Chapter 6: Good Samaritan, Part 1

When we got home from shopping, Abby parked around back, and we went in the kitchen door. Aunt Beth was tinkering over a pot on the stove. "Welcome home, girls! Dinner will be ready in ten minutes."

I wasn't sure I had enough energy left to absorb Aunt Beth's pep, but ten minutes to myself would let me decompress enough to not implode under the pressure of familial obligation during dinner.

I went up to my room and dropped my bag on the floor. I had a never-ending pile of homework. Most of my teachers were nice and hadn't expected me to make up the work they'd assigned earlier in the year, but my English Comp and Algebra teachers did.

For English, I had to write two four-page essays on any two books on the syllabus. Thankfully, I'd already read some of them, so that would cut my work time in half. And with only two months left in the school year, I'd take any advantages I could get.

For Algebra, I had to make up all five of the quizzes the class had been given. Mr. Lozada had explained it was because the year-end test required me to know all the information, so taking the quizzes was "to my benefit." At least I liked math. Sort of.

Blowing out a breath, I looked around the room - I still couldn't get used to calling it my room. Maybe I never would. A heavy sadness settled on my chest, and I longed to have Mom here with me, to hear her soft voice and words of wisdom. I grabbed the urn from the dresser and carried it to the bed.

"Hi, Mom. I started at my new school today. Abby was helpful, and I made some friends who seem nice enough. Don't worry, I didn't find a boyfriend." I smiled wistfully, then sighed. "Although, there is this one boy."

Trent's face flashed in my mind, and a ball of unease curled in my stomach.

"He's. . . cute." Okay, that was an understatement. He was the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen. "He was cool, but I think he was just being polite."

I chewed on my bottom lip, praying I'd hear Mom's voice and her soothing words, but they never came. Closing my eyes tightly to defend against the impending tears, I took a deep breath. She couldn't talk to me, but that didn't mean I had to stop telling her about my day. Somewhere, wherever she was, she was listening. And, I prayed, that she was forgiving me, too.

After replacing the urn, I stepped out of my room to head downstairs for dinner. "Oh, hey," I said, surprised to find Abby in the hall.

"Get any homework done?" She started down the stairs.

"Yeah, right. It's going to take me a month just to catch up on all the back assignments."

"Well, let me know if you need any help," she said.

"I will. Thanks."

Abby stopped and grabbed my arm, turning me to face her. "Marc asked me to meet him tonight at Bushnell Falls."

Marc must be the guy she'd been flirting with.

"Cool. Have fun." I pushed her hand off my arm and turned to go downstairs, but she grabbed me again. Her sharp fingernails dug into my skin a lot harder than necessary.

"No, you don't understand. Mom and Dad won't let me go, especially if they know I'm meeting a guy there."

"So, what do you want me to do about it? Ask them for you?" She was crazy if she thought I was going to do that. "Seriously, can you let go of my arm? Another second and you're going to draw blood," I said.

"Oh, sorry."

She let go of me, and I tried to rub the impression of her fingernails away.

"No, I want you to cover for me. After dinner, we can tell them we're going out, that I'm going to show you around town or introduce you to some of my friends or whatever. I don't know, we'll tell them something." She waved her hand as if those little details didn't matter. "But you'll drop me off to meet Marc instead."

She wasn't serious, was she? The determination and pleading in her eyes were the only answer I needed. My second night here and she wanted me to lie to Aunt Beth and Uncle Dean? I couldn't believe she was asking me to do this. Of course… if I dropped her off, that meant I'd have her car. I could go anywhere I wanted. Not that I had any idea where to go, but it could be fun to explore the town.

"Okay, fine," I said.

Abby squealed and clapped her hands. "I owe you one, Chloe."

I nudged her down the stairs. "We'll talk about repayment later. Right now, I'm hungry."

As soon as we were all seated at the table, Uncle Dean asked, "So, how was your first day?"

"Not bad. Everyone was very friendly," I said, my gaze fixed on my food: pork chops, rice, and mixed vegetables.

"That's great. If there's anything else you need or want for your room just ask." Aunt Beth took a bite of food, then swallowed. "We can figure out a way to get it for you."

"As you know, Abby has her own car. It's not much, but it runs good." Uncle Dean smiled. "She has already been informed that she needs to share it with you." He gave Abby a stern look. "Curfew is ten on school nights. Eleven on weekends."

I picked at my food, taking a small bite. Mom had never given me a curfew. She trusted me.

"And on school breaks," Abby added.

Her father grunted. "We all live in this house, and we all make messes in this house. So, we'll all clean this house. Everyone has to do their part."

"Oh, Dean." Aunt Beth swatted at him. "I think the list of rules can wait a night or two. Let Chloe get settled and adjusted to being in a new place. Poor girl's barely been here a whole day, and you're reciting the rules like a prison guard."

I gave Aunt Beth a grateful smile and continued to pick at my food. The only rules I had with Mom were don't fail school and don't get pregnant. She was my best friend.

My breath caught, and the threat of tears burned my eyes. I took a drink of water to stop from sobbing right at the table.

Aunt Beth asked a lot of questions about my first day while Abby chattered almost nonstop about how she helped me all day and how her friends were so excited to get to know me. If Rachel's lukewarm welcome was Abby's definition of so excited, I'd hate to meet someone who truly didn't like me.

Then, Abby asked about going out after dinner. I expected Uncle Dean to have something to say about it, but he didn't. He simply reminded us of curfew. Aunt Beth was happy to let us go. I think she was relieved to know I was willing to socialize.

After dinner, I cleaned off the table and put the leftovers in the refrigerator while Abby loaded the dishwasher and wiped down the counters. We were done and out of the house within thirty minutes.