My Life as the Ugly Stepsister (13 page)

Diane picked me up after she’d already run Caroline home. I started thinking about Jonathan again, and the next thing I knew, we were home. I was starting to think I had a problem. Could I be addicted to the guy? I hated having crushes, but I couldn’t seem to nip this one in the bud.

“Oh, Ally,” Diane said as we walked into the house. “You might be interested in this. I’m doing a project with polymer clay. I taped a few shows on how to do it, and I bought plenty of supplies. Do you want to make something with me?”

Okay, polymer clay is bright and happy. MC’s oldest sister makes jewelry for her all the time that I love. Polymer clay actually sounded like something I would be willing to spend time with Diane to do.

“Look in the bag,” she said, on her way down the hall. “I got forty different colors.”

I walked over to the counter, and saw the receipt at the top of the bag. She’d spent two hundred and twenty-seven dollars on clay. I was going to end up in plumbing school if she kept this up.

Diane came back in. “So what do you think?”

“It looks like fun,” I told her, careful to keep the bitterness from my tone. “But I’ve got loads of homework. Maybe next time.”

“Okay,” Diane said, barely sparing me a glance as she walked over to the counter and started sorting through her purchases.

Caroline and I settled in on the sofas downstairs and cranked through our homework. We had the television on in the background, reruns of
That Seventies Show
. If those guys weren’t a reason to study and go to college, I don’t know what was.

We watched prime time TV together and then both crawled off to bed. Caroline said her thighs were burning from all the cheering. I told her no way were they worse than mine.

When I got over to Jonathan’s at midnight, he wasn’t out yet. I petted the dogs and climbed onto the swing. By now, I had the hand of steadying it so it wouldn’t creak so much.

He finally slipped out the door thirty minutes later. “Sorry,” he said in a low voice. “I had a paper that was kicking my butt.”

“That sucks,” I said. I’d always thought of public school as lightweight. “What was it in?”

“AP American Government.”

“You’re taking an Advanced Placement class as a freshman?”

“Yeah. Just that one. It’s a long story, but my dad found out about this internship thing at the courthouse next summer. To qualify, I’d have to have this class.”

“What would you do at the courthouse?”

“I’m not really sure.” He handed me a blanket and rushed off to get the cot.

When he got back, he said, “Dad’s just real psyched about it. And it does sound interesting.”

“Is the class hard?”

“Nah. It’s just going to be a lot of work.”

I didn’t think I’d want to go into politics or anything. I tried to picture myself as a lawyer or a judge, and the image just didn’t come.

“Do you get credit for the internship?” I asked.

He didn’t answer and when I leaned up to get a good look at him, he was sound asleep.

He looked even more like his little brother when he was sleeping peacefully. I brought my head back down on my pillow and stared up at the stars until I drifted off.

Thursday night, my whole body ached. Four straight days of soccer practice had almost done me in. To be honest, sleeping on that crappy swing probably wasn’t helping either. But I wasn’t trading that for anything.

Jonathan and I were actually friends. We talked to each other. About important stuff. This morning, we’d been finishing each other’s sentences as we scrambled to put away the cot and blankets. I had high hopes that he saw me as more than a friend. I had caught him looking at me kind of funny. Besides, Liam and Caroline were a hot item now, so if he’d been interested in her…Just maybe he wasn’t anymore.

Despite the fact that my legs hurt with every step I took, I made my way over to Jonathan’s when everyone had gone to sleep.

I caught myself grinning whenever I thought about him. Basically, I had it bad. If he didn’t like me back, I was going to be devastated.

I crossed the dark yard to see my three boys, well the two dogs and Jonathan, chilling on the swing. As usual, he’d set up the cot.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Hey,” I whispered back. Tonight felt different for some reason. Special.

He got up and I sat on the swing. We’d long ago stopped arguing over it. He sat on the cot which was pulled so close to the swing, it was practically one big bed. “I missed you today,” he said so softly I had to strain to hear it.

“You did?”

“Yes.” Then, he did something unbelievable. He reached out and touched my cheek. Then, he leaned in and touched his lips to mine.

