Tomboy

Chapter 8

Jake didn't make an appearance at our house the rest of the weekend. Connor was in a good mood Saturday morning when he returned from his girlfriend's house. He went to crash in his room, so he ended up sleeping in just like any other weekend. I was glad that Mom had a date that evening, because it was difficult enough trying to hide my bad mood during lunch and dinner.

She was pleasantly surprised to hear that I had attended the school dance. "Was it a date?"

"No," I snapped. She glanced at me sharply, so I told her about getting kicked out and about the meeting with the principal that awaited me on Monday.

"I don't condone violence, but I can see how you lost your temper. That must have been awful for Kyle," Mom said.

Connor was delighted. "Too bad I missed that. I'm surprised Jake didn't tell me about it."

"Did you talk to him today?" I asked casually. Connor obviously hadn't heard about what else had happened at the dance, or he would have said something about it to me.

"Yeah, he said he had family stuff to do tonight." Connor shrugged.

"I'm sure they missed him all week," Mom said. "It was a good week for leftovers here," she sighed. "That boy can cook. He's going to make a great husband for some lucky girl." She smiled at me. "I know my cooking can't compare to Jake's, but it's not that bad. You could at least take a few bites."

Damn! She had noticed. "I'm just not hungry."

"How are you not hungry? You hardly touched your food at lunch."

Did she have to see everything? "I had a big breakfast," I lied.

I thought that was the end of it until she asked me to keep her company while she got ready for her date. "So, you really like this guy, huh?"

I was startled by her question. "What?"

"I know all the signs. You can't eat. You can't sleep." She answered my stunned expression. "Yeah, Cam, I can see how exhausted you look today."

"I was just upset about how Chad treated Kyle."

She wasn't buying it. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just want you to know that I'm here if you want to talk."

There was no way that I could tell my mom that Jake was upset with me because I wanted to have sex with him and nothing else. "Okay. Thanks, Mom."

I had called Kyle earlier in the day to find out how he was doing after last night. He was obviously fine, because he immediately started questioning me about my date with Jake. "It wasn't a date," I said.

"Of course it was," he said breezily. "Do you really think I needed Jake there for moral support? I thought you would see right through that. Too bad you didn't get to dance with him before you got kicked out. It was sooo romantic when he kissed you though. Everyone was talking about it."

"That's great," I said sarcastically.

Kyle was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment. "What happened now?"

"I'll tell you later."

"How could you screw things up after that great exit?" Kyle demanded.

"Me?" I huffed. "Why do you immediately assume it was me?"

"Because Jake likes you enough to ask me for advice about you." Kyle sighed. "Scott and I are going on a date tonight."