Chapter 56

"I'm a little sleepy," I said. "I was in line at Best Buy at 4:00 in the morning so I could get some really great bargains."

"You did not," said Sandy, in challenging disbelief.

"Of course not. Nobody in my family has ever looked for a bargain in their lives."

We went to the King of Prussia Mall, so many choices.

"You're doing a good job on your makeup," I told her.

"I know. Guys have started noticing me." The way she said it seemed to have extra meaning.

"Anybody special?" I asked.

"Jake Canyon."

"I don't know him."

"He's our quarterback. We're not very good, but he's very popular and he is a hottie."

Uh, oh.

"What's he like?" I asked.

"I don't know him very well. But he smiles at me and he follows me with his eyes and I see him looking at me all the time."

"Is he with other girls when he does any of this?"

"Yeah, some of the time. Sometimes he's with the guys."

"But he hasn't come over and talked to you?" I asked.

"Not yet. But it's just a matter of time."

"Has Sunny talked to you about this?"

"Please. I haven't told her. Not everybody babbles like Jeff. When he babbles," she tried to correct herself. "He doesn't babble, he's just, too open. You really can't be that open with your Mom."

That wasn't the issue I wanted to argue.

"Did Sunny ever talk to you about jocks, hotties, the popular crowd, quarterbacks?"

"As if," she said. "The only quarterbacks Mom met were the ones she tutored."

I took a deep breath.

"You know how I feel about you, Sandy. I think you're beautiful, brilliant, funny and a sweet soul. I love having you in my life. Some day those kids may too, if you have any interest in hanging out with them.

"I was one of them. Don't forget how I treated Jeff back then. The only thing important to me was me. If I was thinking about associating with you, I would look at it in terms of what it did for me.

"This guy may think you're hot. He may really like you in his mind, even though he hasn't met you so he couldn't possibly have any idea how terrific you are.

"He may grow up to be a wonderful guy some day. But, considering the genetic good fortune he's had, the athletic success, the friends he's made, the people who suck up to him, the odds are when he's gotten all the me stuff he can out of you, he'll have no further use for you and he'll dump you without a thought.

"I'm not saying this because I think there's anything wrong with you. I'm saying it because I'm betting there's something wrong with him."