œOh, so you’re giving me a taste of my own medicine. Is that what you’re saying?”
    â€œNo, because we never made plans for me to cancel on,” he snapped. “I was just calling in because you told me you would appreciate the gesture. Maybe I’ll just not do that, and leave you to wonder where I am next time if this is the kind of treatment I’m going to get for being courteous.”
    His mother let out a deep breath. There was some shifting on the other end, and then a male voice came on the line. “You need to come back here now and apologize to your mother for making her cry.”
    Angela winced, knowing full well how Orlando was going to respond to such a demand. Telling him he had to do something never seemed to go over well. If anything, he seemed to start rebelling out of spite. At least, that’s what happened anytime Alan tried to force any of them into doing something.
    â€œI’ll think about it.”
    â€œIf you don’t—” His father stopped and responded to something being said off the line. There was a quiet, muffled conversation that Angela couldn’t understand, and then his father returned to the phone. “Fine, stay out. We’ll talk about this tomorrow. I, personally, don’t want to see you right now, either.”
    â€œGlad the feeling is mutual,” Orlando snapped.
    â€œTomorrow.” And then the line went dead.
    Scowling, Orlando clicked a button on his steering wheel. “Yeah, goodbye to you too. Ten bucks says something will come up, and it’ll never happen.”
    â€œIf you want, I could go over to your place with you for dinner with your parents and act as a safety blanket,” Angela offered, softly. Fighting with her parents was always the worst thing in the world for her. Disappointing them and having them upset with her nearly killed her every time it happened. It was why she kept so much of how she really felt, and what she actually did, away from them. If they knew how imperfect she was, they would never look at her the same way again.
    Orlando was quiet, and she hoped that meant he was actually thinking the proposal over. Letting out a heavy sigh, he shook his head. “I’d hate to make you miss your mom’s amazing cooking.”
    â€œIt’d be worth it.”
    â€œSeriously? Because I bribed you with hot-guy abs and everything.”
    You bribed me