“Did he kiss you good night?”
No, he kissed me good-bye, I answered to myself. Throwing her off me, I rolled over and muttered, “Can’t you see I’m trying
to sleep?” Can’t you see I’m trying to die?
“Come on, Jenny. Tell me.”
“Go away, Van.” My voice cracked. “Leave me alone.”
She sank down beside me and rested her head next to mine. “What happened, Jenny? Are you okay?”
No. And I’m never going to be okay. To Van, I said, “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Jen—”
“Just go!” I shouted at her.
“All right.” She bounced up. “God.” She padded to the door. “Excuse me for caring.” The door slammed.
Sunday morning I was awakened by an earthquake. When my eyes flew open, I realized the only thing shaking was my bedroom door.
“Jenny, are you deaf?” Dad bashed it again. “I’ve been calling you for ten minutes.” The door creaked.
“Don’t come in!” I cried. “I’m naked.” Covering my head with my pillow, I added a muffled, “And deaf, too.”
“You have a phone call,” he said.
There was no one in the whole wide world I wanted to talk to. Lifting the corner of the pillowcase, I murmured, “Who is it?”
“One of your many admirers.”
That didn’t even warrant a reply.
Dad strolled into my room, carting the laundry basket.
“Did I say ‘Enter’?” I threw off the pillow.
He said, “You know, if you’d fold your clothes and put them away, it’d save me a couple of loads of laundry a week.” He tossed
my white jeans and a pair of underwear into the basket.
That got me up. “I’ll do that,” I said. “Just go.”
He sighed and headed for the door. “The phone?”
“I’m coming,” I snarled. Geez, he sounded more like a mother every day. Maybe it wasn’t healthy for a dad to play Mr. Mom.
Too much gender bending.
I threw on my robe and padded down the hall. A knot of fear clenched my stomach. What if it was Kevin? Then a surge of hope
loosened the knots. What if he was calling to apologize? What if everything was back to normal? What if last night never happened?
My hand felt sweaty as I lifted the receiver. “Hello?” I said in a shaky voice.
“Solano.”
My hope crashed through the floorboards. “Yeah. Hi, Max.”
“Today. Two o’clock. Peacemobile.”
I exhaled wearily. “I don’t know—”
“Be there.” The phone buzzed in my ear.
Hey, who was the leader of the Snob Squad, anyway? Right, Jenny, I answered myself. I couldn’t even take charge of my own
life.
“Good morning, sweetheart.” Mom came in from the living room. She kissed me on the cheek.
What was
her
problem?
“How was your date?” she asked.
“Short,” I said.
“Oh?” She cocked her head. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Like what? I thought. You gave birth to a loser? “No,” I answered.
Dad moseyed in from the hallway. Setting the laundry basket on the basement landing, he refilled his coffee cup and said,
“I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, which the rest of us finished three hours ago.”
My eyes flickered up to the kitchen clock. Holy moly, it was almost noon. Usually I slept late on weekends, but not past
Xena: Warrior Princess
. Today I just wanted to go back to bed, for like forever.
“Something happened last night during Jenny’s date,” Mom said to Dad. They exchanged knowing glances, although I wasn’t sure
what they knew.
Dad said, “Did he put the moves on you?”
“Robert!” Mom whapped him. To me, she said, “Did he?”
“Don’t I wish,” I mumbled.
Dad said, “He loves her, he loves her, he loves her.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
I looked at him funny. He was definitely losing it. In a sigh, I said, “Where’s Vanessa?”
“At orchestra rehearsal,” Mom said. “For the Young Performers concert tomorrow night. Which reminds me, you’ll need to find
a nice outfit to wear. Preferably something hanging in your closet, as opposed to on the floor. If you need anything washed,
you’d better get it downstairs.”
I tuned Mom out around the word
tomorrow
. For me, there was no tomorrow. I did feel bad about the way I’d snapped at Vanessa last night and wanted to apologize. Especially
since it might be my last act on Earth.
Mom stopped me on the way back to my room. “Jenny,” she said, “does this have anything to do with that stolen money? Were
you right? Did Kevin steal it to buy you those presents?”
All I could do was shake my head. I didn’t even finish the shake before it struck me. “How’d you know about that?”
Mom looked at Dad. Neither one answered.
“I’ll kill her!” I cried. Clenching both fists, I screamed at the ceiling, “Vanessa, you snoop!” I charged down the hall and
into her room. I didn’t know what I was looking for. Something personal, something to trash. Vanessa had been in my room.
