Throw Away Teen (26 page)

“
Nothing,” I lied and I knew she could tell. “I don’t want to talk about it. Okay?”

“
Maybe, I can help.” Willa’s voice shook.

That was big for her. She never pushed on anything. I eyed her for a moment then asked, “Where do the kids hang out when they cut class?”

She blinked like she’d never seen me before. “Nobody cuts, B.J. If they ever do and they get caught, there are major consequences.”

“
I know. Saturday School.”

“
For a month,” Willa said. “And then you’re restricted to the school grounds for the rest of the school year. You don’t want to skip. You’ll miss our class trip to the water park in June.”

“
Okay, but I don’t know what to do,” I said. “Mr. Lee says we have to bring in a camera for class on Monday and I don’t have one. I’m a foster kid and he doesn’t get that. If I call my caseworker, she’ll have them drop me from Photography or worse, call Liz. And Liz’s already done so much for me.”

“
What kind of camera?” Willa asked. “I have a digital one you can borrow.”

“
It has to be a 35 millimeter. Where’s this guy from? The Middle Ages?”

Willa sighed. “Oh, B.J. Come on. You know they didn’t have cameras then. I’ll look around my house and see if we have one you can borrow. Why don’t you check out your place, too? You said Liz has tons of stuff in the attic, right?”

“
You’re brilliant!” I hugged her. “I’ll find one up there and then all I have to do is get some film.”

“
Don’t forget to ask Liz if you can use it.” Willa poked me. “Next stop is yours.”

“
Yeah. Yeah.” I snagged my stuff. “You’re the best. Hey, if Liz says it will be okay, do you want to stay over tomorrow night and we can treasure hunt?”

“
A sleepover?” Willa gaped at me. “I haven’t been to a sleepover in years.”

“
Yes or no? It’s not that big a deal. You’ll have to share the bed with me and Guard though.”

“
Okay.” Willa scribbled her number on a scrap of paper. “Call me if it’s all right and I’ll ask my mom.”

“
Cool. You can come home with us after the baseball game.” I booked it to the bus door before either of us could change our minds.

CHAPTER 16

I’d forgotten that I had a karate lesson that afternoon. I barely had time to hug Guard and snuggle with him before Liz had us in the car, headed for the dojo. I’d learned to do punches and blocks. Now, I was into my third
kata
, an imaginary fight, this time with more than one invisible opponent. Every move was rehearsed and I did them in a set pattern that started and ended in the same place.

Sensei watched me do the series of blocks, kicks and punches. He told me I was ready to start the next routine, but first I had to learn two new kicks, a side sweep and a stomp kick that could break somebody’s knee. No wonder I liked him, he taught dirty tricks. The new kata was mostly blocks and kicks. I was wiped out when I finished.

Liz hauled me off for an ice-cream cone after class was over. When we were seated at the little parlor table to eat our cones, I asked “Liz, is it okay if Willa stays over tomorrow night?”

”
Sure, honey. Now, hurry up and eat that before it melts. We need to get home and get ready for Guard’s obedience class.”

It turned out I knew most of the kids from school and the meeting on Monday. Ringo brought his little white dog, Fritz. Dallas had a gold and white collie that she called, Lad. Mike had a brown and black puppy that tried to steal one of Guard’s toys. The other three girls were friends who hung out with Dallas at school. Blonde, skinny, and dressed like models, they giggled whenever Ringo and Mike said anything. And all three of their dogs were teeny-tiny. When Dallas introduced them as Stella, Tia, and Barb, I almost asked if they came from the same doll factory.

Instead, I focused on Dallas and what she had to teach me. She was actually pretty good. She talked a lot about catching the dogs doing things right and praising them. She showed me a new way to teach Guard to sit, so he’d think it was his idea. Since I gave him a snack every time he did it, he learned the command super quick. Then, we practiced walking on the leash.

When class was over, I walked Dallas to the truck Ringo still drove. “So, are you going out for cheer? The try-outs are in two weeks.”

“
You’re joking, right?” Dallas said. “Why would I want to hang out with a bunch of snooty girls?”

Don’t you do that already
, I thought, glancing at the trio of blondes. I shrugged. “It’s just that I’ve seen the way you look at Mike. What better way to show him you like him then by cheering him on at games?”

