Chapter 6

Monday I drove to school by myself. Beth and her folks were going to take Gail back to school to get her registered again. Since her mom was planning on moving back here, she and Beth's folks thought getting Gail back into a regular routine as soon as possible would help. I was a little surprised she wanted to go back into so public a venue so quickly but I knew Beth's parents wouldn't allow her to get into anything if they felt she wasn't ready.

Kevin came down just as I was heading for the door. "Hey, Kev, did you hear Gail's going to start back at school today?"

I saw his eyes light up. "No. Thanks for the word, Tommy!"

"Remember, give her some room." A little reinforcement never hurts, right?

"I will, and I'll make sure everybody else does too!"

"Just don't push it or you could come off as a stalker and she doesn't need that," I cautioned my impetuous sibling.

"Tommy, just trust me, okay?"

"Sure, Kev. Good luck." Kevin's birthday was coming up and I made a note to do something special for him.

As I walked in to the building I ran into Greg and Cindy. "Hey, Tommy, how was your weekend?" Cindy asked with a little leer. Obviously she had an idea what Beth had planned after the party and just as obvious was the fact that they hadn't talked since the party.

"Gail showed up at our door Friday night."

"Gail? Has her family moved back?" Cindy asked.

I spent a few minutes telling my friends what happened over the weekend. I DIDN'T mention Gail's father, I figured that was private. If Gail wanted people to know, she could tell them.

"Oh that poor kid," Greg whispered.

Beth wasn't at lunch so I waited by our lockers after school, but she didn't show up, so I plodded out to the beatermobile and drove home alone. Later that night I called her and had a short and frustrating conversation.

"Oh, hi, Tommy. How was school today? I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Oh, nothing special. Cindy wanted to talk about what happened after the party and I told them Gail showed up."

"Tommy! How could you! Blabbing to all our friends about Gail!"

"Hey! I didn't..."

"I thought I could trust you and now you do something like that!" <CLICK>

What just happened? I'd never heard Beth use that tone, even when she was chewing out Jason the slug. Had I said something wrong? What?

I spent the evening doing homework and snapping at anyone who darkened my bedroom doorway. Eventually, Dad figured it was time to find out what was up.

"Okay, Tommy, what's going on?" Dad didn't sound happy.

I told him about the call. "But I didn't tell Greg and Cindy about Gail's father, just that she was back here. Beth didn't even listen!"

"Tommy, I heard what you told Kevin about cutting Gail some slack. Did you ever think that Beth might need some too?"

"Yeah, but nothing like that happened to Beth! Why won't she listen to me?"

"Tommy, Beth's trying to help Gail get over all this. Don't you think that would be a little stressful?"

That dead-stopped me. Was I being unfair to Beth? I thought about what it must be like trying to be like a big sister to someone in Gail's spot.

"I guess I am being a little unfair, aren't I."

Dad just looked at me and nodded. "Tommy, I know it's tough, but Gail is going through a tough time and I'm sure she's relying on Beth to help her get through it. Just give Beth some time."

Maybe I was overreacting a little. Now how to fix things?

I called Beth. "Beth, please let me explain about..."

"Oh, Tommy, I'm sorry I yelled at you, but everything with Gail is driving me nuts. I'll talk to you later. Okay?"

"Sure, call me when you can."

Well, at least she didn't hang up on me.

Beth wasn't in school the rest of the week and didn't call. I wanted to give her the space she seemed to need, but I was getting nervous. It didn't help that everybody at school wanted to know where she was and why we weren't together.

The next Monday morning I looked for Cindy. I figured if Beth wanted to vent it would be to her oldest friend.

"Cindy, have you talked to Beth."

"Tommy, I called her last night and we talked.

"It's going to take some time before things get back to what they were. Gail only lasted half the day in school that first day. She just couldn't take all the boys around her. They just wanted to welcome her back, but it freaked her out. Beth's folks called Gail's mother and they decided to transfer her to a girls-only private school for a while and Beth said she'd transfer too, just so she could stay close to Gail."

