case you’re coming down with something.”
“What’s Abby coming down with?” Lily says, sticking her head out of her room. “I don’t want to get any of her germs.”
I step toward her and fake a cough.
“
Mom
! Did you see that? Abby is trying to give me the plague.”
My mother rolls her eyes.
“Abby, that was uncalled for, and Lily, your sister does
not
have the plague. Besides, you’re supposed to be in bed, and if you were there, Abby couldn’t have coughed on you.”
“Figures you’d take Abby’s side,” Lily grumbles, slinking back into her room and slamming the door shut.
Mom sighs. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to take a nice hot bath,” she says. “Don’t forget to take the Tylenol.”
“Okay, good night.”
I go back into my room and quickly throw my pajamas back on. Then I open my laptop to see if Luke’s still online.
AbyAngel99: Sorry I had to go. Had parental 911.
BlueSkyBoi: It’s okay. I figured. But … I didn’t get to tell you.
BlueSkyBoi: I love you, baby.
AbyAngel99:
BlueSkyBoi: Hope u get the phone soon so I can talk & txt u all the time.
AbyAngel99: Will check as soon as I get home from school.
BlueSkyBoi: It’s a pay as u go phone so let me know when u need more minutes.
AbyAngel99: Ok.
BlueSkyBoi: My number is programmed in. Txt me when u get it.
I don’t want to break the connection I have with Luke. I wish I could chat with him all night. But it’s already late, and I really need to finish those stupid math problems.
AbyAngel99: I will. I GTG. Have to finish my homework.
BlueSkyBoi: That’s my smart girl. Okay. See u tomorrow.
BlueSkyBoi: Sweet dreams, Abby angel.
I shut my computer and bury it under a pillow, hoping to blot out any thoughts of Luke while I finish my math problems. Yeah, right. Like
that’s
possible. Images of his face and … well, other things … keep flashing through my head. It’s well past midnight before I finish what would normally have taken me twenty minutes. Even then I have trouble getting to sleep.
CHAPTER 9
OCTOBER 13
It feels like I’m drifting on a cloud the whole week in school. I keep hearing Luke’s voice in my ear telling me “I love you, baby” and the intense sound of his breath as he told me how beautiful I was and how much he wanted me. It doesn’t even bother me when I pass Amanda Armitage and a bunch of her friends in the hall and they look at me and start giggling after I’ve walked by. Normally, I’d get all paranoid worrying about what they were saying, like if my clothes were all wrong or my butt looked big in the jeans I was wearing or I was having a Bad Hair Day of epic proportions. But it’s like Luke has cast a protective spell around me with his words; none of the idiots at my school can hurt me because I know he loves me. And he’s a mature guy, not some stupid teen Clique Queen.
I find myself doodling
Abby Redmond
in the margin of my Spanish notebook. I know I’m getting totally carried away with that, but I’ve just never felt this way about anyone before. Luke understands me so well. Maybe he’s right and we really are soul mates. It won’t really matter about him being so much older than me when I’m older. Look at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Or Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
Science lab forces me off my cloud with a bump. Not just because we’re working with chemicals, but because Billy keeps looking at me with a question in his eyes. A question that I don’t want him to ask out loud because I don’t really want to have to answer it. Because I like Billy, I really do. He’s a nice guy, and he’s smart and cute. Faith keeps asking me when I’m going out with him again. I keep saying, “I don’t know, he hasn’t asked me.” I don’t tell her that’s because I keep running away before he gets a chance, and signing off MSN the minute I see he’s online so he can’t chat with me. Like, I guess the thing I should do is just say, “Hey, Billy, it was fun but …”
“What’s Abby coming down with?” Lily says, sticking her head out of her room. “I don’t want to get any of her germs.”
I step toward her and fake a cough.
“
Mom
! Did you see that? Abby is trying to give me the plague.”
My mother rolls her eyes.
“Abby, that was uncalled for, and Lily, your sister does
not
have the plague. Besides, you’re supposed to be in bed, and if you were there, Abby couldn’t have coughed on you.”
“Figures you’d take Abby’s side,” Lily grumbles, slinking back into her room and slamming the door shut.
Mom sighs. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to take a nice hot bath,” she says. “Don’t forget to take the Tylenol.”
“Okay, good night.”
I go back into my room and quickly throw my pajamas back on. Then I open my laptop to see if Luke’s still online.
AbyAngel99: Sorry I had to go. Had parental 911.
BlueSkyBoi: It’s okay. I figured. But … I didn’t get to tell you.
BlueSkyBoi: I love you, baby.
AbyAngel99:
BlueSkyBoi: Hope u get the phone soon so I can talk & txt u all the time.
AbyAngel99: Will check as soon as I get home from school.
BlueSkyBoi: It’s a pay as u go phone so let me know when u need more minutes.
AbyAngel99: Ok.
BlueSkyBoi: My number is programmed in. Txt me when u get it.
I don’t want to break the connection I have with Luke. I wish I could chat with him all night. But it’s already late, and I really need to finish those stupid math problems.
AbyAngel99: I will. I GTG. Have to finish my homework.
BlueSkyBoi: That’s my smart girl. Okay. See u tomorrow.
BlueSkyBoi: Sweet dreams, Abby angel.
I shut my computer and bury it under a pillow, hoping to blot out any thoughts of Luke while I finish my math problems. Yeah, right. Like
that’s
possible. Images of his face and … well, other things … keep flashing through my head. It’s well past midnight before I finish what would normally have taken me twenty minutes. Even then I have trouble getting to sleep.
CHAPTER 9
OCTOBER 13
It feels like I’m drifting on a cloud the whole week in school. I keep hearing Luke’s voice in my ear telling me “I love you, baby” and the intense sound of his breath as he told me how beautiful I was and how much he wanted me. It doesn’t even bother me when I pass Amanda Armitage and a bunch of her friends in the hall and they look at me and start giggling after I’ve walked by. Normally, I’d get all paranoid worrying about what they were saying, like if my clothes were all wrong or my butt looked big in the jeans I was wearing or I was having a Bad Hair Day of epic proportions. But it’s like Luke has cast a protective spell around me with his words; none of the idiots at my school can hurt me because I know he loves me. And he’s a mature guy, not some stupid teen Clique Queen.
I find myself doodling
Abby Redmond
in the margin of my Spanish notebook. I know I’m getting totally carried away with that, but I’ve just never felt this way about anyone before. Luke understands me so well. Maybe he’s right and we really are soul mates. It won’t really matter about him being so much older than me when I’m older. Look at Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Or Jay-Z and Beyoncé.
Science lab forces me off my cloud with a bump. Not just because we’re working with chemicals, but because Billy keeps looking at me with a question in his eyes. A question that I don’t want him to ask out loud because I don’t really want to have to answer it. Because I like Billy, I really do. He’s a nice guy, and he’s smart and cute. Faith keeps asking me when I’m going out with him again. I keep saying, “I don’t know, he hasn’t asked me.” I don’t tell her that’s because I keep running away before he gets a chance, and signing off MSN the minute I see he’s online so he can’t chat with me. Like, I guess the thing I should do is just say, “Hey, Billy, it was fun but …”
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