Little White Lies

Chapter 19

"I've never been so tired in my life," I grumble when Andy meets me at my locker before second period.

"What time did you get up?" Andy asks offering me a cardboard Starbucks coffee. "I had that dentist appointment this morning. I just got here," he reminds me when look confused.

"Oh, right," I say pretending I hadn't totally forgotten about that. I take a long sip, "Well, I got in bed at 1:30am so naturally my mother woke me up at 5am. You are the best boyfriend in the world," I tell him taking another long sip as we start walking towards school. "Did you really leave early to get me coffee?" I ask.

"Seeing as how your mom made you coach half of the show alone, I figured she might make you get up for chores," Andy shrugs. "It's the least I could do."

"Peppermint white mocha?" I ask raising the cup in a small salute.

"That's right, isn't it? Soy?" Andy asks worriedly.

"It's perfect. You're amazing," I tell him as I chug the last of it before walking into class.

"So you'll never guess what Mom told me while we were feeding this morning," I tell Andy.

"She's pregnant?" he asks.

"It's like you think I won't hit you because we're dating," I stare at him in disbelief.

"I actually think you won't hit me because we're in school and you don't want to get in trouble. It has nothing to do with the fact that we're dating," Andy laughs.

"Well, I guess you would be right about that," I glare at him.

"What did she tell you?" he asks, trying to look apologetic.

"That Mark's kids are coming to Thanksgiving this year!" I exclaim apparently a little too loudly because several people turn to look at me.

"His kids? I thought they spent holidays with his ex-wife?" Andy asks.

"Oh, normally they do, but apparently Jordan is fighting with her mom and so she wants to come to her dad instead. When Amanda found out she decided to tag along." I sound whiny even to myself.

"Well, how bad can it really be?" Andy asks. "You're coming to my house for dinner, so at least you have an easy out even if it is terrible."

"I guess that's true. Having a escape will help," I concede. "And, it's another project for me to really throw myself into," I add.

"Just promise me you'll take the next couple of days to catch up," Andy says as we walk into chemistry.

"Catch up? I'm fine," I lie as I slide into my seat.

"I'm sorry," Autumn interjects. "Did she just try to tell you she's fine?"

"Yep," Andy says with a knowing shake of is head.

"I'm fine," I reiterate.

"She's not fine," Autumn tells Andy. "She was borderline in tears this morning because we were out of cereal." Autumn turns to me just as Mr. Witt walks in with a handful of papers. "You barely got any sleep all week then your mom got you up before the crack of dawn."

"I'll get some sleep," I tell them. When they both look at me disbelievingly I add, "I promise."

"More importantly," Autumn says turning to Andy, "Did you hear?" Andy raises an eyebrow and Autumn continues, "The color of Greg's tie totally brought out the blue in his eyes, and the way he smiles, it just made my knees go weak."

"I did hear that," Andy laughs.

"Okay class!" Mr. Witt says. We all turn out attention to him. "Pop quiz!" he says holding the stack of papers up.