"Will she be coming back here?"

"Tommy, she's just trying to do what she can for Gail. That's her first priority now."

"Yeah, but what am I supposed to do?"

"Just wait, I guess."

I got home that night and there was an e-mail from my lady. Just a quick note explaining that she wouldn't be in school for a while and that she missed me.

As the week wore on I noticed a change in how people acted around me. In that uncanny way of all schools, word of Beth's transfer quickly became common knowledge, and with it came all the rumors about what caused it and whose fault it was. I tried to stomp on the rumors that we had split, but school being school, most people were more than willing to believe the worst.

It was curious to watch Beth's mice at lunch. Some gave me dirty looks while a couple of them started eyeing me almost like they were hunting.

The rest of the week dragged on. I went to school every day. Somehow my homework didn't suffer although my classroom work was nothing like it should have been. I was so preoccupied that Thursday afternoon I literally bumped into Jason Williamson and ignored his nasty comment about Beth having finally dumped me.

Friday night I was sitting in my room when Kevin looked in. "What are you doing tonight, Tommy?"

"Homework I guess. What are you doing tonight?"

"I'm going to wait for Gail to call."

"Kev, you do realize she might not want to see you any more? I mean, talking on the phone is one thing, but actually being with you might be too much."

"Yeah, I know. But somehow I just know she still wants to see me."

It must be nice to be that sure of things.

I made it through the weekend and the next week with no word from Beth, but I'm not sure how. A couple of short e-mails just wasn't the same as seeing her every day.

I was doing homework one afternoon when Mom looked in on me. "Tommy, you didn't forget your brother's birthday, did you?"

"Um, no, I was going to go out and get his present tomorrow."

"Okay, I just didn't want you to forget."

Since my brother had taken up skiing last year I decided to get him a season pass to one of the local ski areas. When I told Dad he looked surprised. "Are you sure you want to spend that much, Tommy?"

I told him that Kevin really seemed to mature in the last year, especially since Gail reappeared, and that he deserved something special.

Dad looked at me. "I'd say he's not the only one."

Mom fixed a nice dinner for Kevin's birthday. After we ate Dad handed my brother a box. "Happy birthday, son."

Kev opened the box and pulled out a new laptop. "Wow! Thanks Dad! And Mom!" he added. After he spent a few minutes trying out his new toy, Dad looked at him. "You realize this means we expect some better grades, don't you?" Kevin's crestfallen look was priceless.

When he recovered I handed him an envelope. He opened it, thinking it was just a card. When he opened the card and saw the season pass he looked at me. "WOW! Thanks, Tommy! I-I don't know what to say!"

"That's okay, Kev. Your look pretty much covers it!"

"Wow, this is the best birthday ever!" he exclaimed. "I only wish..."

He wasn't the only one.

Here it was, the week of Thanksgiving, and I was having a hard time finding anything to be thankful for. I knew I HAD a lot to be thankful for, I just couldn't build up a lot of enthusiasm for the holiday. I kept thinking back to last year and being able to invite Beth over. Well, that and her great pumpkin pie.

I was doing homework Tuesday night when my phone rang. I pulled out one of the ear buds for my MP3 player and picked up my phone. "Tommy?" a timid voice asked.

I hit the pause button on my player. "Beth? Is that you?!" Could it be?

"N-no, this is Gail." My heart hit the floor.

"Oh, hi, Gail. How are you doing? I suppose you want to talk to Kevin?"

"Maybe later," she said.

"Tommy, please call Beth. She's been so busy helping me that she's ignoring everything else. I know she misses you so much and I-I feel like it's all my fault that you two aren't, aren't..."

"Gail, is she there now?"

"Y-yes, she's in her room. Do you want to talk to her?"

"Oh, yes! But please don't tell her it's me. Just tell her she's got a call. Can you do that for me?"

"Okay, let me go get her." I heard the phone hit the table.

I think I died three times in the thirty seconds before I heard the sweetest sound in the world.

"Hello?"

"Hello, my princess," I said quietly, holding my breath.