A Life Like Mine (21 page)

              “Ewwww! No. Jeez, Tina. Could you be subtler? That’s disgusting. Who do you think I am? Lena?” I asked.

              “She didn’t mean anything by it, Ash. You know how she is. The body of a high school student, but the mind of a preschooler.” Jennifer giggled.

              “Hey, I resent that!” Tina defended.

              “You didn’t remember you were wearing a thong. Come on, it’s true isn’t it?” Allie smiled.

              “Fine, be that way. Anyway, what’s wrong with you and Adam?” Tina turned her attention to me.

              “His court case is over,” I told them.

              “That’s awesome! How rough was the judge on him?” Keri asked.

              “Well…” I answered, proceeding to fill them in on the whole ugly truth.

              “But Hank offered!” Betty gasped.

              “Why didn’t he agree to live with Hank?” Allie asked.

              “He said that he thought he would get in the way of Hank’s plans, and he didn’t know that Hank was willing,” I informed them.

              “What are you going to do then?” Tina asked.

              “I don’t know. I don’t want to break up with him, but I don’t want to have to feel totally depressed when he leaves.”

              “You’ll feel depressed when he leaves whether or not you’re going out with him. Breaking up with him would just be a technicality,” Betty wisely told me.

              “I think you should talk to him and try to get him to move in with Hank and reopen his case in court,” Allie suggested.

              “Adam doesn’t have the money to reopen his case,” I said.

              “There has to be a stipulation to the ruling. I mean, if Adam does find a guardian here before this weekend, couldn’t he stay here?” Jennifer asked me.

              “I don’t know. Wouldn’t that be great if it was that way?” I replied.

              “You really like him don’t you?” Betty asked.

              “Of course I do. I love being with him. He’s the nicest guy there is,” I replied. “I just wish that he hadn’t gotten himself into trouble like this.

              “You love him don’t you?” Tina giggled.

              “I didn’t say that! Why are you laughing at me?” I smiled.

              “You’ve got a milky I’m-in-love-look in your eyes,” Jennifer added, joining in on Tina’s laughter.

              “Oh my gosh! You and Adam sitting in a tree!” Allie said.

              “K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Keri continued.

              “Cut it out. I don’t love Adam. I just like him a lot.” I started laughing.             

              “First comes love, then comes marriage…” Betty contributed.

              “Seriously, stop.” I quit laughing, and everyone else’s laughter subsided after they saw the worried look on my face.

              “We’ll find something to do. Don’t worry. Everything will turn out all right. We promise. Right, ladies?” Keri asked locking her locker.

              “Right!” They all replied. The bell rang and all the girls left while I was putting my clothes into my locker. Somebody tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, yelping in surprise.

              “Hi.”

              “Hi, Annie,” I answered solemnly. Her face was sullen, and her eyes were puffy from crying. “Are you okay?” I asked.

              “I should be asking you that. I’m so sorry you had to find out that your boyfriend is leaving the state like that,” Annie said sniffling.

              “It’s okay. I’ll figure something out. Lena’s just a pain,” I told her, slightly smiling. “What about you? You look like you’ve been crying.”

              “I’m so sorry, I should have listened to you. I shouldn’t have blown up at you like I did at the park,” Annie blurted out.

              “Oh.” I heaved a sigh of relief. “Don’t even worry about it. I was in the wrong too. I should never have said anything like that about someone you like, especially your boyfriend. Let’s go to class, we’ve already lost a few minutes. We don’t want to get a detention for loitering in the hallways.” I led Annie outside to the silent hallways.

              “Ex-boyfriend,” Annie corrected me.

              “Really?” My face brightened, and then I recovered, acting sympathetic. “I’m so sorry.”

              “Yeah. I broke up with him after he threw you and me off of him. I didn’t know that he could be so cruel. He was so nice to me. When I broke up with him he told me that he was glad. He said he didn’t like the way that he couldn’t…that he couldn’t ‘nail me.’ He said I wasn’t worth it. He only dated me because he liked me body,” Annie confided.

              “That’s terrible. He’s such a horrible loser. A male wenchwad.” I comforted her.

              “A what?”

              “Never mind. He’s just bad.” I smiled.

              “Thanks. I should have listened to you. You knew what he was all about,” Annie scolded herself.

              “Let’s not talk about it anymore. Forgive and forget. There’s no point in talking about it anymore. We both know how wrong we were and it’s over. Okay?” I told her.

              “Of course. Deal! I totally understand what you’re talking about,” Annie commented.

              “Good. I’ll tell you what. I promise that by the end of today, I will have found a way to get back at Tom for you. Okay?” I said.

              “Okay. He was really awful to me. Skinhead.” Annie snickered.

              “That gives me an idea. I’ll talk to you later okay?” I asked.

              “Well, I also think that I have a way that we can get back at Lena. She’s totally wretched too. She’s the captain of the cheerleading squad, right?” Annie asked.

              “And?” I inquired.

              “I was reading the rulebook yesterday, and if all of the other cheerleaders agree, she can be kicked off the squad for good.”

              “No way!” My jaw dropped open. “How are you going to get Jill and Liz, her most faithful shadows to see the light?”

              “They like me. They like me a lot. I think there is some serious brainwashing in order here.” Annie giggled.

              “You’re evil. I like it!” I smiled. “Maybe we should do something to mess with how Lena looks, she’d be kicked off for sure then.”

