To Those Who Wait (gxg)

Chapter 1

She never got to finish high school with us kids being born, but she got to take her GED and joined the Army to get some training while Harry worked at his dad's hardware store and his folks watched us little ones. She was in for a six year enlistment as an MP, but only made it through four of them. She was on duty in Germany when she got the call, my dad and grandparents had died in a car accident while they were out to eat. Luckily, Jessie and I were at home with a babysitter, who was able to watch us for the two days it took mom to get home, heartbroken and in the midst of being processed out of the army with a hardship discharge. She had always thought she was the one in danger, being in the army, it never dawned on her that she could lose her whole support system back home instead.

The money from the insurance policy helped, but she couldn't stand to live next to her parents without the buffer of my dad and his folks, so she sold the house and the hardware store and moved away. It was a hard adjustment, suddenly being thrust back into a parenting role, as a single mom no less, but she managed well. Being an MP gave her the training to get a job as a police officer, and the insurance money meant she could afford a house big enough for us all. It was sad, it was hard, and she didn't think she could love again after Harry, but she had me and Jessie. She kept us in shape, just like she was, in the home gym, and taught us to protect ourselves just in case. Jessie was a sophomore going for an engineering degree at college, and I was hoping to follow next year.

After getting up and doing the whole shower and get dressed routine I grabbed a quick banana for breakfast. I didn't dress in much, just dark blue sweatpants and ¾ sleave sweatshirt. I didn't know how strict the new school on the stupid dress code, but I wasn't going to mess up on the first day. I wanted to be early on the first day so I could find my classes and not be late right off the bat. Sure, they gave me a map of the school when I picked up the schedule the previous week, but school maps are like treasure maps on seafood restaurant placemats. You really can't rely on them.

One of the good things about having a cop for a mom was that she had a patrol car that she took home every night, and then took it to work every day. So, our little family car was all mine during the school week. On the weekend, not so much. If mom needed it for errands, then all I had was my bike. That was fine for work, but I'd be a sweaty mess for school, so I was glad to have the car, even if it was a twelve-year-old Corolla. Hey, it still ran fine, and it wasn't like I was dating anyone I needed to impress.

Not yet anyway. Please Sam? Ugh! Stop it Abby, control yourself!

With a car, the school was only a ten-minute drive, so I was able to get there nice and early. Early enough to find my assigned parking spot and pull in with nobody on either side, which was good Sometimes I hated parking between cars, and knowing the neighborhoods around this school, there were going to be expensive cars for me to ding with my car's doors.

The school was big, and yet not big enough. Because of less than ideal school funding, there were little portable buildings out behind the school for overflow classes. Luckily, they seemed to think that was a good way to initiate freshmen into high school life, so they all got stuck there. The main campus was a sprawling maze of buildings and stairs that took me some time to navigate, but soon enough I was able to identify where all my classes and how to get to each one.

According to my schedule, I had English first period with Ms. Walker, then Biology with Mr. Jones, Lunch, P.E. with Mrs. Harris and Creative Writing back with Ms. Walker. I could handle that, though whoever thought scheduling P.E. right after lunch must love cleaning up vomit.

By the time I was done finding the classes, students were filing in. I ignored most of them, but every time I saw a head of blonde hair, I had to do a double take. Could she have dyed her hair? Would she even remember me? I had to assume she was dating someone, but I had to try to see her anyway. I knew she at least liked me a little, so I had a chance. Maybe.

There are a lot of blondes here, though quite a few were bleached for sure. In any case, I finally made it back to Ms. Walker's classroom, and took a seat all the way in the back. I know it was a long shot, but my goal was to sit in the back of every class so that I would be able to see everyone. That way if she was in one, I could stare at her the entire time.

Fuck, that sounds creepy. I really meant that in a non-creepy way though. Is there a non-creepy way to stare at someone for an entire class? If so, I'm going to try to do it.

You could tell I was the new kid. People came into the class with their friends and tried to fit like little jigsaw pieces in groups away from me, until it was like an island of chairs around me. One on either side, and three in front. Nope, I wasn't even a little self-conscious. The room was getting louder, and I checked the clock. Only a couple of minutes till the bell rang, and we could get my first day started. I hadn't really thought I'd be lucky enough to see Sam the first day, it is a big school, and she is only one person. Maybe I could track her down at lunch or something.

But then she walked in.

She was flanked by those two blondes that were at the soccer game last year, or I think it was them anyway. I never got a good look, since I had been staring at Sam, but it seemed unlikely that she'd be with two other pretty blondes. But neither came close to her beauty. They were dismissed from my vision as soon as I locked my eyes on her, and I started to grin. Keep it together Abby! Don't be too obvious!

She noticed the empty chairs around me, and I was suddenly glad to be the ostracized one. Nodding her head to the other blondes, she made her way towards the chairs, until she glanced at me. She almost did a double take, as if she recognized me, then looked back at the chairs. But then back at me, hesitating a bit as she sat right in front of me.

She turned around and looked right at me. "Abby?" I could only nod. Her eyes were even more wonderous than I remembered. I mean, it could have been the fluorescent lighting reflecting in them but fuck it I'm sticking with wonderous.

"Hey Sam," I sighed happily with a silly smile. "Nice to see you're still callipygian."

She immediately covered her mouth as she snort-laughed at our inside joke.

"What the fuck did you say?" the blonde on the right asked, just as the teacher came into the room.

"What's going on back there?" Ms. Walker asked, concerned at the swearing.

"She's bullying Sam! She called her a California pigeon or some shit! Sam isn't even from California!"

At this, Sam and I just started laughing hysterically, and everyone else in the class looked at us like we were crazy.

"I'm sorry, what is going on?" Ms. Walker asked as she came closer.

"I'm sorry. It was an inside joke between Sam and me. I called her callipygian," I explained.

The teacher smirked, and then giggled. "I like that, I'll have to remember that one." Then turned and walked back to the front of the class.

"She isn't going to get in trouble for that?" the blonde cried out.

"Sam, are you feeling bullied?" the teacher asked after rolling her eyes.

"Not even a little, Ms. Walker."

"Then I think we can get on with our class."

***

A/N – callipygian [ kal-uh-pij-ee-uhn ] adjective: having well-shaped buttocks.