“
Yeah, so why don’t you show my brother?” She opened the truck door and Lad jumped into the back seat. “Come on, B.J. Put your money where your mouth is.”

“
Stuff it,” I told her. I picked up Guard when Ted drove in.

He parked his car and walked over to us. “What’s up, ladies? How’d the obedience class go?”

“
Great,” I said. I put Guard down. “Watch this. Sit.” Guard plopped down on his furry little butt. “Isn’t that cool? Dallas taught me how to teach him that.” I gave Guard a piece of dog cookie. “I was just telling her that she should go out for cheerleading.”

“
And like I said, I will if you do.” Dallas winked at Ted. “So, I’m safe.”

“
I think you both should try out,” Ted said. “I’ll bet Sarah would help you learn the routines. I’ll ask Liz to call her.”

“
No way,” I said. “I’m already behind on school work. I’ve got a ton of assignments to finish if I want all A’s by June.”

Ted chuckled. “Read the contract, B.J. I pay a bonus for extracurricular activities, like cheerleading.”

“
Really?” I scooped up my puppy and waved his paw. “Rah. Rah. Rah. Sis-boom-bah. Get your pom-poms in gear, Dally. We’re going out for cheer.”

***

Halfway through dinner, Liz glanced across the table at me. “Ted pointed out that there’s no difference between having one girl stay over or having six girls.”

“
He can’t count,” I said. “There’s a big difference.”

“
Not when it comes to a giggle of girls.” Ted took another biscuit from the plate. “Two girls will eat everything sweet in the fridge, hog the TV remote and talk all night. Six girls will do the same thing, so we may as well have six.”

“
So, you need four more friends to stay over,” Liz smiled. “I’ll call Sarah’s mom while you clean the kitchen and invite her. Who else do you want to come tomorrow night?”

I dropped my fork and it chimed against my plate. “This sounds like a slumber party. Terry talked about them.”

“
That’s exactly what it is,” Liz agreed. “Haven’t you had one before?”

“
I’m a foster kid. I’ve never even been to one.” Tears pricked my eyes and I blinked them back. “I don’t need this. I just want Willa to come. We won’t eat everything or take the remote. We’ll just stay in my room and talk.”

Ted nabbed the bowl of strawberry jam for his biscuit. “Where’s the fun in that?”

“
Be quiet, Ted.” Liz got up and came over to put her arm around me. “Honey, you’ve missed out on something pretty special if you haven’t been to a night-over, as Jessie calls them. And if you haven’t hostessed one either, it’s time to start. Ted doesn’t really care about the remote. He’ll even rent movies for you.”

“
Only P.G. ones,” Ted said. “And you can order in pizzas from Parthenon’s.”

I turned my face against Liz so neither of them could see how close I was to tears. “But I don’t know how to host a slumber party.”

“
I do,” Liz said. “We load up the fridge with junk food, order in pizzas, rent movies. You girls hang out, practice cheer routines, talk, play games and fall asleep around three in the morning.”

I pulled back and looked at her. “Then, how will we get up to go to church?”

“
We go tomorrow instead,” Liz said. “No worries. Now, do you want to try this or are you scared?”

“
I’m not scared of anything.” I eased out of her hold and picked up my fork. “I can do a freaking night-over. You’ll see.”

“
Good,” Liz said. “Then, when your birthday rolls around, we’ll have a real party.”

I didn’t tell her but the idea of turning Liz loose on my birthday terrified me. If she made a simple thing like having Willa spend the night into a six girl extravaganza, what would happen when there was a real occasion like a holiday? Oh my Gawd, what did this woman do at Christmas? I might have to stick around just to see it.

After dinner, I loaded the dishwasher, fed the dogs, and put away the extra food. Then, I called Willa and invited her to stay over the next night. She got all excited about the party and promised to bring homemade brownies with extra chocolate frosting.

Next, I phoned Dallas.

Ringo answered. “Taylor residence. You plug ’em. We plant ‘em.”

“
Are you a sicko or what?” I asked. “Or just watching some cowboy movie?”

“
B.J.?”

“
Yeah.”

“
I never thought you’d call me.”

“
I didn’t. I called for Dallas. It’s not my fault you live there.”

