Abby

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

"I know we host every year, but I just don't have it in me this time." Jennie lay in bed next to her husband. The lights were off, the house quiet. "My sister said she could host. I didn't want to let it go without letting you know. See what you wanted to do." Her voice was monotone. Tired. And not just because it was eleven at night. Thanksgiving was two weeks away, and she'd been stalling with plans. But her whole family was waiting to hear where dinner would be.

"It's up to you, whatever you need to do. You put in all the work, I just smile and laugh at everyone's jokes." She didn't react. She needed him to make the decision for her. She couldn't take on anymore guilt. "I agree with you. We just can't do it this year." Jason finally decided. He felt Jennie take his hand.

"It's settled then. I'll let my sister know tomorrow."

...

There was a party raging on outside the bedroom door, and she had an essay due in the morning. Debunking biblical stories. It was actually fascinating and fun to discover, but she couldn't focus on the research, couldn't turn it into words. It would make or break her grade. All of the work she'd done since rehab might not matter at all. She looked at the time. She didn't want to wake anyone in her family or put them out given that she'd pretty much moved out. She packed her backpack and decided to start walking. She'd call someone if she needed to on the way. As she was walking, a cruiser pulled up beside her.

"Abby Demarco." She stopped walking and turned to face Officer Hicks.

"Hi." She said. Abby was walking on the side of the road with a backpack at eleven at night. This was new.

"What's going on?"

"I'm just walking home. I didn't want to wake my parents or my brother. But I need to finish an essay, and I couldn't concentrate, couldn't focus back there." She knew he knew where back there was. He wasn't sure what the catch was. She'd been gone for several weeks. Rumor had been rehab.

"Why isn't the boyfriend driving you home?" He asked.

"I think we both know the answer to that question." She said, walking on.

"We can give you a ride." He said of he and his partner. She stopped walking. A ride would be nice.

"For real?" She asked. He nodded.

"For real." The ride was quiet. No sound but the occasional communication on the radio. She hoped her parents were in bed when they rolled up the driveway, being that she was in the back of a police car. The house was dark. Quiet. "Hey, Abby." He said before she opened the door. "Don't be afraid to ask for help." He said, handing her his card. "I'll stay our here a few minutes, just in case your parents are up." She nodded.

"Thank you for the ride. I appreciate it." They shared a look that was full of peace and admiration. She got out of the car and went inside. She set up shop in the dining room. A few minutes later, officer Hicks drove away.

...

She'd tried so hard to stay up. But at some point, she'd fallen asleep. Jason came down the stairs to put on coffee when he saw her at the dining room table passed out, surrounded by notebooks and her laptop. He'd gone to bed around eleven, and she hadn't been home. But here she was at five-fifteen. He put on coffee and left the first cup steaming next to her. He took his cup up to his room to wake Jennie. She didn't believe him. She had to see for herself. And then she snapped a photo. She knelt down next to Abby.

"Abby." She whispered. "It's time to wake up." Abby jumped with a start.

"What time is it?" She asked frantically.

"Five-thirty." Her mother replied.

"No, no, no! It can't be." She started her laptop back up again. She couldn't remember where she'd left off. "I'm not done yet. I'll never finish in one hour." She looked over her notes, trying to find what she wanted to write next. And then she burst into tears. Jennie looked at Jason, scared.

"Abby, what's wrong?" She asked.

"This essay is due first period. Zero credit for late work. It's history. I tried so hard to catch up. And now this will go in as a zero, and none of it will matter." She sobbed hysterically.

"Abby, there's nothing you can do about it now." Her mother said calmly. "Go take a shower, and I'll make you something for breakfast."

"No. I have to finish what I can. I- I- I tried to do the right thing. I've been working on it all week and when I couldn't concentrate last night, I left. You can even ask the police. One of the officers gave me a ride home because Jace couldn't drive, and I didn't want to bother anyone." She looked at the mindboggling amount of information spread out before her. Jennie hugged her. Jason made a mental note to call the police, verify the story.

"I'm proud of you for trying. And for coming home when you knew you needed to. Old Abby? She'd have stayed and partied, right? But you knew better." Abby couldn't look her mother in the eye. She had been doing her share of partying since rehab. Her father didn't say anything, just looked on. They heard Aaron come thundering down the stairs. Jason looked above them.

"Does that boy know how to walk down the stairs?" He muttered.

"Abby?" He grinned, a show of relief. "I thought I heard you!" He looked at the mess on the table, his parent's somber faces, and Abby's tears. "What happened?"

"Abby, go shower. Freshen up." Abby nodded. When she left, her mother spoke. "She came home late last night to finish some assignment that's due first period. But she fell asleep. And now it won't be done in time." They all stood in silence, all thinking the same thing. If she'd just come home every day and worked on it instead of partying and then trying to catch up.

"Mr. Labelle is an asshole. Like, who doesn't allow late work." Jennie sat at the laptop and read over what Abby had written so far.

"This is actually really good." She said with admiration and disappointment. It wouldn't matter how good it was if she turned it in unfinished. Jason sighed. Jennie raised an eyebrow at him over the laptop. He put his hand up, claiming innocence.

"We all know she'd have finished it if she'd been home this weekend and not out with him. If she was ever home." They all knew it was true, but progress was progress. Aaron walked upstairs to check on Abby. She was still in the shower, but her crying was audible over the sound of the falling water. He leaned against the door, his eyes closed, his heart breaking for her through the door, and not over a failed assignment.

...

"Thanksgiving will be at Auntie Amy's house this year." Jennie announced at dinner that evening. Aaron's face pulled up quickly from his plate. To stop a teenage football player from eating, that took shock value.

"Why?!" He asked. "We always have Thanksgiving here. Everyone comes here. It's our thing." Jennie was surprised he cared so much. But then she wondered if he only cared so much because he knew it was because of Abby.

"It's not a big deal, Aaron." Jason said. "It's just this one year. Everyone will still be there." Aaron toyed with his food.

"We'll have to leave around nine-thirty. Get there a little early, I'd like to help." Aaron nodded his acceptance. "Abby?" She nodded too.

"Sure. Nine-thirty." Abby was in a daze. She and Jace weren't getting along. What brought them to the deepest parts of their relationship, was now tearing apart. And her essay hadn't been accepted late. She'd fail for the quarter. They all looked at each other and then at Abby.

"Abby, I know it sucks that you tried to catch up, but it just wasn't enough. But I think the point is that you should never have had to catch up like that. Everything you do or don't do has a consequence." She stared at him, it wasn't quite a glare, more of a stone-cold pain.

"Thanks, dad. I hadn't noticed." And then she disappeared back into the hole that Abby lived in. At his wife's glare of insistence, he backed off, he let it go.