“Want me to get my mom to drive you?” I asked. Then I added apologetically, “She won’t let me drive, even though I’m sixteen. It has to do with the accident.”
Sam nodded, like he understood and wasn’t going to judge me. “Nah, I’m good,” he said. “I should be able to make it home in twenty minutes if I pick up the pace a little.”
“You saying I’m slow?” I teased.
He laughed. “No. I’m saying I enjoyed our conversation too much to put any thought into actually running.”
Then, before I realized what was happening, he leaned down and gave me a quick peck on the lips. He pulled back, looking embarrassed, before I could get my mouth to unfreeze long enough to reply.
“Pick you up at six,” he said.
He was already disappearing down the street before I raised my hand in a silent goodbye. My lips were still tingling as he vanished around the corner.
chapter 14
I practically floated up to my bedroom and booted up my computer. After a quick shower to rinse my hair and wash the run away, I went online. Jennica’s screen name popped up in a little IM window, accompanied by her AIM tone, which was the sound of a kiss.
JENNICAJENNICA: Hey Lacey.
JENNICAJENNICA: I’m sorry.
I gulped. I paused and typed back.
LACEYLOO321: it’s ok
JENNICAJENNICA: i was a jerk.
LACEYLOO321: u weren’t a jerk.
JENNICAJENNICA: i was.
LACEYLOO321: weren’t
JENNICAJENNICA: was
LACEYLOO321: agree to disagree?
JENNICAJENNICA: only if u accept my apology.
LACEYLOO321: deal.
LACEYLOO321: :-)
LACEYLOO321: hey, i’m sorry u r upset about ur dad.
JENNICAJENNICA: :-(
JENNICAJENNICA: it’s no big deal.
LACEYLOO321: yeah it is. i shouldn’t act like it’s not. i’m sorry if i do that.
JENNICAJENNICA: it’s ok.
JENNICAJENNICA: besides. it’s not a big deal. Not like ur dad. i know that, ok?
LACEYLOO321: i don’t want to talk about that.
JENNICAJENNICA: u never do.
JENNICAJENNICA: is that what you talked about at ur group? that group for kelsi?
LACEYLOO321: not really. we just kinda hung out.
JENNICAJENNICA: why? they’re not even ur friends.
LACEYLOO321: i dunno. it’s just nice. to have people who understand you.
JENNICAJENNICA: i understand u.
LACEYLOO321: i know.
JENNICAJENNICA: but u don’t talk to me.
LACEYLOO321: it’s different w/ people who have lost a parent 2.
JENNICAJENNICA: but i try to understand.
LACEYLOO321: i know.
LACEYLOO321: …
LACEYLOO321: maybe i don’t give you enough credit for that.
JENNICAJENNICA: so anyway.
JENNICAJENNICA: my dad’s stupid wedding is in 2 months.
LACEYLOO321: what????!!!! 2 MONTHS???? but he just got engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!
JENNICAJENNICA: ya
LACEYLOO321: that’s CRAZY.
JENNICAJENNICA: ya
JENNICAJENNICA: i hate his stupid girlfriend.
LACEYLOO321: she’s like our age.
JENNICAJENNICA: almost. she’s like 23 or something.
LACEYLOO321: what does brian think?
There was a long pause. I thought maybe Jennica had signed off without seeing my last question. I was just about to close the IM window when she wrote back.
JENNICAJENNICA: he thinks i’m being dumb
LACEYLOO321: what????
JENNICAJENNICA: i dunno
LACEYLOO321: are u 2 fighting?
JENNICAJENNICA: not exactly. kinda.
LACEYLOO321: about what???
JENNICAJENNICA: he doesn’t get it
JENNICAJENNICA: his dad is on wife #3. and his mom just got married last year
LACEYLOO321: so?
JENNICAJENNICA: he just doesn’t think it’s a big deal. doesn’t get why i’m upset
LACEYLOO321: that’s crazy
JENNICAJENNICA: yeah. well.
LACEYLOO321: i’m sorry.
JENNICAJENNICA: ya. thanx.
JENNICAJENNICA: gotta go. my mom’s yelling at me.
LACEYLOO321: hey, i’ve got something to tell you.
JENNICAJENNICA: can we talk tmrow? seriously, mom’s pissed.
LACEYLOO321: yeah. u ok?
JENNICAJENNICA: ya. see ya. can u come over tmrw? like lunchtime? we can go to the mall.
LACEYLOO321: yeah. c u at noon?
JENNICAJENNICA: c u. bye!
? ? ?
“We’re not invited to the wedding,” Jennica told me as she opened her door the next day.
“What?” I asked, my heart aching for her. “You’re not?” Jennica nodded. “My dad’s fiancée”—she spat the word out like it tasted terrible—“is apparently afraid Anne and I will make a scene.”
As much as Jennica disliked her dad’s bride-to-be, a spandex-wearing, yoga-practicing blond waif who was the polar opposite of Jennica’s dark-haired, pleasantly plump Cuban American mom, she and Anne had been raised to be polite in every situation. I knew as well as her father did that Jennica would never, in a million years, make a scene at someone’s wedding—even if she hated the person.
“But what about your dad?” I asked. “Isn’t he insisting you come? I mean, he’s your dad!”
Jennica’s eyes filled with tears, which she wiped away angrily, as if furious that they were even there in the first place. “No.” The word sliced out of her mouth.
“No?”
“No,” she repeated. “He says it’s Leanne’s day. And he wants it to be perfect for her.”
“But it’s his day too,” I protested. “And you’re his kids.”