She’d been reading my food diary. Even worse, she’d shared it with Mom and Dad.
The first thing I stumbled into was her music stand. As it toppled over, pages of sheet music fluttered to the floor. Without
thinking, I grabbed one up and ripped it in half.
“Jenny!” Mom yanked at my hand. “What are you doing?”
“She invaded my privacy,” I said. “I’m going to kill her.” In a twisting motion, I wrenched away from Mom. As I started to
tear the next sheet of music, tears pooled in my eyes. How could she? My own sister. And she had the gall to make me feel
guilty about not trusting her last night. Ooh!
“Jenny, stop it!” Hands grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. “Vanessa wasn’t in your room. I was. I read your diary.”
Through heavy tears, I blinked up. My fuzzy vision cleared. I had to blink again. I couldn’t believe it. “Dad?”
D
ad held up both hands. “I confess,” he said. “I know I shouldn’t have, but your notebook was sitting there on your pillow.
It looked like a school report or something. I just went in to change your sheets because I forgot to tell you girls that
I was moving the wash day for sheets and towels from Tuesday to Friday.”
An echo sounded in my head. He loves her, he loves her—oh, my God. He’d read that far?
My eyes blinked over to Mom. She smiled meekly and said, “Your father told me about it last night. If I’d known, I never would’ve
let you go out with that boy.” She shot eye daggers at Dad.
He sniped at her, “I told you I was sorry. I thought it was Jenny’s business, not ours.”
Mom huffed. She said to me, “I agree it was wrong of your father to read your diary, but really, Jenny. Some of the stuff
in there is serious. Is it true, about the stolen money?”
I blinked back to Dad. “You read my diary?”
“I didn’t know. Okay, I figured it out and probably should’ve stopped. But then I got to the part about the money and…” He
shrugged.
“You read my diary,” I said again. “You broke into my room and read my diary.”
“I didn’t
break
in.” He widened his eyes at me. “It was time to change the bedding and—”
I stiff-armed my way between them.
“Jenny, your father wasn’t invading your privacy. He—we—would never do that.”
At Vanessa’s door I stopped and spun. “As of this moment, you are no longer my parents. I divorce you.” With that, I slammed
the door in their faces.
All the way to Max’s house, I fumed. How could they? How could
he?
And how could
she
support him? They always taught us to respect each other’s privacy. We weren’t even allowed to enter each other’s rooms without
knocking; without verbal permission. When did the rules change? When did my privacy become less important than theirs?
Tears streamed down my cheeks. I’d never forgive him. Never. The three-mile walk to Max’s was a blur. I was so angry and hurt
and hollow. Losing Kevin wasn’t enough; now I’d lost my family.
Thank God for the Snob Squad, I thought. At least my friends were true blue.
When I arrived at the Peacemobile, Max and Prairie were already there. “Hey,” I mumbled, hauling myself up into the minivan.
I flopped onto the flowered sofa in my usual spot. “Don’t ask me for any money because I won’t be inheriting the family fortune.
I just divorced my parents.”
Neither of them spoke. I glanced up. They both glared at me, with something like hatred in their eyes.
“What?” I said.
Max broke her glare and stared up over my head. “Where’s Lyd?” she said.
“How should I know?” I answered. “Probably at ballet. Probably her mother is picking her up and bringing her here because
she has a mother she loves and trusts.”
They still didn’t ask. What did I have to do, slit my belly open and spill my guts all over the floor?
Prairie just sat and stared at me. She’s still mad about last night, I thought. Okay, it was my fault the date ended early.
So report me to the date police.
The silence was staggering. I hated knowing Prairie was mad at me. Just as I opened my mouth to apologize for the hundredth
time, the door to the Peacemobile slid open and Lydia climbed in. “What’s the emergency?” she said. Her eyes darted around.
They stopped on me. A frown furrowed her brow. “Jenny, what’s wrong?”
Well, finally! Someone who cared. “My father’s been sneaking into my room and reading my diary,” I told her.
“You keep a diary?” Lydia asked. “Don’t you lock it?”
“No,” I said. “I mean, it’s my food diary. It didn’t come with a key.”
Lydia slid in beside me. “So, what’s to see in your food diary?”
“It’s more than that. I was writing a bunch of personal stuff, too.”
