Chapter THIRTEEN

DING

I checked my phone - which I was doing less and less often - a few days later. I was at home, reading a book for my English Lit class. I was behind, already.

1 NEW FRIEND REQUEST

   I was going to ignore it, but I was curious. As I clicked it open, I saw that it was from Asher Kay, a football player from school that I didn't know at all. I'd never talked to him. He was a friend of Darwin's, I was sure. Confused, I left the request there, pending. Now I knew it was time to talk to Tab.

   "Hey," she answered when I called, sounding cheerful. "What's up?"

   It was mid week, and the evening, a time of day I hadn't talked to her before.

   "Something weird is happening," I told her, serious.

   "Like... what?"

   "So, a few days ago, Darwin Atwood talked to me in the parking lot. He said he liked my car." She was waiting for me to go on. "And today... Asher Kay sent me a Facebook friend request."

   "What?" Tab yelled into my ear. "That is weird. Especially since neither of them ever talk to me."

   "What do I do?" I wanted to know.

   "That depends. Do you want to be friends with them?" She asked this cautiously, I knew that.

   I didn't really have to think about this question. "No."

   "Are you sure? Because I'm thinking this is your only chance," she said, then laughed.

   "I think I'm good."

   "You know, a year ago I would have been so jealous of you right now. I wanted to get in with the popular kids, bad," she admitted.

   "Yeah?"

   "Uh huh. I guess I realized Franky is all I need." She laughed again, and it was so honest.

   "I wanted to get this popular guy to notice me, back in Chicago. That's why I went to that party, in the woods," I told her, surprising myself for giving her that information.

   "Did you talk to him, at least?" Tab was interested.

   I shook my head. "He was with another girl. I should have known."

   "Ah, sorry." She sighed, so I waited. "Hey, I'm glad you got in trouble and were sent here."

   I snorted. "You are?"

   "Yeah. Franky and I needed a third wheel."

   "So, you and Franky... are you..." I figured now was as good as any to ask her.

   "What?"

   "Just friends? More than friends?" I asked.

   She hesitated. "Friends. Best friends."

   "Okay," I said, but it was obvious that I didn't believe her.

   "Seriously," she went on.

   I laughed. "Okay."

   After a few quiet moments, she said, "Hey, Kelsey?"

   "Yeah?"

   "Are you really leaving? Like, after your birthday?"

   I had told her my story, finally. I told her how I planned to go back to Chicago after I turned eighteen, to get my own place and a job and have a life of my own. But even when I told her this, a few days prior, she'd looked offended. I'd only been in St. Cloud for two weeks - I had seventeen years of my life in Chicago.

   But now, I cleared my throat. "I don't know."

   "Are you just saying that?" she asked.

   I moved my phone to my other ear. "I really don't know. I didn't think I'd like it here. I didn't think I'd get along with my mom, or make friends -"

   "But you did. You do."

   "Yep. So, everything's kind of confusing right now," I admitted.

   "I hope you stay," she offered, and it was the best thing she could have said.

The football game was that Saturday afternoon, so the party was later that night. Tab and Franky wanted me to go, but I told them I was planning to spend time with my mom. I was partially wanting to avoid seeing Darwin and Asher, and partly actually wanting to spend time with my mom. But she was working late, or so she said.

   She came in around 9 P.M., with a man who looked a little older than her. It was not Pete. I was in the family room, waiting for her, half watching a TV show.

   "Oh, uh, Kelsey," she began, upon seeing me there. "I thought you'd be out tonight."

   I shrugged. "Nope."

   She looked embarrassed, but continued, "Oh, well, we are just-"

   "I'm Mark," the man told me, smiling.

   I could barely look at him. It was obvious why mom came home with a man, this late. They walked off towards her bedroom on the main floor. I couldn't bare the idea of hearing anything they may or may not be there to do, so I got up and went into the backyard. There was a plastic chair on the deck, so I sat, sighing heavily.

   MY MOM CAME HOME WITH A GUY, I sent to Tab.

   OH MAN. COME TO THE PARTY?

   MAYBE. I FEEL SO UNCOMFORTABLE HERE ALL OF A SUDDEN.

   COME! IT'S ON ROCKWAY DRIVE.

   I'LL TEXT YOU IN A BIT.

   I put down my phone on the chair beside me, thinking if I actually wanted to go get changed and go out to a party to meet Tab and Franky. I was already sort of in chill mode, but maybe the party would be better than sitting outside in cold to avoid what was happening inside.

   "Hey." I heard a voice, a bit of a distance away.

   I looked up instinctively, towards Sue and Bradley's back deck. Anderson was looking over the fence at me, wearing a blue hoodie and jeans.

   "Really?" I said, without thinking.

   "What?" He looked confused.

   "You're here. Don't you have a life in Minneapolis? Friends?"

   "I do."

   "But you're here, again."

   "My grandparents were surprised, too," he told me, then grinned.

   "I bet," I said, rolling my eyes.

   Now, he came closer to lean on the fence. Still, I was ten or more feet away, sitting. His expression was playful, at first. He seemed happy to see me. I was just... unsure.

   "I grew up here. My mom and my sisters live here," he went on. "My sisters go to your school, remember?" I nodded. "I moved to Minneapolis for work. I haven't been back here much, but..."

   "I'm actually heading out... to a party," I interrupted him, shifting a bit in the chair.

   "In a hoodie and sweat pants?" His smile told me he was kidding, but I still narrowed my eyes him.

   "No, I'm..." I tugged at the bottom of my Claremont High hoodie. It was two years old and a bit ratty.

   "I'm kidding," he told me, running a hand through his hair.

   "Oh, well..."

   "Can I see you tomorrow?" he spit out, raising his shoulders.

   I sighed, looking away from him. "I'm actually not going to the party."

  "No?"

  "No, I was going to go... but it's already sort of late," I said.

  "True," he agreed. "So, Kelsey?"

   I turned back to him, curious. "Yeah?"

   "Can I see you... tonight?"

   "What?"

   Anderson was quiet for a moment, thinking. I waited, wanting to know what he was about to do. "Can I come over?" he finally asked.

   "Oh, um," I started, not sure what to say. "Okay."

   "Okay?" he asked, to make sure.

   I nodded, so he quickly jumped the fence, landing on his feet with a bang in my mom's back yard.