Inheritance by Malinda Lo

interview—that David and I are—we’re—we’re together.” Her face felt as hot as a bonfire.
    Her mom’s eyebrows rose, and then a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She hung up the towel. “I thought you were.”
    “You did?” She didn’t know whether to be relieved or aghast. Was she that transparent?
    “Well, I knew you liked him.”
    “You
did
?” Now she was definitely aghast. “When?”
    Her mom took out a small jar of moisturizer and began to smooth the lotion over her face. “You’ve had a crush on him for a while, haven’t you?”
    Reese sat on the edge of her mom’s bed, still facing the bathroom. “Does everybody know?”
    Her mom laughed. “I don’t know about everybody, but I’ve noticed the way you look at him. I have to say, that’s part of the reason I was so surprised about Amber.”
    Reese stared down at her lap. “Yeah. That’s over.”
    “I thought so,” her mom said softly. “I’m sorry. Do you want to tell me what happened?”
    Reese hadn’t thought she would want to, but she found herself recounting, haltingly, how she had discovered that Amberwasn’t simply a girl she met by accident but was connected to Dr. Brand. How Amber had been assigned by the Imria to monitor Reese’s reactions to the adaptation procedure. How their relationship had been in service to this assignment. Even though Amber had apologized and insisted her feelings for Reese had been real, that didn’t change the fact that Amber had known what the Imria had done to Reese. She couldn’t help thinking that if Amber had really cared for her, she would have told her the truth.
    “She wants us to talk to the Imria now,” Reese said, scooting back to lean against the headboard as her mom came out of the bathroom. “She says they want to help us, but I don’t trust her.”
    “I wouldn’t trust her either,” her mom said. “She lied to you and she doesn’t deserve you.”
    The harsh tone in her mom’s voice made Reese wince. Reese had been as cruel as she could to Amber the last time she had seen her, but hearing anger directed at her by someone else made her uncomfortable. “Mom—”
    “She’s a very attractive girl, and she knows it. You can’t trust someone like her.”
    Reese’s face burned even more.
    Her mom sat on the edge of the bed, facing Reese. “She took advantage of you, and if I ever see her trying anything like that again—”
    “She won’t. I’m fine, Mom.” Her stomach twisted as she said the words.
I’m fine
, she told herself. Her mom’s face was hard-edged with a kind of anger Reese couldn’t remember seeing before.
    “She’d better not,” her mom said. She ran a hand through herhair, pushing away the damp dark curls from her forehead. “I want you to be careful, that’s all. I know you had strong feelings for her, and even though I think David is a great guy, you’ve barely had time to deal with what happened with Amber. Are you sure you’re ready to date someone else?”
    Reese squirmed. “Of course.”
    Her mom gave her a look that said she knew Reese was lying. “If he really likes you, he’ll wait until you’re over Amber.”
    Reese’s fingers clenched, crumpling the down duvet in her grip. “I’m over her,” she insisted.
    Her mom frowned. “Are you?”
    Reese looked at the bedroom window to avoid her mom’s gaze. The blinds were half-closed, exposing slivers of the cloud-covered sky. “Yes. I’m over her.”
    Her mom reached out and touched Reese’s foot. Reese sensed the beginnings of her mom’s feelings—concern, doubt—and she pulled her foot away. “Honey,” her mom said.
    “I can handle it,” Reese snapped.
    Her mom didn’t speak for a minute. Reese watched a shadow move across the sky through the blinds and willed her fisted fingers to relax before they tore a hole in the duvet. “Okay,” her mom finally said. “Then do we need to have a talk about safety?”
    Embarrassed, she drew her arms around her knees.