Oh God! I had been waiting for this for fourteen years, and it was finally here. My first real kiss. And it was wonderful. I put my hands on his shoulders and tried to kiss him back, but a loud squeak pierced the air.

We both froze.

“The swing,” he whispered.

We sat there for a moment with our arms around each other waiting for his parents.

They didn’t come.

“Try getting up really slowly,” he suggested, “and sitting on the cot with me.”

“Okay.”

I climbed off the swing without any more trouble. Except that when I stood up, so did Mojo and Buddy. They started jumping around and bumping into the cot and getting all excited.

“No, Mojo.”

“Sit,” Jonathan ordered.

The dogs ignored us. They decided it was time to play and headed across the yard. Then they started barking.

Crap!

Jonathan blanched. “Get back on the swing.”

I scrambled to obey. I didn’t see any alternative.

Jonathan climbed on the cot and stretched out. “Buddy,” he whispered. “Here boy.”

The dogs, seeing that we’d returned to bed, decided to call it a night. They piled in with me, the swing creaking as they did so.

“Stupid dogs,” Jonathan muttered.

“They’re like chaperones or something,” I said trying not to laugh.

Jonathan reached out and took my hand in his. “Tomorrow morning,” he said. “I’m kissing you.”

Elated, I answered, “You’d better.”

We fell asleep holding hands.

When I woke up, the dogs were going ballistic, and Jonathan was muttering something about, “Leave the joggers alone, Buddy.”

I smiled at Jonathan’s sleeping face next to me and squeezed his hand.

Then I realized we were not alone. The dogs weren’t barking at a jogger. They were barking at an intruder. Sadly, not a serial killer. Worse. Way worse.

Chapter Ten

Dads are generally oblivious, but God help you if they ever start paying attention.

–Ally’s Brutal Teen Truths

A tall form was standing over my head, and I looked up to see my dad, his face red with fury.

“Allison Margaret Wright.”

I jumped and released Jonathan’s hand. He was a split second behind me, jumping to his feet, and sputtering to my father that it wasn’t what it looked like.

My dad didn’t bother to be polite to Jonathan. He just said in this menacing tone, “I will deal with you later.” Then he turned to me. “Ally, get your butt inside.”

I got my butt inside. I ran as fast as I could back to Dad’s house.

Diane was standing in the kitchen pouring some orange juice. She was wearing a robe, and honestly she looked like hell. She must have forgotten her makeup this morning.

My eyes darted toward the hall, but I knew I couldn’t hide in my room. Once I explained, Dad would probably be reasonable. Yeah, right.

I stalked across the kitchen tiles to the table and pulled out a chair, which sent a noise of protest as it scraped against the floor. Dad stormed in milliseconds later, and a quick calculation told me that he hadn’t had enough time to do Jonathan bodily harm.

He slammed the front door so hard the paintings in the foyer rattled and the crooked pots danced over the stove.

Diane gave me a wide-eyed look revealing blood-shot eyes.

Before she could say anything, Dad said, “Diane, I need a moment with my daughter, please.”

My dad rarely lost his temper. Diane gulped, picked up her glass of juice, and left the room.

My dad walked over to the table, crossed his arms, and said in a menacing voice, “Now would you like to tell me why I found my fourteen-year-old daughter sleeping with a boy at the neighbor’s house?”

My mind raced with possible approaches to defuse his anger. I didn’t come up with anything that might work. Dad was furious. “I was trying to help Mojo.”

Dad raised a brow. “Mojo?”

“He was, um, barking a lot.” I kept my eyes on my fingernails. “So I went over there to quiet him down. He gets upset when I leave, and I didn’t want him to wake the whole neighborhood.”

“Diane told me he was doing fine. I haven’t heard him barking much at all.”

“Well,” I gulped and risked a glance at him. “Yeah. Because I’ve been going over there.”

This throbbing vein suddenly appeared on Dad’s forehead. I’d never noticed it before.

“Are you telling me that you’ve been sleeping over there every night?”

Oh, crap. I probably shouldn’t have shared that piece of information. “Yes,” I squeaked. “But it wasn’t anything bad, Dad. I was just keeping Mojo quiet.”

Through his clenched jaw, he asked, “And why was the boy there?”

