Letterman Jacket

33 / eleven days before

Perhaps, if what had happened yesterday hadn't happened, then there would've been nothing wrong with my mother asking about Faust during breakfast. Just, perhaps. Maybe I would've picked up on the suddenness of it, or how weird it was for her to ask such questions. Maybe I wouldn't have, I didn't know. I almost wished it hadn't just happened at all. That I knew nothing about the case.

The knowledge that my mother was placed in a precarious position to prosecute an innocent man—and a man that I knew and considered a friend—weighed heavily on my shoulders as I played around with my fork.

"Honey," Mom finally said after long moments of silence. She grabbed her cup of coffee before taking the seat beside mine. "How is Fost—"

"Faust," I interjected immediately, looking up at her with a small smile to compensate for the tightness in my voice. "It's Faust, Mom. Not Foster."

She cleared her throat and laughed slightly. "Right. How is he? After that one time, he never came back."

I bit my lip. "There's no reason to...we're not together anymore, remember? And even if he comes by, it'll probably just be a hang out with other friends."

Mom nodded and took a sip from her coffee. Slowly, I also reached for my own glass of milk, only to find it empty after talking with Dad about his novel release. I scraped my chair back and stood, but my mother beat me to it and headed for the refrigerator with another question on her lips.

"From what I remember of his visit, he said he has a really good relationship with his family. I think he mentioned an older brother?"

I nodded. Under the table, I fiddled with my fingers. "Yeah. They're close, actually. I met him."

I didn't miss the way my mother swallowed the lump in her throat as she brought the carton of chocolate milk to the table. She poured the last of its contents in my glass, and I mumbled my gratitude. "Oh? Do they look alike?"

From behind the glass, I forced a smile and raised my eyebrows. "They do, yeah. What's with the sudden interest in Faust, Mom?"

She waved a hand in the air dismissively. "Nothing, nothing. He just, uh, reminded me of someone and I was wondering about him. I'm glad the both of you still decided on being friends even after the relationship didn't work out. That was a very mature decision, Thea."

"Thanks." The smile on my face this time was genuine.

My mother hummed. She looked like she wanted to pry for actual substantial information but was holding herself back. The fact that she wasn't even asking me outright was unnerving—did she think I had no idea about Anya and Beau? Or did she want the whole case kept away from me as far as possible?

"Alright then," she said instead, standing up, "better finish that breakfast, sweetheart. I have to run to work, so tell Nico to come by again, okay?"

Theo had to attend to something before first period, so he woke up earlier than usual and headed to school before I could stumble out of bed. "Yeah, will do."

She reached out to squeeze my shoulder and left.

Nico pulled up in front of my house a few minutes later, and once I entered the car and was greeted with a kiss on the cheek, all weariness I'd felt from thinking and worrying about Faust and Anya and Beau since last night was gone in an instant.

"You okay?" Nico asked softly, holding his palm out across the center console as he pressed on the gas.

I took it and interlaced our fingers. "Yeah. I am now."

He quickly spared me a glance. "Did your mom ask you about it?"

"A bit about Faust. Nothing serious, and I'm hoping it stays that way."