Giving Up the V by Serena Robar

Author:Serena Robar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2009-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

chapter 12

Instead of hanging around downstairs, I pretended to get more snacks. I needed a few minutes to myself. Zach was mad, Benjamin was flirting with Alyssa, and suddenly I wanted to go home. I snuck upstairs.

“Who left?” Mrs. Payne popped her head around the kitchen corner.

“That was Zach.”

“Oh,” she said, surprised. “Early night for him, isn’t it?”

I shrugged, sliding onto an island bar stool and popping some M&M’s into my mouth.

“Trouble in paradise?” She wiped her hands with a dishcloth and grabbed a few of the candy-coated chocolates.

“That’s an oxymoron. Paradise by its very nature is untroubled.”

She whistled, opening one of the drawers to her right and pulling out snack-size Kit Kats, then dropping them into the candy dish. “That bad, huh?”

“Not bad, really, just confusing.”

“So, typical teen stuff then, right?”

I laughed with her, snagging a Kit Kat. “Right.”

“Oh, I know. Boys can be very confusing.”

“What makes you think it’s boy troubles?”

“Well, isn’t it?”

“Could be,” I hedged.

She tapped her temple. “Mom’s intuition. Is that why Zach left early? You two have a spat?”

I swiveled back and forth on the barstool. “I have no idea why Zach left early. He’s been in a mood lately.”

“Hmm,” she said, running a towel across the island’s granite surface. “You know, I always thought you and Ryan would make a cute couple.”

I almost choked on my Kit Kat.

She smiled at my distress. “I’m serious. You’re very good for him. I know he’s a wild child, but you would keep him grounded. And I’ve always thought he had a bit of a crush on you.”

“No offense, Mrs. P., but Ryan can have any girl he wants.” And frequently does, I added to myself. “He’s not going to pick me. And second of all, we’re just friends. Always have been. He doesn’t see me that way. Trust me.”

“You know, Spencer, I’m around you kids a lot. Here at the house and at school. I see things. Things that maybe you don’t see because you’re used to things being like they’ve always been. Ryan respects you and he values you.

“I love my son, but I’m not blind to his faults. He uses girls, terribly. It’s the thing we fight about the most—well, besides when he’s blowing up the chemistry lab—but he would never do that to you.”

“He would never blow me up?” I joked.

She chuckled. “I couldn’t promise you that, but he would never treat you poorly. He wouldn’t use you.”

I chewed on my Kit Kat thoughtfully. Mrs. P. was way off base about Ryan’s affections. He was Ryan, after all. He had girls all the time. No way he’d give all that up for a fat virgin.

I changed the subject. “What do you think of Benjamin?”

She smiled warmly. “I think my son has found a partner in crime. Those two boys are going to give me a heart attack before graduation. I know it.”

She said it with such affection that I didn’t doubt for a moment that she loved her son deeply. She knew Ryan had his difficult moments, but she also had faith that he would grow out of it.

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