Chapter 5: More Signs of Envy

Ashley grabbed my hand the instant we were out the door. We paused for a moment to find her mother's minivan. Ashley spotted it first and took off, dragging me behind her as we made our way toward the bright green vehicle.

The sliding door to the back seats slid open as we arrived. I peeked in to find Mrs. Roberts sitting the driver's seat. She kept her eyes forward as Ashley jumped in and turned to grab both of my hands.

I paused and started to reach for the front door. Mrs. Roberts just shook her head. "Stay in the back Mark," she said. "I know my daughter well enough to see that she wants a bit more time to cuddle before you head to classes."

I jumped into the back as Ashley giggled. "Only a bit more?" she said coquettishly.

Mrs. Roberts started the engine to the minivan. "Fine, if I allowed you to take him home right now you might resurface from your basement bedroom in time for the weekend. I remember being young and in lust."

"I'm in love, not just lust," Ashley snapped back.

"Girl," Mrs. Roberts said as she began driving us the two miles to our two schools. "Love doesn't happen overnight. I'll admit that you two seem far more level-headed than most kids your age, but it's still lust in my mind."

"I'm hoping it will always be more than lust," I said. "Lust fades. I've seen that with my parents and with my brother."

"Well, you might be happy to know I'm going to break into Ashley's trust this afternoon. After school do you need to be someplace?"

"Me? Not really," I said.

The minivan turned down the street the schools stood on. We still had a couple of lights and almost a mile of road to travel, but I could feel Ashley tighten her arms as if she did not want to let me go.

"Good," Beatrice said. "I'll pick both of you up and drop you at the mall with two thousand dollars. Purchase the clothing you want Ashley to wear."

I looked over at Ashley. Her mouth was agape. "Mom! You told me that we'd only break into my trust for college."

"If what you both have told me is true, it's unlikely you'll go to college," Beatrice said. "And that ensign is right. Mark will be good to you. He's honorable and far more mature than many men twice his age."

"Thank you ... Mom," I said. "You are being very good to us."

Beatrice smirked. "I was young once. I'm not sure your images of what is going to happen is accurate, but your score is high enough to volunteer, and the president did say that when you left Earth you'd have companions. As long as you never hurt Ashley, I won't stand in the way."

"Except to take us to school rather than let us spend time in bed," Ashley said with a huff.

I squeezed Ashley's hand. "No, your mother is right," I said softly. "If we want to avoid questions, we need to continue to attend school. Also, if you can manage, don't let people know you were testing this morning. Don't lie, but don't volunteer, and your first answer if asked why you missed morning classes should be to just say you had some personal business."

Mrs. Roberts laughed at that. "Mark, where did you learn to be so good at saying nothing?"

"I live with three professional liars," I reminded her. "We've had to move more than once after my father's lies made him ineffective in the community. It's strange, but he never notices that once people stop trusting him to tell the truth, his influence diminishes rapidly."

"But what does that mean for you?" Ashley asked.

"After the second move, I tried to avoid lying," I told Ashley. "I might not tell everything, but I try to tell the truth."

"So how will you handle your parents asking your score?" Beatrice asked as she pulled up in front of the junior high.

"Tell them that I have the best score in the family," I said with a shrug. "That is the truth. If they insist, I'll show them my card and let them believe the score is real."

"They might ask you to test again next year on your birthday," Beatrice reminded me. "I've heard that they are now allowing that."

"Yes, and I can tell them the truth that I've heard that most people see their scores rise until they are nineteen," I responded as I began to climb out of the minivan. "I doubt they'll do more than that. I'm not a major part of Father's union thuggery, so he tends to ignore me."

"I'll never ignore you," Ashley said as she grabbed me around my neck one last time. "I'll see you after school for shopping."

I kissed Ashley's hand as I stepped away. I glanced around and saw no one looking my way, so as the door to the minivan closed, I began walking toward the office.

When I arrived at the school office, I noticed that it was extremely quiet. One of the two secretaries was away from her desk. The second one, Miss Balfeur stood up as I stood in the doorway.

"Mark! Your mother said you would be arriving later. She already dropped off a note. But we didn't expect you for another two hours," she said as she walked around her desk and headed toward me.

"The errand she sent me on went quicker than she expected," I said. I looked over at the clock and could see that the morning break was about to begin. "Can I sign in and then go meet everyone during break. That way I don't disrupt a class."

Miss Balfeur turned to look at the clock. "Yes," she said softly. "Morning break starts in three minutes. Principal Mathews already told me to get you signed in once you arrive."

She stopped and pulled a clipboard from her desk. I approached the main counter and waited there while she found a pen and walked up to me. The clipboard had already been filled out and was only missing the time and my signature before I could return to class. I claimed the pen and filled out the missing information.

"You can go," Miss Balfeur said tentatively. I could see the unasked question in her eyes, but said nothing as I turned and exited the office.

I had taken two steps away from the door when the bell signaling the end of the third period and the start of the morning break rang out. I could hear doors being pushed open as classrooms emptied. Feeling that being caught near the office might result in too many questions, I ran toward the school courtyard.

