Page 129 of How To Not Need You

Ugh.

I follow him into the living room. He puts it beside him on the couch. I walk past. Slowly. Very normally. Dad looks at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing.”

“Okay.”

He picks up his phone. I glare at it. This is harder than Leo said it would be. I sit on the floor with Hades and pretend to play with him instead. Hades bites my sleeve.

“Stop it.” He bites it again. “You’re supposed to be helping.”

Hades rolls onto his back. Useless. Dad gets up. So do I. He goes to the kitchen. I go to the kitchen. He gets a drink. I get a drink. He looks at me. I smile.

“What?” I ask, making my eyes really big so he believes me.

“Nothing.” He looks at me for another second. Then walks away. I follow him. Operation Verandah Step is taking forever. Then Dad says the best thing he has said all afternoon.

“I’m having a shower.”

“Yes!”

He stops. Oops. I didn’t mean to yell. I freeze. His eyebrows go up really high.

So I try to make it better. “I mean okay.”

“Right.” He says slowly and walks away. I wait until the bathroom door closes. Then I look at his phone. It’s on the coffee table.

Finally.

I wait for the shower to start because spies are patient. One second. Two seconds. Three. Water starts running.

GO.

I grab Dad’s phone and run to my bedroom. Hades follows me.

“Shh.” He meows.

“SHH.” I close the door and sit on the floor. Dad’s phone has a picture of us at the beach. I have ice cream on my nose and Dad is sticking his tongue out. I know his password. He probably shouldn’t have told me.

I find Liv’s name. There she is. I stare at the little green button. This is lying. I know lying is bad. Dad says lying makes everything worse. But everything is already worse.

I press it. The phone rings. Once. Twice. Three times. Maybe she isn't going to answer. Then she does.

“Jake?”

I nearly hang up. Instead I whisper, “It’s me.”

“Tilly?”

“Hi.”

Her voice changes to the way that makes me feel happy, not the angry way she said daddy’s name. “Hey, sweetheart.”

I miss her. For one second I forget about the plan. I want to tell her Dad did my hair wrong this morning. And Hades tried to eat my sleeve. And Ava stole the purple pencil even though I saw it first. I want to cry and get her to come hug me.

Then I remember. Operation Verandah Step.