My mom and I both shook our heads ‘no.’
When Dad came back down the stairs, he was flushed. He took off the vest, sat down, picked up the paper, and proceeded to read, ignoring Mom and me. Cassidy nodded and returned to cooking.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Cassidy. “I thought you got suspended.”
“Daddy forgot to go grocery shopping, so I had the choice of either coming here to eat or going hungry.”
None of us was buying what she was selling.
“You forgot you were suspended,” I ventured.
“Don’t antagonize the cook,” Dad warned me.
“Why did we tell Melanie that she didn’t need to cook breakfast for us anymore?” I asked.
“Because I’m teaching Cassidy to cook,” Dad said.
More like my parents had adopted Cassidy.
Angie came strolling in and grabbed a coffee. It seemed lately that she had a permanent scowl on her face.
“Go help Peggy with your kids,” she said to me and then turned to Cassidy. “I like my bacon crispy. None of that limp stuff.”
Her acid tongue burned my ears. While I was more than happy to help Peggy bring the boys down, hearing it from Angie pissed me off.
As I prepared to tell Angie what to do with her ‘crispy’ bacon, my mom caught my attention. Mom’s expression conveyed her thoughts loud and clear. I kept my comments to myself and left to get my boys.
◊◊◊
I’d noticed that Lisa had been missing in action today. She’d eaten lunch with her old crowd, which included Destiny Crown. I didn’t need Destiny filling Lisa’s head with her nonsense. So, at the end of the day, I was waiting out front when Lisa came out. When she saw me, she tried to go back inside, but I stopped her.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
Her expression told me our days were numbered. She led me into the school, and we found an empty classroom so we could talk.
“Last night was wrong,” she said.
“You mean with Greg?” I asked. “All you had to say was ‘no.’”
She blushed.
“It wasn’t that,” she said, and then bit her lip before she looked me in the eye. “I didn’t want to say ‘no.’”
Now that confused me.
“What exactly is wrong, then?” I asked.
Lisa looked down at her hands, which she was wringing, before she answered.
“Since last spring, you’ve helped me fix my reputation. The running joke in this school had been whether you or I was the bigger slut.
“The truth of the matter is, they never thought that of you. Bill Rogers and his friends started those rumors about me, and everyone believed them. They all thought of me as the bike of Lincoln High—just talk to Lisa and get a ride. If you wanted to look like you’d given up your V card, you said you had been with me,” she said, getting emotional.
“I told everyone it wasn’t true,” I said to defend her.
“I know, and thank you for that. The truth is, Bill was mad because I wouldn’t put out for him. Everyone assumed that because of how I dressed, I was easy.
“I figured that if I dated you, the rumors would stop, or more likely, just not be said out loud. Everyone assumes that you and I do stuff,” she said.
I shrugged because she was right, and there was no use denying it.
“The trouble is,” Lisa continued, “last night reminded me of what everyone said about me.”
“I still don’t get why you’re upset. You said you didn’t have a problem with what happened. Greg will never say anything, if that’s what you’re worried about,” I said.
“The problem is that
“This has nothing to do with you except that you make me feel like I can do this kind of stuff. I’ve worked so hard to not be looked down on. I’m afraid they’ll find out that I really am capable of doing everything they’ve accused me of.”
“So what? In a few years, they’ll all be doing the same if not worse.”
“That’s just it. In a few years, it might be acceptable. Until then, I need to hold on to what I’ve worked so hard to rehabilitate … my reputation,” Lisa said.
“So, no more Greg or anything like that?” I asked to get clarification.
She got a pained look.
“I want to break up.”
Well, screw me sideways, I hadn’t seen that one coming. Lisa didn’t wait for me to say anything back, just pushed past me and hustled out of the school.
When I entered the hall, I found Destiny waiting for me.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I take it you knew?”
“Not for sure. I just wanted to tell you that if you need to talk …”
“Thanks. I need to get to practice,” I said while thinking I would never be looking to Destiny for emotional support.
◊◊◊
At baseball practice, everyone seemed to be walking on eggshells around me. Suddenly, it hit me: Destiny had told her brother, who, in turn, had told the team about Lisa and me. Never underestimate the speed at which the Lincoln grapevine would spread news about a couple breaking up.
While we stretched before practice, my brother came over to check on me.
“You okay?” Phil asked me.
“I’m good,” I said.
It surprised me, but I was. After all, I hadn’t been dumped in a few weeks, so I was due.