Behind her glasses, Lydia’s eyes magnified. “How personal?”
“Very personal.”
“Like how you accused Kevin of stealing Mrs. Jonas’s and Ms. Milner’s money?” Prairie piped up.
My face flared. “I never accused him,” I said. “I only mentioned that it was a coincidence about the money and my presents.
And I mean, come on. He’s going to spend his own money on me? Where did he get that much money? It’s obvious he isn’t rich.”
Prairie exhaled exasperation. She shook her head.
“When was this?” Lydia twisted to face me.
I heaved a heavy sigh. “Last night.”
“At your date?”
“Yes!” I snapped at her.
Lydia’s jaw dropped.
“I only asked him if he did it. I never accused him.”
“Same difference,” Lydia said.
Oh, thanks a lot, I thought.
Max asked, “So, what did he say?”
I looked at her. “What would
you
say?”
She shrugged.
“Really, Max.” I shifted my weight to face her. “If I asked whether you took Mrs. Jonas’s and Ms. Milner’s money, what would
you say?”
Her face darkened. “Do you think I did?”
I threw up my hands. “That’s just what Kevin said. Right before he threw me out of his house. And his life.” A lump lodged
in my throat.
Suddenly it grew deathly quiet. Prairie and Max both had the same look of contempt on their faces that Kevin had carved forever
in my memory. “What?” I barked at them.
Max’s eyes dropped and she slugged down a Coke. Prairie kept staring. To her I added, “Didn’t you for a minute suspect Hugh?”
“Hugh?” Her voice rose. “N-no way.”
Now I really felt like a dirtball. I’d managed to alienate everyone: my sister, my boyfriend, my friends. And I was still
no closer to the truth.
My gaze flickered back to Max. I decided to risk it. What else did I have to lose? “So, Max, you never told us where you got
the money for your shoes and the new CD player.”
Max said, “You never asked.”
I could scream. Maybe I did. Then I said, “Well, now I’m asking.”
She took another long swig of Coke. “My brother sold this guy a rebuilt Harley. A classic, the guy said. And since I helped
rebuild the engine, I got half the money.”
“See?” I looked around. “All you have to do is tell the truth.” I sat back, arms folded, feeling satisfied. The satisfaction
faded to guilt. How could I have suspected Max? And since I knew she was telling the truth, it meant Kevin… My arms dropped.
My whole body sagged.
“Yeah, Jenny,” Prairie broke into my misery. “So why don’t you?”
I frowned. “Why don’t I what?”
Max crushed the Coke can in her hand. “Come on, Solano. We know you did it. Fess up.”
Did wha—?” I choked. I knew what. “You think I stole that money?”
Max scooted forward in the beanbag chair, leaning toward me. “It’s okay,” she said. “We don’t know why you did it, but you
must’ve had a good reason.”
“Me?” I slapped my chest. It hurt, or else my heart was bruised.
Prairie took my hand and held it between hers. “You can tell us, Jenny.”
“No,” I said to her, withdrawing my hand. “I can’t.”
Prairie cocked her head. “That’s why I returned the money. As much as I could, anyway. I didn’t know you already gave it back.
I’m sorry.” Her eyes lowered. “I should’ve trusted you to do the r-right thing.”
“You gave the money back?” Max’s gaze shifted to Prairie. “But I sold my CD player—”
Prairie gasped. She covered her mouth with both hands. “You really
did
use that m-money for the starving orphans? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Max said, “You never asked.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute.” My mind was racing a million miles a second. Not only did they think I did it, they returned
the money they thought I stole. All three of them? I looked at Lydia. I wasn’t sure if I should hate them or love them. “I
didn’t do it,” I said. “You guys. Why did you think
I
stole the money? How
could
you think it?”
Prairie’s eyes met mine, searching. Her brow furrowed. “That day Mrs. Jonas’s money got stolen, you were in her desk.”
“I was not! Kevin was getting chalk so we could play hangman. He snitched a few M&M’s—” I stopped. A chill raced up my spine
and I banished the memory. “You and Hugh were up there, too,” I countered. “What were you doing?”
Prairie’s cheeks turned pink. “Just t-talking,” she said. “Anyway,” she hurried on, “you knew how much money was stolen. And
you and Kevin were with me and Hugh in the lab that day after lunch to see the snake. And, I, uh, saw you looking in Ms. Milner’s
desk drawer.”