Hmm. That wasn’t so easy to explain. “Well. I guess he felt sorry for me, so he slept on the cot.” Yeah, it wasn’t sounding so good.

“That doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“Well, um, I guess he was trying to help me keep his parents from noticing. I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

“You didn’t want to cause any trouble.” Dad’s vein throbbed. “Well, missy, you’ve got plenty of trouble now.”

See, I had already figured that part out for myself. I’m pretty clever that way.

“I don’t even know where to start. No. I do. Go to your room,” Dad ordered, pointing with a violent motion toward my room. “Now!”

I went. I heard Dad talking to Diane in the kitchen. Caroline came in, sleepy-eyed. “What’s going on? Are you okay? Is Ted yelling?”

I sat on the bed hugging my pillow to my chest. “Big mess. Not okay. Yes, he’s yelling.”

Caroline was immediately fully alert. She came in and shut the door. “Do tell.”

So, I told her. About the dogs and the nighttime talks and the sleeping outside.

She clapped her hands together. “Oh my God, Ally. Are you dating him?”

“No.” I shook my head. She was getting the wrong idea. “I don’t know if he really likes me. Except as a friend.”

“Did he kiss you?” Her face brightened at the juicy gossip.

“Well, yeah, but it was the middle of the night. It was like we weren’t really us, you know. Like magical sort of.”

“He likes you.” She grinned and sat on the bed bouncing with excitement.

She didn’t ask if I liked him. I guess it was pretty obvious. “I guess it doesn’t matter now anyway. I’ll never be allowed to leave my room again.”

“Sure you will,” Caroline said. “I’ll offer to keep an eye on you. That way I can close my eyes at just the right moments.”

“Dad won’t go for that. And I don’t know if there will be any more moments.”

“He can’t watch you all day and all night. He’s gone most of the time. Trust me. He’ll calm down.”

“Poor Mojo,” I said.

I showered and dressed for school, which wasn’t easy with my mind flying in a million directions at once. Jonathan kissed me. His beautiful face, the feel of his hands, Dad’s horror.

Finally, Dad delivered the verdict. He pointed for me to sit on the living room couch. He stood, towering over me as I glanced at the easel and the craft table. I’d never sat in here before.

“You will not go next door unless Caroline or Diane accompany you. Mojo will spend the days over there, and at night, he can sleep with you in the family room downstairs.”

Before I could comprehend it, he added, “And we’re installing an alarm system. There will be no more sneaking out.”

At least he wasn’t locking me in the house. “But…What about Diane’s allergies.”

Dad just gave me this exasperated look. “I guess she’ll double her antihistamines.”

Later, I realized what he really meant. Diane’s allergies trumped my dog. But my virginity trumped her allergies. Score one for me.

“Wow,” Diane said Friday evening while we waited for dad to get back from the grocery. We were grilling out. “I think he even did a search for chastity belts on the Internet.”

Caroline laughed from across the kitchen table. “They don’t make those anymore. Those were like medieval, right?”

“Nothing happened,” I said, sipping at my green tea. I was too downtrodden to argue when Diane handed it to me. As if my virginity were actually in danger. It had taken me fourteen years to get a real kiss. Plus, I had a pact with my friends. We weren’t having sex until we were at least eighteen. Yeah, the traditional catholic teaching was to wait until marriage, but we’d made some modifications. Eighteen seemed entirely reasonable. We weren’t going to end up pregnant teenagers. MC had an aunt who’d gone that route, and it hadn’t turned out well.

I’d learned that my dad had gotten a flight in the wee hours of the morning. He’d come in from the airport and checked on all of us. I wasn’t in my bed. Then at school, I’d been busted for passing notes in class, saved from total social ruin only by the cryptic nature of my conversation with Madison.

“I thought you were going out with your friends tonight, Caroline,” Diane said.

Caroline glanced at me. “I canceled. I thought you guys might need me around here.”

She’d ditched her friends to help me out? Wow. I was truly touched. “Thanks, Caroline.”

“Ted is wigging out pretty bad,” Diane said. “He did an extra two hours on the Nordic Track. I think the part that really got him was that you were holding hands while you slept.”

“What?” Caroline squealed. “You didn’t tell me that part. That’s even bigger than the kiss!”