In My Father's Shadow by Jl Paul Page B

have a point.” Ally grabbed a bunch of
books off her desk and shoved them into her backpack. She needed to
get out of the stuffy room and away from the prying eyes of her
cousin. She needed a little space and a lot of quiet to get her
thoughts and her feelings into some kind of order. She just
couldn’t go on like this any longer. “Listen, I’m going to go to
the library and finish my Chemistry homework. I’ll see you later,
okay?”
    “Sure,” Jeana said, her brow furrowed in confusion.
“Um, was I supposed to say anything about Cole?”
    “Oh, sure,” Ally said, slinging her backpack over her
shoulder. She smiled at Jeana as she twisted the doorknob. “Like
you said – he probably forgot. They never tell me who they’re
taking on dates unless I ask. Don’t worry about it.”
    She flashed another weak smile and fled the room
before the pain could catch up to her.
    ***
    Ally worked in the library all through dinner,
stomach too twisted to even think about food. Finally, one of the
librarian assistants told her she’d have to clean up, the library
was closing. Ally nodded and stowed her homework in her backpack.
She put the books she’d used away and slowly made her way out of
the door and into the dark.
    She couldn’t believe Cole hadn’t told her he was
taking Jennifer to the dance. It wasn’t that she expected him to
take her, really, but she thought that maybe if the other boys
didn’t have dates, they’d all hang out together. Maybe Jennifer was
the reason why Cole so adamantly refused to be anything but a
friend to Ally. Maybe he really was lying to protect her feelings.
But how was he going to explain this? Didn’t he know it would hurt
ten times more when she found out on her own? Or did he actually
believe she’d never know?
    She ignored the pain pinching her heart and shuffled
her feet along the sidewalk past the very lively Student Center.
She couldn’t believe people inside the Center were happy and having
fun while she was totally falling apart.
    Her heart, as well as her feet, stopped at the sight
of three shadowy figures lounging on the picnic tables. She spotted
the glow of a cigarette and didn’t need to guess who it was. She
sighed and trudged on, knowing she’d have to face him sooner or
later.
    “Ally,” Jamie called out. “Where have you been?”
    “Library,” she said as she plopped down next to him.
She dropped her backpack between her feet. “I had Chemistry
homework to finish.”
    “You must be starving, Al,” Cole said, sitting up to
face her. “We didn’t see you at dinner.”
    “I’m fine.”
    “Come on,” he said, checking his watch as he got to
his feet. “I’ll take you to get something to eat.”
    “I said I’m fine,” she told him firmly, her teeth
grinding.
    “What’s bugging you, Al?” he asked as he lowered
himself back down to the picnic table.
    “Nothing, now can we change the subject?” she said
tersely.
    “Sure,” RJ said tiredly from his side of the table.
“What do you want to talk about?”
    “Hmmm,” she said, tapping a finger to her bottom lip.
When she’d first spotted them, she hadn’t intended to mention
Jennifer Mansfeld but she couldn’t help it – couldn’t hold back any
longer. “How about…oh…I don’t know… the Fall Festival dance?”
    “Oh, hell,” Cole cursed, smacking his forehead. “I
totally forgot!”
    “What dude?” Jamie asked.
    “I have got to get out of this,” Cole mumbled as he
stood and paced. “Damn it!”
    “Why?” Ally spat at him, launching to her feet to
stand in front of him, fists firmly planted on her hips. “I know
she’s been dying to get back together with you. What’s the problem,
huh?”
    “Okay, stop,” RJ ordered, squeezing between the two
of them. “What the hell is going on now?”
    “I forgot I’m supposed to go with Jennifer Mansfeld
to the Fall Festival dance,” Cole explained sheepishly.
    Ally tensed and rolled to her toes, reaching over
RJ’s shoulder to