Chapter 7

I was drinking a glass of orange juice and watching The Three Stooges when the phone rang at six on Monday morning. I grabbed the receiver in mid-ring, hoping that it had not disturbed Mom and Dad. Mom didn't have to be up for another hour. She was a home- health care nurse and didn't have to check in at the office until eight-thirty.

"Where were you yesterday?" Joyie asked me without even saying good morning.

"I went with Brad to see his grandmother at the nursing home and then we picked up pizza and carried it back to his house to spend time with the twins. Why?"

"I wanted to tell you what happened Friday night."

"What on earth couldn't wait 'til you see me in a couple of hours?"

"I'm afraid Michael might say something and wanted to prepare you."

"Joyie, take a deep breath."

I heard her take a breath.

"Now start from the beginning and tell me what's going on?"

"You know I went to Todd Bentley's party Friday night?"

"No. I thought Doug had a ballgame that night."

Doug Mason was in our class and she had been with him for eight months.

She hesitated and sighed. "I decided not to go. I wanted to go to Todd's party."

"Does Doug know you went?"

"No."

"Joyie!"

"Well, what's the big deal? It was just a party."

"And you couldn't wait 'til we got to school to tell me about it?"

"Because Michael and Susan broke up and he ended up taking me home around ten. We sat on the couch and watched TV until after midnight. Daddy about had a conniption when he found us drunk."

Michael Drake was a senior and Joyie had had a crush on him since I could remember, but he had been with Susan Rogers since seventh grade.

"Joyie, what happens if Doug finds out you left with Michael?"

"I'll just tell him Michael had been drinking and needed a ride."

"Joyie Ann Adkins! That's lying."

"Not really. Michael had been drinking."

"And you let him drive you home?"

"Well, yeah. He wasn't drunk."

I closed my eyes and counted ten.

"What are you doing?" Joyie asked.

"Trying not to lose my temper."

"Oh."

"Oh."

"I guess maybe I shouldn't tell you the rest."

"There's more?"

"Yeah, but I'll wait 'til later to tell you. See ya' at school."

She hung up and a few minutes later I put down our receiver and sighed. I didn't like what she had done and had a feeling I wasn't going to like whatever else was coming, either.

I didn't find out I was right until after school.

Brad stayed after school on Mondays to help in the tutoring lab our school had set up. I stayed after on Tuesdays. I usually waited for him in the library which was across the hall from the lab, but that day Joyie asked me to walk with her to Dixie's Corner to get some ice cream.

Owned by the Johnson family, Dixie's Corner was located on Main Street, two blocks from the school, and had been around for almost fifty years and would still be around for years to come as there were enough grandchildren and great grandchildren to keep it going for generations. It was designed in the style of the fifties and they music from that time period in a juke box that had been around for almost as long as the shop had been around.

We were in the middle of our banana splits and a large order of fries when I mentioned the three day weekend coming up because of a teacher work day. We were driving up to the lake on Friday morning with out moms to camp out and have some girl time.