AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ellie climbed off her bed and went to her closet, searching on the shelf above her clothes for the jewelry box with the Scottie dog shaped out of “gems” on its cover. She opened it up, and the song “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease started playing. She dug through several tangled necklaces to find the bracelet with the letters of her name scrolled in silver. She’d saved it. What a laugh.
She put it on and twisted her arm, letting the overhead light bounce off it.
Maybe she would wear it when she had sex with Tanner.
Maybe on the night of the overnight.
* * *
Bailey sat at the kitchen island beside Carmen, eating an oatmeal cookie, while Carmen’s mother and her own mother shared cups of coffee and conversation. Bailey had been surprised to find her mom at the Proffitts’, as the once-sacred Friday afternoon confab between the two women had sort of dissolved since Joyce split from Bailey’s dad and apparently took up with an old boyfriend from high school. When Joyce had rushed over to hug her, Bailey had tried to reciprocate, but truthfully, she was still pissed off at her.
Carmen’s mom, Elena, didn’t have any reservations, and she was sharing tea cookies and even a shot of bourbon in the tea with Joyce and generally having a grand old time when Carmen and Bailey showed up.
“You’re back,” Elena had said in surprise.
Joyce had momentarily frozen as well, then rushed over to Bailey as if to make up for the half second of shock at seeing her daughter. Though Elena and Joyce’s friendship had lasted through thick and thin, the Reverend Esau Proffitt still had problems with the fact that Joyce had left her husband. A wife cleaves to her husband and all that. Though Bailey wasn’t as old-fashioned and hard as the reverend, she, too, had struggled with her mother’s defection, seeing her less and less this last year and a half, even though she’d only moved about forty-five minutes away to Vancouver, Washington, across the Columbia River from Portland.
“My, your hair’s grown,” Joyce said, fluffing at Bailey’s ponytail.
“It does that,” said Bailey, swallowing a bite of cookie on a dry throat.
“Oh, you’re mean. Don’t be mean.” Her mother smiled at her indulgently but was already turning back to Elena. “How did my girl get so mean?”
Elena wasn’t as blithe as Joyce and offered a tentative smile in return.
“Bailey’s not mean,” Carmen defended. “Give us a break. We’re just heading toward graduation and a whole new world. It’s crazy scary.”
“Oh, I’m just kidding,” Joyce said.
Oh, sure, Bailey thought.
“Weren’t you going to Zora’s?” Elena asked as Joyce waggled her
cup in the direction of the bourbon bottle.
“Amanda’s,” Carmen corrected. “Zora took us there, but Amanda had some kind of audition, and then we just didn’t have plans, so we came back here. We can leave, if you’d rather be alone.”
“Don’t be silly,” Elena said, picking up the bourbon and bringing it to where Joyce was sitting, pouring a generous dollop into her mug.
“I’ve got to get home anyway,” Bailey lied.
“Pooh,” said Joyce. “You’re an adult.”
“Not eighteen till August,” Bailey pointed out.
“And you’re with your mother,” she singsonged.
Who’s drinking and laughing with her friend and doesn’t give a damn about me.
The words were on her tongue, but she reined them in. Nothing good ever came of arguing with either of her parents, though her dad was really easier to talk to, quicker to realize he’d maybe stepped in it with his youngest daughter. Joyce never seemed to get any wiser, which was completely fine in Bailey’s estimation. She’d left them with hardly a backward glance. Running into her at the Proffitts’ on the occasional Friday was more heartache than joy. Bailey had worked very hard on becoming inured to her, and for the most part, she’d succeeded. Her mom couldn’t get to her like she could to her older sister. Bailey warned Lill to toughen up, but Lill didn’t pay attention to Bailey and spent a lot of time still trying to be with their mother, setting herself up for disappointment time and time again.
“What kind of audition?” Joyce asked now.
“Mom,” Bailey said, pained.
“What?” She threw up her hands. “Can’t I ask anything?”
“I just . . .” For one terrible moment, Bailey thought she might actually tear up. She’d prided herself on being able to handle her emotions.
