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Janis’ mom had promised to stay on the wagon this time. Janis’ mom had promised they’d be a functioning family again. Janis’ mom promised a lot of things, but she never seemed to follow through. Why had she expected this time to be any different?
With her mom heading back to rehab, Janis was going to be living with her grandma, no longer able to stay in the little house she’d lived in her whole life, which they were probably going to need to sell. They’d already taken out a third mortgage, and if Janis wasn’t able to live there, it’d just be more trouble than it was worth. The house wasn’t much, but it was the only place Janis had ever called home.
The house thing was upsetting, but it wasn’t even the worst part. She’d have to change schools, which meant leaving behind Cady, Damian, the tolerable mathletes, and even the plastics, who she now considered friends. She’d be over an hour away from them, meaning they could see each other on weekends, but it’d be quite the drive.
She was currently packing her things into the boxes littering her room, her bed already stripped, the sheets packed away somewhere. She’d be sleeping on a bare mattress for her last night in town, at least for a while. Her room looked deconstructed and bare, the chalkboard painted walls wiped clean. It was honestly depressing.
Someone knocked softly on her door. Janis turned around to find the last person she’d thought would be there. Regina George. Sure, they’d long since forgiven each other and become friends again, bonding over their snark and quick wit, but they were nowhere near as close as they had been in middle school.
“Hey,” Regina said softly. “Your grandma let me in. Sorry to hear about your mom.”
“Don’t be. She’s been like this my whole life,” Janis said bitterly.
Regina took that as an invitation to enter Janis’ room, sitting gingerly on her empty bed.
“Are you really leaving? Like, for the rest of senior year?”
“Yup. Eight months at a new school.”
Janis felt her throat closing up. She was so close to breaking down. She couldn’t let Regina see her like this, not her, not now,.
“Help me pack or get out. You’re in the way,” she choked out, filling her arms with socks from with pile next to Regina and dumping them into one of the boxes of her clothes.
Regina stood up. Janis thought she was going to listen, that she was going to walk out the door and leave her to cry in peace, but instead, she felt arms wrap around her abdomen, pulling her against a warm body. Janis fell apart in Regina’s arms, burying her head in the other girl’s chest and inhaling the familiar honeysuckle scent.
“You always smell good,” she mumbled against the skin of Regina’s collarbone.
Janis felt her chest vibrate with a hum of approval as Regina began to run her fingers through her side shave.
“Would it be totally crazy to ask you to stay with me until graduation?”
Janis pulled away just enough to look up at Regina, her eyes big and hopeful.
“Seriously?”
“Well, it’s just me and Mom in that big house now. Gets kinda lonely. We have an empty guest room, and there’s plenty of space at the breakfast table.”
“Seriously?” Janis repeated. “Like, for real?”
“Yeah, my mom loves you. She’d be so happy to have you, it’s embarrassing.”
Regina rolled her eyes, but the old exasperation behind it was replaced with fondness. Her homophobic dad leaving had been really good for her and her mother’s relationship.
“That would be amazing!” Janis beamed at her. “I could kiss you right now!”
Regina’s breath caught in her throat. Janis looked at her, curiosity melting into understanding. She kissed her twice that afternoon, the first time pouring gratitude from her lips, the second because Regina looked painfully hot with mussed hair and wet lips and blown eyes.
If they played their cards right, Janis wouldn’t be sleeping in the guest room.