hands on my shoulders and looked at me in the mirror. “Stop coming up with all the reasons it won’t work and think about the reasons it will.”
I smiled back at her. “How did you get so smart?”
With a shrug, she said, “I have no idea. Definitely doesn’t run in the family.”
“Hey!” I cried.
Laughing, she turned and walked out of the room.
I put the final touches on my makeup, shrugged on my uniform blazer, and walked toward the front door. But when I reached to get my keys off the rack, the one to my car wasn’t there.
“Mom!” I yelled. “Have you seen my keys?”
When she didn’t answer, I went to her bathroom, where I knew I’d find her doing the twins’ hair before school.
“Mom.”
She looked up at me from the ribbon she was tying in Tarra’s braid. “Yes?”
“Where did Dad put my keys?”
“He pocketed them.” She finished the bow and stood.
“What?”
“Go on, girls,” she said to the twins and waited until they were out of the bathroom to turn to me. “Your car privileges have been revoked until further notice.”
My gut was sinking, but my fury was rising. “You can’t do that. I have to get to school.”
“I can drive you and Cori,” she said and began walking toward the living room.
I followed hot on her heels. “This is insane. You’re punishing me for having asthma? I didn’t choose to have an asthma attack, not in eighth grade, and not now!”
She still didn’t make eye contact as she grabbed her purse from the counter and continued toward the door. “Come on, girls,” she yelled. “Time to go. You too, Cori.”
Cori eyed me from the living room couch, shocked. Apparently she hadn’t heard of my punishment before now either.
Once the girls started down the sidewalk, Mom whirled on me. “We’re not punishing you for having an asthma attack. We’re punishing you because you drove two hours to some boy’s house and spent the night, all while leaving your medication at home. You could be pregnant, or dead, and now we have a ten-thousand-dollar hospital bill coming our way. You’re lucky we don’t sell the car to pay for it.” She spun and continued to the car.
I gaped behind her. “You can’t do this.”
“I can and I will.” She stood at the driver’s side door and stared me down. “Now get in.”
I stared at her until all my frustration and anger and despair flowed through my eyes. I hated that I cried when I got angry. Why did my eyes always give me away?
I pressed my lips together and continued to the other side of the car. I sat in the back, as far away from Mom as I could get, and tried to focus on school, on the conversation I’d have with Ray. But no matter how I pictured it, the outcome didn’t look anywhere near as hopeful as I’d thought before.
Fifty-Two
When I got out of the van, I scanned the parking lot for Ray’s truck. He wasn’t here yet, so I waited for him on a bench in front of the school. Sitting on the cold metal while everyone walked quickly into the warm building made me feel like a huge stalker, but there was no way I would start the school day without apologizing to Ray and seeing where we stood.
Dugan walked by and said, “Homeless much?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Good one. Who are you going to make fun of next? Someone with a disability maybe?”
He scowled at me. “I guess it’s true then. The only difference between gingers and terrorists is that you can negotiate with terrorists.”
“Oh my gosh,” I said, my voice rising with each word. I rose to full height and squared my shoulders. “Get out of here, Dugan! NOW!”
Looking around like he was worried someone might actually find out (or care) he violated the zero-tolerance bullying policy, he muttered an obscenity and left. The encounter drained me, and I fell back onto the bench.
My phone showed ten minutes before the first bell was set to ring, and Ray still hadn’t showed. A new chat came through on my phone, and my heart raced. Could it be him?
Zara: You coming to the lockers? We want to know how it went with Ray!
With a sigh, I responded to the message.
Ginger: It hasn’t. He’s not at school yet – waiting outside for him.
The sound of deep, rumbling engine perked my ears. No one at the school had a vehicle that made that kind of sound.