“No, thanks. I do need some money though.”
“Oh, right.” Dad pulled out a five.
“Um, I need at least twenty,” I informed him.
“Really?” His eyes bugged a little behind his glasses.
“Yeah.”
With a sigh, he pulled a fifty out of his wallet.
I snatched it before he could reconsider. Then I opened the door and climbed out.
As I walked to the door, I combed my hair out of my face and attempted to tame it.
The thing is that normally I’m a really fast shopper. I mean if I’m getting a few things for Mom at the grocery, I’m like lightning. But I so did not want anyone to see me walking around the store on a Friday night, alone, with a cart full of feminine hygiene products. I was moving at double speed.
I grabbed a shirt as I passed the women’s section. The store wasn’t crowded since it was almost closing time, but I didn’t want to risk total exposure. Then I loaded in the jumbo box of tampons and maxipads. No use coming back next month. I threw in a jumbo-sized Advil and a bag of M&M’s. Gotta have chocolate. The shirt nicely covered everything until I got to the front of the store.
This was where the whole Mission Grab the Tampons and Get Out thing went all to hell. Only one lane was open, and it was manned by a guy. A young guy. Like high school. I looked up at the ceiling. Hadn’t I been going to church every day since like birth? Where was my reward? Was it too much to ask for a woman to handle my tampons?
Dad was outside waiting, and I had to have them. I had no choice. I had to brazen it out. So I pushed the cart up to the lane and handed the guy the shirt. “I changed my mind about the shirt,” I said.
“Okay,” he said and stuck it in the mind-changing bin.
Then I unloaded all my menstrual supplies, trained my gaze on the window, and held out the fifty.
I heard him gulp. Don’t blush. Don’t freak. He does this all the time. He doesn’t know me anyway. He’s probably even in college or something.
After what seemed like hours, he said, “That will be twenty nine forty seven.”
He took the fifty and stuck the change in my hand. Then he loaded it all into a bag which I snatched up.
“Thanks,” I mumbled. Because I did have manners after all.
I cruised through the automatic doors and ran to the car. Mom was going to call me any minute, and I was so going to let her have it.
I handed Dad the wad of change. He hated when I did that, but he didn’t say a word this time. He just grumbled something about thirty dollars and pulled away from the curb.
Back at Dad’s, I popped in to tell Caroline I was hitting the sack since I had cramps. She blinked like she had no idea what I was talking about. Did she not have cramps either?
I didn’t end up yelling at my mother. She sounded exhausted by the time she called. She’d been flying all day.
“So,” I said, putting my Meg Cabot book down on my bed. I was reading the 1-800-Where-R-You series for the second time. “Is it going okay with Donald so far?”
“Yes, Sweetie. Don’t you worry.” Then she told me all about the view from her apartment over the garage.
As if I believed she was really living over the garage. Puh-lease.
“Have you decided about going out for soccer yet?”
“I signed up.” I didn’t like looking like an idiot, and I wasn’t sure I could do it. Even on the Junior Varsity of a small parochial school league. I rolled over on my back on my bed.
“I think it will be good for you, Ally. Really, what do you have to lose?”
My pride. My dignity. A few brain cells if I took a header the wrong way.
When Diane got home, she came in to check on me. “Caroline said you needed some tampons. Should I run out and get some?”
Apparently, my dad hadn’t told her. You’d think he’d have the courage to discuss menstruation with his own wife but apparently not. “No thanks. Dad took me to Target. But I appreciate you asking.” And I did. She could have just blown me off and gone to bed.
“Oh. Okay. I’ll see you in the morning then.”
“Good night,” I said. Maybe I should make more of an effort to like her.
An hour later, the house was quiet. I stopped by the bathroom and took care of the necessary tasks. Then I slipped on a bra and clean shorts and t-shirt. It was too weird being outside braless, not to mention hanging out with a boy. Sure I’d done it for the first decade of my life, but that had been pre-boobs. I was only a B-cup, but they seemed pretty big and bouncy to me.
It was just after midnight when I slipped through the gate at Jonathan’s. Mojo didn’t even bother to greet me. When I got closer, I saw that he and Buddy were cuddled up at Jonathan’s side. He was sitting on the swing. The cot, blankets, and pillows were on the patio.
“Hey,” he said. “I didn’t know for sure if you’d be coming.”
I sat down on the cot. “It doesn’t look like he needs me, does it?”
“Oh,” Jonathan said in a loud whisper. “He does. Mojo just settled down. I think he knew you were on your way.”
I smiled. “Thanks.”
“You can sleep here again. That is…” He looked uncertain. “Was it comfortable? I figured it would be more comfortable than the cot.”
“It was fine,” I told him. “But I can sleep on the cot.”
“No,” he disentangled himself from the dogs and stood, holding the swing to minimize the swaying and creaking. “You should get to sleep with Mojo.” Then he hesitated. “Unless you don’t want…”
Good grief. “I’ll take the swing. Thanks.” I knew I should probably suggest that we rotate nights or something. That way he wouldn’t have to sleep out here all the time. But I liked having him out here. I didn’t want to give him an excuse to go inside, or even worse, make him think I want
ed him to leave.
I moved onto the swing and he tossed me a pillow and blanket. Then he stretched out on the cot.
“Move over a little, Mojo,” I said. “I can’t get my feet on.”
Mojo actually did what I said, but I’m pretty sure it was a fluke. I stretched out and covered up. “Where were you today?” I asked Jonathan.
“Colin had a soccer scrimmage. Me and Dave went to see him play.”
“How’d they do?”
“They won. Colin’s amazing. He’s always been good at sports. He plays everything.”
“You’ve known him a long time?”
“We’ve been friends since second grade.”
“Madison and I’ve been friends since first. She’s almost like my sister.”
“Yeah,” he said, sounding surprised. “Colin’s like a brother.”
“Maybe your brother can teach me some soccer tricks,” I said. “I signed up to play JV.”
“Really? That’s awesome.” He rolled over on his side. “I could ask Colin—”
“Oh, no. I was just kidding. I’m really not very good, and it would just embarrass me.”
I couldn’t see him, but I suspected he rolled his eyes. “It’s just Colin.”
“He may be like a brother to you, but he’s a stranger to me.”
“Fine. I’ll let Ben show you some moves.”
“Your little brother?” If I could learn something from a four-year-old, I really had no business being on the team.
“He plays.”
“Um, okay.”
“So it’s okay for Ben but not Colin? They’re both my brothers.”
I threw my pillow at him and the swing squeaked in protest. “Fine. I’ll do it, if you put on a skirt and let Caroline teach you some cheers.” Crap! Why had I brought her up? Things were going so well.