Love From the Ashes by Cheryl Persons

wasn’t any of his concern and she didn’t feel she owed him any explanation.  “ I’m just helping him out.”
    “I see.”  He shrugged and smiled; she figured it was forced.  “So, I have a favor to ask of you.”
    She tried not to look annoyed; even though she definitely didn’t want to hear what he had to say.  “Adam, I’m running late.  I have to get…”
    “It won’t take long;” he interrupted.  “Friday night, I need a date.  Can I count on you?”
    She laughed.  “Uh, no…”
    “Rebecca, I need you to help me out.”
    She stared at him; searching is face in hopes that he was only kidding.  When she didn’t see any signs of joking she went back to work.  “I don’t feel like I need to do anything.”  She paused and shook her head.  She was going to regret asking me the question.  “What do you need?”
    “There’s a family reunion that I don’t want to go dateless to.”
    “Surely your family knows that you’re single.”  She turned to him and raised her eyebrows.  “So, why do you need a date?”
    “I don’t want them to think that I couldn’t get a date.  Everyone else will be paired off; I don’t want to be the loner.  There will be games and music.  I am sure you will have a great time.”
    “Adam, can we talk about this later?”  She had noticed that Kari had reentered the room and she didn’t want to have her hear their conversation.
    He sighed heavily, but finally nodded.  “Just think about it.”
    “I will.  Goodbye!”  She hurried from the room with Kari in tow.  “Sorry for taking so long.”
    “That’s alright.”  She heard hesitation in her voice and she prayed that Kari wouldn’t say anything.  She was wrong.  “Is he your boyfriend?”
    “Who?”  She figured she could act clueless.
    Kari laughed.  “Mr. Gregory.”
    Rebecca side glanced at Kari and she noticed her looking right at her.  “No, he’s not my boyfriend.”
    “He asked you out on a date; that’s something that boyfriends do.  He came to the party that one day.”  Rebecca laughed as they reached the main door.
    “It wasn’t a date.  We’re just friends.”  They went outside and she saw Frankie and Bethany patiently waiting for them.  “Hey girls; hope you didn’t have to wait too long.”
    Bethany smiled.  “Nope, we just got here.”
    “Are you ready to go?”  They headed to her van and she sighed with relief that the conversation had come to an end.  She hoped that it would remain that way.
    ____________________
    Rebecca followed the girls up to the front door.  They knocked, but then Bethany tried the door.  It opened with ease.  “We’re here!”  She yelled.  Rebecca had to laugh; she was sure that Cassie didn’t need to hear Bethany to realize that they were there.  They sounded like a herd of elephants running to get their food.
    Cassie was coming down the stairs when Rebecca had got in the foyer.  “How was school?”
    Kari was the first one to speak up.  “It was great.  I had a reading test and I got a n A+.”
    Cassie turned to Rebecca and Rebecca smiled.  “She’s right.  She had the highest grade.”
    Kari was beaming.  “You must have a good teacher.”  Cassie replied with a laugh.  “What about you Bethany?”
    “I had a Science Exam; I am not so sure I’ll have as high a grade as Kari did.”
    “Well, she’s also younger.  Science is a difficult subject, but your Uncle Seth…he used to love Science.  If you need any help; don’t hesitate to ask.”
    “I won’t.  Other than that, the day was pretty good.”
    “That’s good.  So, Frankie…what do you say?”
    “We made macaroni art.  I still don’t know why they wouldn’t let us eat it, but oh well.”
    Rebecca covered her smile.  Cassie looked at Rebecca and she saw that she was also trying not to laugh.  “It’s probably a good thing you didn’t.”  Cassie replied with emphasis.  “It wouldn’t taste as good as it