“
Okay, now you sound like you. Why do you want her?”

“
Nosy, aren’t we? I’m having a slumber party tomorrow night. She’s invited. You’re not.”

“
Dallas is a pain at those things.” He yelled for his sister to come take the phone, then said, “You’d have more fun with me and I have really cute jammies.”

“
Won’t work,” I said. “You may as well know now that I never share. It’s over-rated, and there will be five other girls here.”

He laughed. “Okay, I’ll keep that in mind. Here’s Dallas.”

She agreed to come even when I told her that Willa would be at the party, too. She said she’d bring chips for nachos.

Liz came in the kitchen and I asked, “What is with these people? Don’t they know we’ll have food?”

“
They’re being polite,” Liz said. “And they may have favorite snacks they want to share.” She paused then walked across to the pad of paper she kept on the fridge. “I talked to Laurie, Sarah’s mom a little while ago. Sarah’s coming. We’ll bring her home from Ringo’s game tomorrow.”

“
Willa’s dad will bring her over then, too.” I leaned against the counter. “He wants to meet you and Ted. I didn’t know what to say about that.”

“
There’s nothing to say,” Liz told me. “It’s what people do when their kid is staying somewhere new. They want to meet the other parents and make sure there isn’t a wild party going on and that you girls will have adult supervision all night.”

“
Wow. Seriously?”

“
Don’t worry.” Liz came over and patted my shoulder. “You’ll get used to it. When you spend the night at Willa’s, I’ll go there and make sure it’s safe for you.”

“
You people are strange.” I sighed and shook my head. None of my foster parents ever cared what I did or who I was with as long as I didn’t inconvenience them or cause them to lose their monthly check.

I spotted Guard making the little circles he did when he had to go to the bathroom and hustled over to snag him. “Come on. Potty run. I’m not cleaning up behind you.” When we came back inside, Liz gave me two numbers to call. Sarah had suggested I invite Rita and Vonnie, which was cool. I liked both of them and they’d fit in okay with Willa and Dallas. Since it wasn’t too late, I phoned super quick and they both agreed to come. I was set. I had six girls, including me, for my giggle-fest.

Guard and I went into the living-room where Ted and Liz watched TV. “Okay, the party’s on. You better hide the remote tomorrow if you don’t want to lose it, Ted.”

He grinned from his recliner. “Nope. After I get my share of the pizza, I’ll just watch TV in our bedroom and let Liz supervise you gals.”

“
Want to bet?” Liz asked sweetly.

While they squabbled, I dragged a big cushion into the center of the room and plopped on the floor with Guard. He snuggled into my lap. When things got quiet, I glanced at Liz. “I thought we could do a treasure hunt in the attic. I need a 35 millimeter camera for Photography class on Monday and I thought there might be one up there.”

“
I don’t know if there’s a camera.” Liz frowned. “You can look, but if you don’t find an extra one, you can borrow mine. Why didn’t your teacher tell us before?”

“
Probably because he gave out the list of supplies in January,” Ted said, eyes on his show, “and he forgot that a new student would need the syllabus. You should check with your tutor, B.J., and make sure the other teachers don’t have any more surprises for you.”

I rested my chin on Guard’s back. “I never thought of that. I just got pissed about the camera. And Willa told me not to cut class because I’d get stuck in Saturday School.”

“
And you’d be grounded for a month when I got my hands on you,” Liz said.

Ted closed his eyes like he intended to nap during the commercials. But it didn’t mean it was safe to grab the remote and surf channels. I’d seen Liz try before and she always lost. Ted kept track of the remote like Guard did his toys. “Plus, there’s a fine for Saturday School.”

“
Man, I’d have been toast.” I hugged Guard tight. “Does being grounded mean I lose him?”

“
No!” Ted jacked up in the chair like he was back in the Marines. “You will never lose him, B.J. He’s yours forever. He’s with you for the rest of his life.”

“
He’ll probably live fifteen or sixteen years.” Liz reached over and patted Ted’s hand. “Maybe longer. Grounded in this house means you lose privileges, but still have to perform your responsibilities. Karate and horseback riding are skills you need to have to live in Stewart Falls. Having friends over, talking to them on the phone and dates are what you lose. So, don’t do the crime—”