The courtyard was filling rapidly as the various cliques claimed their usual tables and benches. I was considering heading to my usual location when Jessica started waving. At first I pretended I did not see it, but she whispered something to one of the brunette haired girls gathered near her. The girl immediately began walking toward me.

It was clear that Jessica wanted me to join her. I shook my head in annoyance and jogged the short distance to the table she had claimed when school started more than a year before. "Does your highness need something?" I asked sarcastically.

"Need?" Jessica replied scornfully. "What is there in this world that I might need from the bastard son of a union thug?"

I was about to explode with anger when Jessica winked at me and patted the surface of the table. Jessica was sitting on the table itself with her feet on one of the benches that lined it. Glancing around I climbed onto the bench and sat next to Jessica.

The young woman reached out and pinched my cheek like she was an old maiden aunt. "Isn't he such a good boy!" she gushed.

I batted her hand away. "This angry man is willing to push you off the table if you don't stop that. Now you sent your minion to summon me? I'm not part of your herd, but I am here. Speak oh one with the large purse."

Jessica's minions giggled. She scowled for a moment, but the effect was ruined when she started to giggle. "It's not bad," she said. "I just needed to thank you for yesterday."

"That was nothing," I said shaking my head. "You didn't need to bring attention to me by summoning me during recess."

"But you know I love attention, ' Jessica said, kicking her legs up. "After all, if people aren't looking, why wear designer clothing."

"Jess," I said with a long sigh. "I don't love attention. And I am not part of your clique. Why did you drag me over here?"

Jessica looked down at the brunette she had sent to find me. "Kathy," she ordered. "There are two boxes of cookies in my locker; take everyone to my locker and share the cookies. I need a moment alone with Mark."

Kathy curtsied to Jessica and began pushing the rest of the clique towards the north exit of the courtyard. Several of the members had already started running in that direction. I watched in fascination as the area around the table was emptied of people, leaving Jessica and me sitting alone.

"Nice trick," I mused.

"They do listen," Jessica replied haughtily. "Now, you missed morning classes..."

"I had some business to take care of," I replied nonchalantly. "My mother provided a note so my absence was excused."

"I'm guessing you went and got tested," Jessica said poking me in the chest. "I'm right aren't I? What score did you get?"

"Well ... last night the Detroit Red Wings had a great game against the Anaheim Ducks. The game was tied five all with five minutes left in the third period when Kaplan scored his third goal of the night on a breakaway giving Detroit a six to five lead. They got another goal in the last minute on an empty net goal from Dawlish," I said deliberately misinterpreting her question.

"Mark ... didn't you get a card?" Jessica asked.

"Not since my birthday. Why would anyone give me a card today? I don't think Hallmark even makes a 'sorry your father is a tool card'," I said with a laugh.

Jessica huffed at me and slapped my shoulder. "You know what I'm talking about! Stop playing games."

I turned so that I was facing Jessica. With my right hand I gripped her chin and turned her head so she was looking directly at me. "I do know, but it's not a game. I will not talk about my score in public, and I won't talk about it unless someone needs to know it. My parents don't need to hear it."

Jessica gasped and then nodded. "That's all I needed to know," she whispered. "I hope you will be safe."

"Probably not," I admitted as I released her. "But I'm not running either. Matti needs someone to protect her."

I had barely finished saying this when I noticed Kelsey pushing her way into the courtyard. A huge frown was on her face as she entered the cleared area around Jessica and me. She stomped up to the table and punched me in the thigh.

"What are you doing talking to this skank!" she hissed. "Are you going to be one of her mindless minions?"

I looked at Kelsey. Anger and jealousy had turned her face red. Long lines of worry crossed her forehead. I leaned forward to put a hand on her head, gently stroking her head. "Jealousy does not become you."

"Who cares?" Kelsey screamed. "Everyone knows that Jessica uses people. She threw away Kevin just a month ago after his father's business declared bankruptcy. I'm surprised she doesn't have Billy and Roger here, ready to give her the attention she demands."

Jessica jumped off the table and slapped Kelsey across the face. The younger girl tumbled to the ground. I could see Jessica tense as if she was about to pounce on the prone girl and jumped between them, using my arms to ward off Jessica. In the background I could hear the sound of running feet.

"Damn girl," Kathy observed as she led Jessica's entourage to the table. "Do you have a death wish, or are you just careless?"

"Right now I'd say death wish," I muttered as I tried to hold Jessica back. "Let's just say that Kelsey needs to keep calm. Now can someone take this tiger out of my hands? I'll lead Kelsey away from here so we can all calm down."

Kathy and a young man named Ethan walked around Kelsey. Each grabbed one of Jessica's arms and pushed her away from me. Freed from the need to keep Jessica away from Kelsey, I turned around and pulled the younger girl to her feet.

Kelsey was sniffling, but she meekly followed me as I left the courtyard and headed towards her next class. The other students moved out of our way, but I could hear a buzz of conversation that led us through the hall as we made our way to the classrooms. I waited until the crowds had thinned before guiding Kelsey to the wall. I pushed her up against the lockers and looked in her eyes.

"That was stupid," I said softly. "Why did you say that to Jessica?"

"She's going to steal you away from me!" Kelsey complained.

I sighed. "I share four classes with her. We don't normally socialize at break or lunch, but she asked me to talk to her. That was all."