His face lit up at my words. “That would be excellent. I
think she could use a friend.”
I nodded my head, agreeing with him.
“Clint and Shawn, do me a favor and move Katelyn’s desk over here,” he said, pointing to the empty spot on the other side of Bethany.
I noticed he didn’t ask Max to help move my desk, judging by the glowering expression on his face, I could see why. I averted my eyes and tried to tune out the whispering I could hear throughout the room. I had drawn the line, and I could feel the shift in the room. I looked at Rebecca to see if she was gloating over Max being free again, but was surprised that she was studying me with what looked like puzzlement and sympathy.
Bethany continued to chatter away once I was settled and acted possessive of me when anyone passed our desks. I nodded my head at the appropriate parts of the conversation and blamed my sore throat for my uncommunicative responses.
I ate lunch with Bethany and Matt that day and for the rest of November. Eventually, the whispers about me stopped, and several of the other students I hadn’t had a chance to get to know before became friendlier. Bethany remained possessive of me and would often interrupt conversations if she thought they might lead to other friendships. I didn’t resent her attitude since she had unknowingly helped me out.
As winter approached, the days grew shorter and colder. I knew our days in Four Corners were numbered judging by Lucinda’s clamorous complaining. Part of me was actually anxious for the move to happen so I wouldn’t have to see Max each and every day. Still, the other side of me was filled with deep despair at the thought of never seeing him again. Being in a small school had become both the blessing and curse I thought it would be. It was torture being around Max in every class because I wanted so badly to run to his arms and feel the gentle beating of his heart against me. In the beginning he would stare at me across the room for hours on end. I learned to discipline myself to focus on anywhere but where he sat, and eventually he stopped looking all together. I mourned the loss of his glances more than I could have imagined, throwing myself wholeheartedly into my schoolwork. I had asked Mr. Hanson if Courtney could tutor me in math once I broke it off with Max. She wasn’t quite as strong as Max at the problems, but she also didn’t distract me like he used to. She and I gradually became friends through the tutoring sessions since Bethany wasn’t around. It was more of a superficial friendship on my part since I once again had my walls erected to protect my personal life. I appreciated her easygoing nature though, and wished that I could have gotten to know her better.
As December approached, Kevin became ecstatic when Jim and Lucinda began to get into the holidays like never before. We even arrived home from school one mid-December day to see our very first Christmas tree standing in the corner of the trailer, surrounded by presents.
“What’s this?” I asked, completely floored.
“Jim’s been getting a lot of extra bonuses at work, so we figured we’d have fun this year. Why, do you have a problem with that?” she asked, sounding annoyed.
“No, it’s just we never have before,” I said, not bothering to point out all the Christmases and birthdays we had gone without.
“Well, obviously if I could have, I would have,” Lucinda said, clearly aggravated with me.
“I know, Mom, I think it’s great,” I replied, trying to appease her.
“I just don’t know about you sometimes, Katelyn. You can be such a bitch.”
“I know, Mom, I’m sorry,” I said truthfully. I knew Lucinda hated to have her faults pointed out to her.
I headed to my room before the issue escalated, kicking myself the entire time for saying anything in the first place. I could still hear her grumbling about my selfishness as I closed my bedroom door.
The next day we arrived home to see that the presents had multiplied from the day before. Of course, most of them were for Lucinda, but I was pleased to see that Kevin had his fair share too. My pile was the smallest, but that was to be expected since I had picked a fight the day before. Kevin was over the moon when he saw his gifts and would spend hours each afternoon just staring at the pile.
The pile of Christmas presents continued to grow with each passing day as if Lucinda was trying to prove something. As excited as I was at the thought of having our first ever normal Christmas, I began to worry about where all the extra money was coming from. Lucinda didn’t work, and I knew that Jim wasn’t making very much money as a day laborer. Of course, questioning Lucinda would mean opening up a can of worms I just didn’t want to deal with.
The week before Christmas break was supposed to start, Kevin and I came home to a distraught Lucinda.
“What happened?” I asked, closing the door behind us as Lucinda sobbed on the couch.
“Jim-m-m is in-n-n jai-l-l,” she said in between her hiccupping sobs.
“Kevin, go to your room,” I said.
“Why?” I asked Lucinda once I heard Kevin’s door close.
“Because-e-e he-e-e was stealing-g-g copper wiring from his job.”
“Are you kidding me?” I asked incredulously.
“Don’t you judge him,” Lucinda said as her sobs cutoff abruptly.
“Don’t judge him?” I asked, feeling the anger rise inside me. “What was he thinking? How are we going to pay the bills if he’s in jail?” I added, pointing out the obvious.
“He wanted to give your selfish ass a nice Christmas,” she said, rising to her feet.
“Bullshit, he was just being greedy!” I said, completely disgusted at the situation.