a private school for her, the public one for this neighborhood was the kind that had a surplus of revenue. They had all the best clubs and sports equipment, so there were a few ways to keep her out of trouble and engaged. From a parent's point of view, it didn't really get much better. That didn't necessarily mean my daughter would agree.
"It's really fancy," she finally admitted. "And white. Everyone's white but me and like three other students. Samantha's black. Anyway, it's kinda weird, but Roman says no one cares. He also said I'd probably have a lot of kids ask for help with their Spanish homework. I figured I could charge a fee."
Yep, that was my little girl, always looking for the angle. "Go for tutoring. That makes it look impressive on a resume." And made me feel a lot better than thinking she was charging for homework answers.
"Something like that," she promised. "But I told Samantha we'd just moved here, and she wanted to know if that meant we couldn't hang out. I guess most of the rich kids from this place don't slum it with the ones outside the walls?"
"And we are neither rich nor stuck on ourselves. If your friends want to come over, they can. We just need to clear them at the gate first." Then I decided to add, "So this Roman guy is like your mentor or something?"
"He's a friend."
That short, simple answer said a lot more than she knew. "Did you get his number at least? I mean, in case you have any more questions? And because he's kinda cute."
Her lips immediately curled upwards. "Mom!"
"What?" I asked, feigning innocence. "Is he a senior?"
"Sophomore," she corrected. "And he said when he gets his license in a few weeks, he'll let me ride to school with him."
"Sounds serious," I teased.
She rolled her eyes. "I just met him, Mom."
"Ok, let me rephrase that. Sounds like he kinda likes you. That's a good thing, Gabby. And it's not something you have to hide from me. I told you that you're allowed to date once you're in high school. You're in high school, so I'm rooting for you."
Slowly, she looked up at me. "Yeah?"
For a brief second, I thought about asking her how she felt about me starting to date, but I didn't want to lose this moment. I could wait. My little girl would only be in ninth grade once. She'd only fall in love for the first time once. After the move and all the disarray in her life, she deserved to enjoy this for just a little bit.
"All I want is for you to be safe and happy, ok?"
"Mom!" she groaned. "Really? You're going to dump the sex talk into this?"
I laughed, unable to help myself. "I was actually thinking more like abusive boys and drunk driving, since I think you know enough about sex to make good decisions. I just want you to be happy. I want you to find a boy who cares about you enough to put you first in all things." I held up a hand. "And I'm only partially talking about sex. Mostly I mean the little things. The right man will never put you second to anything. Not his sport, or his friends, or anything else, ok?"
She suddenly got very focused on the apple slices and caramel dip she'd found. "You mean like how Dad ignored us?"
Those words were a divorced mother's worst nightmare. I wanted to scream yes, but at the same time, I wanted to reassure her that no, her father had always loved her. The reality was somewhere in the middle, and she'd just dropped me down on a tightrope. I was struggling to find my balance.
"Your father loved you in his own way, but I left because I thought we both deserved more," I told her, hoping I hadn't screwed that up too bad.
Gabby scooped out a dollop of caramel and shoved the entire apple slice into her mouth, lifting a hand to shield her chewing when she said, "You think he's jealous, knowing we live here?"
"I honestly don't know."
She nodded as if I'd just said yes. "I think he is. I also think it serves him right. Roman said it's his fault that we had to move, and that if he'd been a good dad, he would've made sure we never wanted to leave."
"Sometimes people grow apart, Gabby. That doesn't mean anyone is wrong, just that the arrangement is."
"Huh." She dipped another