Tori|
"Throw her out?" My mom's hand flattens over her heart. "How could a mother ever do that?"
I shrug, taking another bite of banana and chewing it thoughtfully. "She's kind of tough. Scared the complete jeebies out of me this morning. I was actually wondering, though, if it came to that ..." I look at my mom across the kitchen island, my expression hopeful. "She could stay here?" When she falters, I add, "You did say she has a home here, Mom."
"I know," she says, sighing, elbows braced on the countertop. "I mean, if it comes to her being homeless or staying here, of course she can stay here. On the couch," she adds seriously, eyes narrowing. "Your father would probably have a hernia if I let her stay in your room, not to mention Trina would insist on letting a boy stay here. Which, you know, I'm very happy to see you guys have active dating lives, but I don't want to hear it."
"Mom!"
"I'm just saying!"
Laughing, I finish off my banana and toss the peel into the trash. I sigh and lean against the counter again, almost feeling guilty for being able to enjoy my mother's presence, when Jade is probably in the midst of a huge fight with hers. I rub at my forehead with my eyes closed until I feel my mother's arms wrapping tightly around my shoulders, giving me a slight squeeze.
"It'll be okay," she assures me, rubbing my back. She pulls back and the same brown eyes I have look down at me with warmth. "True love always wins, right?"
The word catches me by surprise, but Mom is already patting my shoulder and moving away from me. Hovering still in the kitchen, I take a deep breath and let those words soak into my bones.
True love.
My heart patters.
Wiggling my arms and legs for, well, for reasons, I leave the kitchen and climb the stairs to my room. After a quick shower, I try to read for English, but it's a love story and every sentence makes me think of Jade, and soon I'm just staring blankly at the page and spacing out on fantasies of Jade and it's getting too warm for my pants and I consider taking them off but ew, no, what am I, some kind of hormonal animal now? Is this what being a non-virgin feels like? But I can't get her out of my head, her fields of white skin and those talented lips and her hands, my goodness, those hands, and -
My Pearphone erupts on the side of my desk. I scoop it up, answering the call without looking at the ID. "Jade?"
"Huh? Did I dial the wrong number?"
"Cat?" I'm surprised to hear her voice, which really shouldn't be all that alarming, considering Cat calls me all the time. It's almost as if, what with all this Jasmine stuff going down, I forgot about everything else. Andre and Robbie and Beck - I still don't know where I stand with him - and homework and plays and the talent show next month and about a hundred other things are all still going on around me. Life slowed down for a night, but it's quick to catch up.
"So this is Tori, right?"
"Yeah, sorry, I'm expecting a call from Jade."
"I'll be fast!" Cat's voice squeaks through the receiver at such a high pitch, the phone sings with it. "I was just wondering if we could hang out today."
"I've kind of neglected my homework all weekend, and Jade - things aren't so great right now at her house, so she might need to come here for the night. But if all that smooths over, yeah, I'd love to hang out." I let out a long breath. "I definitely have stuff to tell you."
"Juicy!" Cat exclaims, though I'm not sure if she's talking about something she's eating or my promise of gossip. "I'll see if Andre wants to hang in the meantime. Let me know ASPCA!"
