Jett tipped his head to one side. “He seems…nice. A real Prince Charming, right there.”
Angry heat climbed right up my back and into my neck. I glared at Jett, feeling torn after he’d just come to my rescue moments ago. What kind of game was he playing? I shook my head, set my eyes back on the crowd surrounding TJ, and tugged the phone from my pocket. Forget about TJ and Jett. I needed to get out of there, and fast.
* * *
The oven glowed bright as I pried open the door. A casserole dish with only heaven knew what rested in Mom’s favorite blue dish. I wished I could say that the aroma made my mouth water, but it came closer to triggering my gag reflex than anything else.
My bottom lip curled. My stomach heaved. Why Mom had to experiment with every creation under the sun was beyond me. No, noteverycreation. Only the fifty competitors for nastiest healthy food meals. I was positive there were decent options out there too; Mom just didn’t know how to choose them.
“Is it almost ready?”
“Yeah,” came TJ next. “It smells good, and I’m starving.”
I shrugged, amazed that either of them wanted to taste the source of the smell in the air. Who walked into a sewer, sucked in a long breath, and asked when dinner was?
“Sure,” I said, snatching the potholders off the counter. Heat from the open door flooded over my face and arms as I lifted the dish out and onto the stovetop. “Come and get it.”
Missy galloped over while spanking her own butt and neighed. Perhaps if I pretended this was horse food I’d enjoy it too. I handed over her favorite plate, the one with cats in a basket, then retrieved the matching cup as well. Unsure whether spoons or forks were called for, I pulled two of each out of the drawer and slid them onto the counter.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” TJ asked as he piled the grainy goo onto his plate.
“Nope.”
“What time is Mom going to be home?” Missy asked in a singsong voice.
I glanced at the clock on the microwave. “Probably not for a few more hours. The house she’s showing is far away.”
“Does that mean we can watch TV on the trays while we eat?”
“Sure,” I said, heading over to the pantry. “TJ will turn it on for you, okay?” The door made that haunted house-sounding creak when I swung it open, which felt oddly appropriate considering the sight beyond was sure to be scary. Dry grain in boxes and bins. Tubs of powder and supplements and freeze-dried everything from peas to prunes. I tipped my head back and groaned. “For the love,” I cried. “Why can’t we have normal food in this house?” I stepped further into the depths when a gold wrapper caught my eye.
Could it be? It was. I snatched the small bar from its hidden place behind the organic prune juice (what, was Mom dipping into Ms. Tolken’s pantry now?) and grinned. A protein bar with real peanut butter in it.Thiswas the reason I actually liked school lunch. I was deprived. Fiona Tisdale might insist on buying all things natural, but the fact was, there was nothing natural about eating the stuff stacked on the shelves.
I sank onto the couch and watched wrestling with TJ and Missy. I told myself, as Missy yelled at the big screen on demand, smiling over at TJ for approval, that he would make a good dad one day. He would. He was cute with Missy. And the incident with the bike had been a freak accident. What, did I expect him to be perfect? How fair was that?
TJ patted the couch cushion beside him and lifted his brows. He tipped his head toward Missy. I followed the motion to see that she’d fallen asleep.Oh,and TJ wanted to get close. So did I. I mean, it hadn’t occurred to me or anything. I hadn’t been like,when is this kid going to fall asleep so we can be alone?But I was still glad.
I slid over to close the gap and rested my head onto his chest. I sighed. This was nice. I was happy with TJ. He was a good guy. Who probably very much wanted to apologize for his rude behavior at the school. Maybe he was working up to that in his mind.
The fact was, he didn’t follow me straight home after the incident. In fact, I’d spent forty angry minutes crossing off Mom’s to-do list while waiting for him to show up and apologize exactly in that order. He’d accomplished the showing up part, but had yet to get to the apology. I figured now that he’d finished off half of Mom’s mystery casserole, bless him, he was ready.
“That was a little crazy today in the parking lot,” I said, steering him in the right direction.
He ran a hand through his shaggy blonde hair and grinned. “Yeah, that was wicked. I don’t really know how to drive it too well yet, but if I’m going to buy it, I better figure it out quick.”
The words were a set of screeching brakes in my head.Buy it?Had he forgotten his goals? Had he forgotten the black pluming smoke and sputtering engine?
TJ wrapped an arm around me and pulled me against him. And suddenly he was leaning in for a kiss. Eyes closed. Lips puckered.
Not so fast.“Wait,” I said. “Did you…” I stopped there to rephrase the question. “You decided last week that you wanted to save up and go to school. Remember?”
TJ pulled back and looked at me through half closed lids. “Yeah, babe, but then I talked with the guys today and they’re getting real serious about Grunge Town. They want to try and take it on the road. Record an album maybe.” He lifted a brow. “Isn’t that awesome?”
I smiled, wondering why we always ended up in this same spot. And then I remembered something. “You were with the band today? I thought you had work.”
He gave me the exact same look I’ve caught Missy giving Mom, those please-don’t-be-mad-at-me eyes.
“What?” I said, relating with my poor mother more than ever before.
