"You're grounded?" Adam asks me as he pours some juice for Brooke.
I nod. "Yeah. It's only for a few days. She took my phone, laptop, iPod, and all my money. She wasn't too happy with me trying to run away."
He smiles. "I could only imagine just how happy she was," he says sarcastically.
I walk closer to him. "I'm sorry for making you almost get run over," I say quietly.
His smile fades slightly. "It's okay. I would've run, too. But let's not talk about it, okay? Let's go do something together."
Adam takes my hand and leads me to the living room.
Kaitlin walks over to me. "Can I sit on your lap?"
I nod. "Sure. Did you finish eating?"
She smiles. "I did."
Adam chooses a disney movie the girls can watch. "We should clean up in the kitchen," he whispers in my ear.
I lay Kaitlin, who was already starting to drift off, on the couch and follow Adam into the kitchen.
He sits on the stool.
"I thought we were cleaning."
He smiles and shakes his head. "I just want to be alone with you," he says softly.
After looking at him for a while, I sit on the stool beside him. "Really?"
He nods.
Play it cool, I tell myself.
"You have a girlfriend," I blurt out.
I cover my mouth as soon as the worlds come out.
Way to play it cool, I scold myself.
"I just want to talk," he says quietly.
I nod, embarrassed.
"Your birthday is next week?"
"Yeah," I say quietly. "Tuesday."
"And you'll be eighteen?"
I nod again. "But I won't graduate until next year," I say lamely.
He looks at me. "You're a junior?"
I shake my head. "I got expelled for fighting. I mean, that's why I'm here. My dad doesn't want me around so he sent me here. Where my mom doesn't want me either."
He looks at me for a while without saying anything.
I just told him everything that's was wrong with my family. I mean, who does that?
Instead of walking away, he stands up and makes me look at him. "Em, your mom is just busy all the time. I have tell this to the girls everyday. Because they sometimes believe their not wanted around, too. But, maybe if you give her a chance to talk or to prove to you that she actually cares, you might be surprised."
I frown slightly. "You sound like Jonathan."
He smiles. "That's kind of the point."
His long, bulky arms make their way around my back. I press my head against his chest.
I don't know why. But every time I'm around him, I feel small. Like a completely different person.
But that's probably just me.
"Was this your first fight? You can't get expelled if it's your first fight."
I laugh quietly. "No, this wasn't my first fight. I don't think I'd be here if it was."
"You still have six weeks, Emily. Can't you drop out of school?"
I have thought about it. But then I won't get into college. Then I'll be stuck with my dad until he can find me some steady job that can at least pay me enough to buy my own apartment.
My head hurts from even thinking about it.
"I don't know," I finally say.
• • •
Tuesday.
I'm finally ungrounded.
I take a shower and get dressed.
Adam was already downstairs. He was looking at my stuff, which was laying on the counter. "Your friends think you're sea or something. You haven't talked to them in forever."
"How did you get in my phone?" I ask him.
He smiles. "It's not the most complicated password, Emily."
I don't reply as I put all of my stuff in my bag.
"Where are you going?" Adam asks me.
I shrug. "I'm just walking around. I have a GPS this time, so I'm all good."
He shakes his head. "I can't let you do that. Not on your birthday."
I freeze. "How did you-"
"You told me, remember?"
I sigh. I really don't want to do anything for my birthday. I haven't done anything for my birthday in years. Why start now?
But Adam was already getting his car keys and dragging me out the door.
He stops suddenly, making me bump into him. "What are you doing here?"
A girl, about our age, was leaning against his car with her arms crossed over her chest. When she sees me, her eyes narrow.
She's gorgeous. Her tan skin goes along perfectly with her straight, white teeth and perfect curves.
She's so pretty. It's not fair.
He lets go of my arm and walks over to her. "What are you doing here?" he repeats.
"I came to see what you've been doing all those times you said you were busy. And now I see."
He shakes his head. "We're barely even friends," he tells her.
Ouch.
That was harsh.
She looks at me. "Then why are you at her house?"
He shrugs. "I don't come here by choice, Claire. I'm just babysitting."
That hurt me.
"Then where are the kids?"
He hesitates. "It's just her."
That killed me. Now I'm dead.
Claire laughs. "Of course it is."
Adam shoots me an apologetic look but I look away.
"Where are you from?" she asks, harshly.
"New York," I say flatly.
Her eyes widen a little bit she quickly composes herself. "Adam, I came to talk to you."
I go back inside before they ask me to leave.
Kaitlin was sitting on the couch watching tv. She turns around when she hears the door open. "Hi," she tells me.
I smile. "Hey. What are you watching?"
"Oswald."
I laugh. "I used to love that show."
When I sit beside her, she lays her head on my lap. "Am I pretty like you?" she asks suddenly.
I play with her hair. "You are beautiful, Kaitlin. I never once got told I was pretty by anyone."
"Mommy tells me everyday. She said the first word I learned was pretty."
"It probably was," I tell her.
Minutes later, mom comes downstairs. She was holding a bunch of boxes.
"Hey," she says. "I thought you left with Adam."
I shake my head.
She walks over to me. "Are you doing anything today?"
"Guess not," I say flatly.
She looks at me. "Baby, can't we just try to get along today? It's your birthday."
I snort. "I didn't think you knew that."
Kaitlin sits up. "It's your birthday? I didn't know that."
I don't say anything. She's not really helping mom's case right now.
Mom sits in front of us, blocking our view from the tv. "Emily, we need to talk," she says.
I stand up. "No, we don't."
She grabs my arm. "Sit down, please," the way her voice cracked as she said that made me at least sit down.
I cover my face in my hands.
Kaitlin places a kiss on her cheek before going up the stairs.
She breathes for a second before she starts talking. "I know you think I don't love you. And I would probably think the same thing if I were you. But you have to know that this wasn't just hard on you."
"I really don't want to talk about this," I tell her. "Not now."
"Honey, we have to talk about it sometime."
I look at her, sudden anger just flooding through me. "I waited for you to call," I yell. "I waited for you to tell me what the crap was going on. But you didn't call. In fact, if I hadn't gotten expelled, you probably wouldn't have cared."
She doesn't say anything for a while. But then she sighs. "You're right. I wouldn't have worried about you as much as I do now. But I'm trying, right now. Honey, all those birthdays I missed, all the graduation days. I am so sorry for everything I've put you through."
Adam walks in the house. He stops when he sees my red face and mom sitting, looking down at the floor.
"Is everything okay?" he asks, looking back and forth between us.
Mom nods and stands up. "Everything is fine," she says. "I thought you had left."
He shakes his head and looks at me. "I was going to take Emily somewhere."
My frown deepens.
"That sounds good," mom says. "If you could just bring her back by seven that would be great."
Adam nods and I follow him out the door. "What happened in there?" he asks, opening the back door for me.
I shrug and get in.
And sitting in the passenger's side of the car was Claire.
How lovely.
I swear, given the mood I'm in right now, the first insult she makes will cost her pretty face.
Adam looks in the rearview mirror. "I thought we could go to the beach," he says.
Claire looks at him. "I just got my nails done, Adam. I told you. And I'm not wanting wind all over my hair."
He glares at her. "Well, it's not your birthday, is it?"
She groans. "When did this become about her?"
Adam starts in the car. "You're right. Your hair shouldn't get ruined along with your perfect nails. So, you should probably wait in the car until we're done."
Her face was priceless. I would've laughed out loud if I didn't think she would hurt me for it.
WELL, YOUVE MET CLAIRE. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT HER?
AT LEAST EMILY AND HER MOM TALKED A LITTLE.
FEEL FREE TO LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK.
THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!