“I need it this morning for my nerves. I’m worried about your dad. He is really down about losing this job.”
“Whatever. Let’s just go. I’m going to be late, and I want to stop by the counselor’s office to see if Mrs. Vickers has any news about my scholarships.”
“My little baby is going off to college. I’m so proud.” Mom walked over and kissed Sophie and Janie on the heads. “Keep an eye on Janie for a few minutes, Sophie. And play quietly. Your dad is still sleeping.”
“She should be going to school, Mom. You’re going to get in trouble again.”
She waved the hand with the joint stuck between the fingers. “The school district can kiss my ass. I’m not sending my little girl to school to be pushed around by some bully.”
We headed to the lone family car, an ancient rusted van with tires that were worn as smooth as glass and an engine with a permanent rattling sound. We climbed inside and immediately Mom started searching around on the floor for something.
“Did you drop the keys?”
“No.” She continued her search.
“You dropped the joint, didn’t you?”
“Yes, dammit.” She sighed and started the car. “And that was the last of it.”
“I’ll try not to stress out about it today. By the way, we need cereal and Janie was sticking a fork in the toaster this morning.”
Mom faced me. Eye puffiness diminished, she looked beautiful as always. “Why would she do that? I’ve told her it was dangerous.”
“Yes, but you can’t tell her something is dangerous and then do the exact thing you warned her about. She thought a bagel would appear if she stuck in a fork.”
A dimple creased her cheek. “That is so cute.” When we’d managed to stick in one place long enough that I could make friends, they were always jealous that I had the prettiest, youngest, and coolest Mom. And even though it was true, there had been many times when I’d wished she’d been more like a mom and less like an older sister. Things weren’t much different with Dad. He still wore earrings and long hair from his days as a drummer in a band that was always on the “edge of making it big”. For twelve years, I was their only child, unplanned of course. Not many sixteen year olds plan for a baby. But even though they were well into their twenties when they had Sophie six years ago, they had never matured. It was like they were stuck in the glory of their teen years forever.
Mom sighed and reached forward to turn up the music. “Darn, I wish I had that joint.”
“How did Dad lose his job?”
“They were just a bunch of jerks. He was only late a couple of times.”
“A couple of times is a big deal when you’re on the clock, Mom.”
“He’ll find something else. And you’ll be getting those scholarships soon, so I guess there’ll be one less mouth to feed.” Her voice broke slightly.
I leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I won’t be that far away. I can come home on the train. I’m hoping to get a job on campus. Then I can help out some.” College would be a whole new world, and I’d worked hard to get accepted to several universities. But as much as I looked forward to breaking free of our rather dismal existence, I would definitely miss my wild and often absurd family.
A long line of cars waited to pull into the drop off zone in front of the school. It was a high school right out of an eighties teen movie where two-thirds of the student body consisted of wealthy snobs and the rest of us had come not just from the other side of the tracks but up, over, and way past them.
In a week’s time, I would be donning my cap and gown and an impressive array of academic metals. I looked forward to graduation, but I looked even more forward to being done with high school. Halfway through my senior year, I’d turned eighteen and I’d begun feeling the itch of getting on with my adult life.
The van sputtered loudly, attracting everyone’s attention as Mom pulled up to the passenger drop-off. She rolled down the window. “That’s right. She’s a beauty and she’s paid for.”
I looked over at her. “Paid for?”
She shrugged. “Well, she will be in two years.”
“You don’t actually think your rusted beauty is going to last that long, do you?”
“Oh shut up.” She leaned over and kissed me. A horn blast sounded behind us. “Hurry and hop out before the lady in the Mercedes behind us has a stroke.”
Chapter 2
I wasn’t two steps into the long, crowded hallway when Chandler, my on-again, off-again boyfriend grabbed me and pulled me into the boy’s restroom. The unfortunate guy standing at the urinal glanced toward us and blanched.
“That’s right, Dude, give it a shake and get the hell out of here,” Chandler barked, and the guy zipped up and sidled past us with a red face.
“Why do you do stuff like that?” I tried to pull my arm from his grasp, but it only made him tighten his fingers. “It smells like piss in here.”
He lifted his chin in the air. “You know, you’re right. I think we should mention that to the principal.” His blue gaze floated hungrily over my lips and down to my tight t-shirt. When Chandler Rockmore had first shown interest in seeing me, I’d been over-the top thrilled with my luck. I’d managed to catch the attention of the richest, most popular guy in the school. But when it became obvious that Chandler wanted to see me, but only in private and out of view of his equally rich and brutally opinionated friends, the shine wore off of the whole damn thing.
Chandler leaned down to kiss me, but I moved my face aside. His blue eyes went dark with anger. “What the hell, Eden? First you don’t return my messages and now I can’t even kiss you.”
“You can kiss me but not in here.”
“Come on, baby, you know I don’t like to attract attention.”
“You mean you don’t want to disappoint your friends by letting them know that you’ve been seeing me.”
“That’s not true.” He attempted the kiss again, and as I pulled my face away, his grip tightened painfully on my arm.
“Let me go, Chandler. I’m late for an appointment with the counselor.” Two guys opened the bathroom door.
“Get the fuck out of here! Go shit in your locker or something,” Chandler yelled. They backed out quickly.
The interruption gave me a chance to pull free and I fled out the door. Chandler followed me to my locker. Icy rage came off of him in waves. He leaned next to the lockers and glanced around casually as a group of cheerleaders strolled by.
“Hey, Chandler,” they twittered in unison.
“What’s up,” he replied casually. Once the coast cleared, he turned back to me. “Come on, Eden, don’t be mad at me. You know I care about you.”
I grabbed my book and slammed shut the locker door. “Then walk me into the quad right now and kiss me in front of your friends.”
His mouth dropped open but he was speechless. It was all the reaction I needed.
“Good bye, Chandler.” I spun away from him and headed to Mrs. Vickers’s office. I could feel Chandler’s heated stare on my back as I walked away, but truthfully I felt relieved to be done with him for good.
I knocked on the office door. “Come in.” Mrs. Vickers looked up from her computer with the thick glasses that made her eyes look huge. Her face flattened to a frown. “Eden, come sit down. I’ve heard word from the scholarship committee.” Her tone made my stomach clench up in a knot.
She removed her glasses and her eyes shrank back to a normal size. Her chair squeaked as she leaned forward and rested her forearms on the desk. “I’m afraid the news isn’t good. Your qualifications were stellar, but the committee felt that your history of poor school attendance makes you too much of a risk. You only qualify for a small scholarship. And since your parents neglected to file their taxes on time, you just won’t be able to get any financial aid. You could attend community college for a few years and then doors will open up for you.”