“Yes, it’s the outcome we were hoping for.”
“How about a celebratory dinner at your place,” he suggests. “I could make my famous gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches.”
“My place?” I ask, confused, wondering why we’re not doing this at his loft.
“Yeah… well, I’m still not set up, you know,” he says. “I don’t even have a potato masher.”
I laugh. “I don’t have a potato masher either.”
“And you call yourself a good cook?”
I smile. “A goodbaker,” I clarify. “I never said anything about being a good cook.”
“Oh, you’re good all right,” he teases. “You’re good ata lot of things.”
* * *
It was early June,and the air was crisp and fresh. Spring had said goodbye and had left us flowers and leafy trees. Of course, being teenagers, we didn’t appreciate her offerings at all. Instead, we were hanging at the arcade, smoking up. Or Izzie was, to be precise. We were with Pete and his gang. A few of Izzie’s older cousins were there too, jerking at pinball machines, trying to impress two trampy girls milling about. Kelly and Karla were inseparable and rumor was, they were into threesomes. Karla wore short skirts and way too much eye makeup. And Kelly favored too-tight skinny jeans and heels she could barely walk in.
These were the kind of girls the boys in my neighborhood liked, and I was more than thankful for that. Most of them left me alone. I suppose they weren’t too aroused by my loose boy jeans and my Converses. And on the bus, my head was usually buried in a book.
“C’mon, Abby,” Izzie pleaded. “Justonetoke.”
I winced, not knowing what to do. I was surrounded by boys, and knew I had a goody-two-shoes reputation. I didn’t like it at all. I took the joint from Izzie’s fingers, and reluctantly brought it to my mouth. I inhaled a quick one, and coughed immediately.
The boys erupted into laughter. And so did Izzie. “Rookie,” Pete mocked.
Everyone was cracking up at my expense. Everyone but Gavin. He was standing in the corner, watching us. The look he shot me couldn’t have been interpreted any other way — the man was livid, like a dad catching his daughter. I knew he wouldn’t come to me, for fear of appearances. We were still being very careful, for his sake as well as mine.
I handed the joint back to Izzie. “I need a drink,” I announced and dashed off to the convenience store. Gavin followed me to the drinks refrigerator. I perused my choices, opened the glass door, and reached for an orange Gatorade.
“I’ll get that for you” he said, and then added in a whisper, “I want to talk to you.”
I stepped out of the convenience store, and he lingered inside for a while. My heart swelled when I caught sight of him.
“What were you doing?” he scoffed.
“It was just one toke,” I pointed out. “They were all doing it.”
“Oh, I see… and if they all jumped off a bridge, you would jump too?”
I smirked at him. “Depends. How high is this bridge?”
He shook his head. “Don’t be smart. I don’t want you to get into that stuff, okay. You promise me you never will?”
He was so worked up, I had no other choice but to agree with him. “Yes, Sir. I promise.”
“It’s not funny, Abigail. I don’t even want you to take up smoking. I watched my mother suffer from lung cancer for two years. No one should ever live through that.”
My eyes grew wide. He’d never talked about his mother before. “Was she okay?”
“No,” he snapped. “She died.”
“Oh…”
He inched closer and took my hand. “I don’t want you to get into all that stuff… smoking, weed, booze.”
“Trust me,” I said. “You don’t have to worry. I watch my dad every day, and my mom kind of left her mark when she fell off a cliff and left me motherless.”
