Radiant - By Christina Daley Page 0,34

right in front of Ba," she said. "Besides, it's not like that."

"Then what is it like?" Mom chased her down to the apartment. "Are you seeing him again?"

"I see him at school all the time."

"You know what I mean!"

Mary nearly threw her scope onto the floor. Why was she feeling defensive suddenly? Probably because she was seeing him again. "Saturday," she said.

"It's not like that, huh?" Mom said. "Isn't he the guy who was caught having sex with his girlfriend in one of the orchestra practice rooms last year?"

"That was a rumor," Mary said. And Mom actually hadn't heard it from Mary. It went through the grapevine of other parents who heard it from their own kids. It was quite the scandal. "And I think that was, like, three girlfriends ago. He's unattached now."

"How convenient," Mom said. "That certainly makes him citizen of the year."

Mary turned to her. "Look, I know what people think of him. What I thought of him. But…he's different now. Ever since the accident, he's changed. He's kind. He broke up with Laci because he said that was the best for her. And he doesn't hang around his sleazy friends anymore. He's really different. And Ba likes him. Aren't you the one who told me that Ba had always been a good judge of people's character?"

Mom crossed her arms. "I want to meet him."

"The hospital didn't count?"

"I want to meet him when he's conscious," she said. "Bring him by work on Saturday."

"I can't do that," Mary said.

"Bring him by or you'll have to postpone seeing him until I can go with you. It's only fair, since Ba got to meet him already." Mom dangled the sweater from her index finger.

Mary stared at her. She'd never had to deal with her mother like this before. And she didn't realize how angry she was until she saw the sweater again. Mary snatched it back. "We'll be there."

"I'll be waiting."

Mom went to bed, and Mary got ready for school. It was still pretty early, but being in the apartment with her mother seemed difficult this morning, even if she was asleep. So, Mary skipped breakfast and headed out. She meandered over to a nearby park, where she could still get to the bus stop on time, and sat on a bench. People were out jogging or walking their dogs. A pair of elderly men sat at a table playing chess.

Mary pulled out her sketchbook and started drawing whatever came across her path. Her mind wondered as her pencil moved. Why had she put up such a fuss with Mom? It's not like she had done anything wrong. But then again, it was Mom who started the nastiness.

Of course, Mary should've known that Mom would react that way. She had made some mistakes and hooked up with some bad people. It was only natural that she wanted to keep Mary from doing the same.

But Mary wasn't like that. She knew that every single choice had consequences. Even Mom admitted once that she was much more mature than she was at her age.

The pencil lead broke. Mary stared at her drawing and realized that she had put a black sweater on one of the men, when he was actually wearing a beige one. Frustrated, she brushed away the broken lead, causing a gray line to streak across the page.

Last night, Carter had said that he enjoyed being with her. Possessed or not, as much as she hated to admit it, Mary was starting to like being with him, too.

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- 15 -

Sci-Tech

Carter wasn't at school the next day. Mary wondered if he was okay, but no one talked about him in the hallways anymore. Since he hadn't done anything scandalous for a while, he was old news, and people had already moved on to the next juicy bit of gossip.

In the afternoon, Mary had brought a change of regular clothes and grabbed the bus to the university. She'd been there once before to see a play with Ba and Mom. It was Pinocchio, but really different from the Disney movie. Mary remembered loving the elaborate sets and costumes.

She walked around the campus for a bit before asking a pair of college kids where the science and technology building was.

"Sci-Tech?" one of the girls said. "It's that big ugly building over there."

Mary looked where she pointed and saw a pimple of a concrete structure that was all age and no charm. "That's it?"

"Yeah. Piece of crap, huh?" the girl