Chapter Three

I stood in the doorway. Not everyone started eating without me. Dad was sitting at his place at the table with an empty plate. He sat there patiently waiting for me. My throat closed up. My dad was the only one who loved me, I was sure.

Mom and Lynne, on the other hand, were already eating and chattering happily. I gritted my teeth together. I had never been that way with Mom. The only times that she was nice to me were when I covered my hair so I looked just like Lynne…

I think that was the only reason she put up with me.

All talk ceased as Lynne and Mom’s faces turned up to me.

“Well? Sit down and eat,” Mom said.

I sat next to Dad. I picked up my fork and reached over for the spaghetti and I ate. Very silently, I ate. Once I was done eating, I cleared my plate and placed it carefully in the sink.

Later that night, when Lynne was settling down for bed and turned off the lights, I turned over to her in my bed and whispered,

“This is all your fault.”

The next morning, I woke up hearing Lynne’s first words of the day. “Thank God, it’s Friday!” Typical.

I met her with silence. I got up and performed my morning duties—t-shirt, sweater, jeans, hair bobby-pinned down.

Lynne came downstairs with her short, shiny hair in a perky ponytail and her bright light brown eyes. She was wearing shorts that showed off her—our—long tanned legs and a pink American Eagle collared shirt.

“Morning!” She sang. “Jack is picking me up, so you should get a ride with someone else, ‘kay, ‘Ola? Unless you can convince Mom you can drive yourself.”

I grumbled.

Then she left in all her queenly glory.

Dad was sitting at the breakfast table watching our “conversation”. He fished out the keys to the white corolla and tossed them to me.

“Why don’t you drive to school today,” my dad smiled.

Lynne and I have had our licenses for about half a year. However, our mom decreed that only Lynne was allowed to drive since she stated that I spaced out too often.

“Really, Dad?” I smiled. My dad seemed to be the only one that loved me and understood what it was like living with Queen and Princess.

He shrugged. Dad didn’t talk much. “I’ll carpool with Jesse.” Jesse was his partner at the office.

I nodded. “Thanks.”

I kissed him goodbye and left before my mom noticed that I would be the one driving today. I went into Lynne’s car and took the parking permit that showed I was a student at Jostens High School.

I went back into Dad’s car and hooked the permit on the rearview mirror. I adjusted the seats, adjusted the mirrors, and put on my seatbelt. I was at school in about five minutes.

Was it really a big deal to just drive a short distance? Yeah, it pretty much was.

When it was 5th period, I turned around in my seat to talk to Stella.

“Hey, how do you think you did on the FRQ?” I whispered.

“Oh, I think I did okay,” Stella smiled.

I peeked at her paper and saw that she got full points. I rolled my eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me,” Stella stuck her tongue out at me. “Besides, you got it all right.”

I bit back a smile. I studied for the test and it paid off.

“What are you going to do this weekend?” Stella asked me.

“Hm… I think I’m going to study for my AP Psychology test that’s on Monday,” I said thoughtfully. “What about you?”

Stella opened her mouth to reply when the bell rang.

“Ugh,” I grimaced. “Yay… home!”

She laughed at my sarcastic tone. “Don’t worry, things will get better once you go to college with me!”

“University of San Diego? The party college? Yeah, right,” I lightly teased.

She frowned and said, “It’s not a party college. It’s one of the best colleges in California.”

I laughed and patted her on the back before heading to the school parking lot.

“Call me!” Stella called out. “Don’t wait until something comes up!”

“Okay!” I said back to her.

I didn’t know that I was going to do what she said not to do.