              “Good idea. Why don’t you plan it while I do a number on the other nimrods? And thanks, I can be crafty at times.” Annie’s face was getting back its natural glow. She was one of the prettiest girls in school. I’m sure there was a guy in my group who would be thrilled to go out with her. Maybe I could set her up with somebody.

              “You start Operation Takeover, and I’ll find a way to hit Tom where it hurts.”

              “Okay. See you later,” Annie said as she walked away.

              “Bye.” I walked towards my locker when a strong set of hands grabbed me from behind and brought me into them. I jumped in shock. Turning around, I found it to be the strong arms of my extra babelicious boyfriend. My boyfriend. Man, I like the sound of that. My back was up against his chest. WHOO! He definitely had a six-pack. NICE! Oh…SHUSH! Just because I noticed doesn’t mean that I’m a perve. Deal with my hormones for the moment!

              “Hi, sweetie. I really want to talk to you. You ran out yesterday. By the time I got away from consoling Annie, you were gone. You said you had to think. What have you been thinking?” He kissed my neck.

              “Well…” I shivered, smiling. “My aren’t we frisky?”

              “Hey, I’ve got to make my last days here count.” Adam hugged me closer.

              “About that.” I wriggled out of his hold, suddenly uncomfortable. Hold on, let me just pause it here. Isn’t he kind of…ok…I’ll say it…horny? I mean, come on. Couldn’t he put his hormones in check? I don’t get it, last year all of the guys I knew didn’t really think we were girls, and then suddenly they realized something. “Hey, they have boobs!” What an amazing discovery for them, huh? Sorry, back to Adam.

              “What?” Adam’s eyes glowed with a look of…I can’t quite describe it. I’m going to have to ask him later what’s he’s thinking when he looks at me like that.

              “That’s what I had to think about,” I replied.

              “Listen, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I just didn’t know how to break it to you. Please forgive me. I don’t want to end our relationship on bad terms.”

              “Why are you so laid back about this?” I asked.

              “What do you mean?”

              “You’re just going to sit back and take it?” I looked at him.

              “Take what?”

              “The fact that you have to move,” I reminded him.

              “I’ve moved before.”

              “But you didn’t have me be in love with you before.” I got a little upset. Oops. Great job, Ashley. You just admitted to loving him! Great way to make a guy go run and hide. That’ s one thing about guys, when they hear the word L-O-V-E too soon, and don’t feel it back, they run like those little hamsters on their wheels. Heehee. Those hamsters are funny to watch! Anyway, now I was in for it. He probably couldn’t wait to leave now.

              “I don’t know what to say,” Adam whispered.

              “Don’t say anything. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.” I closed my eyes in embarrassment. You know, the kind where you want to crawl underneath a rock and never come out. Well, you wouldn’t crawl out unless it smelled funny in there, and who wants that?

              “It’s okay. I didn’t know you liked me that much. I like you a lot too, but I’m just not ready to…you know, return the feelings?” He kissed my hands.

              “I’m not either. I don’t know why I said that. Wow, you are all for PDA aren’t you?” I smiled.

              “Duh! But, I just want to say that I don’t want to commit to saying anything when I’m not positive that’s what I feel. I don’t want to say that unless I really mean it.”

              “That’s what’s great about you.” I grinned at him.

              “I know that I’m great,” He complimented himself.

              “Well, yes you are!” I laughed. “Why don’t you go and talk to Hank. If you live with him then you don’t have to leave me. I don’t want to miss you.” I pleaded.

              “It’s not that simple.”

              “What makes it complicated?” I wondered out loud.

              “I can’t live with Hank.”

              “Why? You think he doesn’t want you? I know he wants you to live with him. He told me so himself. I know it! You have to.” I stopped speaking because I realized that I was getting worked up over nothing. Man, why did Hank have to point that out to me? Life was so much simpler when you could freak out and throw random objects at someone’s head without feeling remorse. What was the world coming to? I decided to calm down as Adam spoke.

              “He’s leaving as soon as I go to school.”

              “Yeah, for his job opportunity, but he could stay if you asked. He wants to a…” I stopped short. Hank didn’t tell me that I could inform Adam about how he wanted to adopt Adam.

              “Wants to what?” Adam prodded.

              “Agree to have you live with him,” I fumbled over my words.

              “I know, but Hank’s having money problems.” He combed his hand through his hair.

              “What?” I squinted my eyes.

              “He’s low on money. He can’t finish college so he took the first job offer he could get.” Adam’s eyebrows showed his concern.

              “But he told me that he was staying here to finish his finals, and he told me that he had a great job in line. He said that the job was a great break for him,” I answered confused.

              “That’s what he says.”

              “What’s the truth?” I put my hands on my hips.

              “If you must know,” Adam shook his head at the sadness of the situation, “All the money he had in the bank was lost in the stock market. He made some bad choices in investments. He couldn’t finish school because he couldn’t finance it. He got a job that would make him enough money. An amount that is just enough for him to get by, but he has to say goodbye to school. Nothing more can be done. He’s only staying until I leave.”

              “Why would Hank lie to me about that though?” I looked at Adam in disbelief.

              “Who wants to admit they made a bad economic move?”

              “No one,” I agreed, shaking my head.

              “He’s proud. He doesn’t want handouts. That’s not his style, I know what kind of a guy Hank is.”

              “And I don’t?” I was getting upset again.

              “I didn’t mean that.”

              “I just didn’t think of Hank not being able to be your guardian. It just didn’t occur to me.” I hugged him.