Jason DavenportI watched Ashley share "juicy gossip" with Dad from across the table. She had returned two days ago and since then had proceeded to bore us out of our minds with unwanted info.I still wasn't talking to dad. I was still bitter about the last time. It'd be an embarrassment if I had to tell the boys I couldn't afford to pay for drinks this weekend. They'd probably make fun of me and wouldn't let me forget it for the rest of my life. I frowned, downing my cup of hot chocolate. I resisted the urge to scream as the very hot liquid burned my tongue. In order to not look stupid, I held it in and gulped down a cup of milk instead to help with the pain. Fucking hell.I was so frustrated with everything. And Ashley's babbling was really not helping. "Babe, what do you think?" Ashley asked, her head tilted to the side.What had she asked him?"Sure," Dad replied. "Am outing sounds good. It's 8pm and I'm bored, so why not?"Ashley

Jason DavenportI sat on one of the old chairs at the pool after practice. I'd wanted to take a swim as I was very sweaty, but I decided to sit and relax for a while.After all, there was no rush to head on home. After the incident regarding Dad and Ashley, I wasn't sure how I felt. I knew I felt a great deal of stupid. But mostly it was. . . pain. I'd wanted to be right. I'd needed to be right. Being right meant that Ashley would disappear from our lives and that Dad and I would have a chance to work on our relationship. Being right meant that I'd never have to regard anyone else as my mother. Being right meant that I wouldn't have to call anyone else 'mom' and have to experience the pain and anger that came with it. But I'd been wrong. Ashley was weird and annoying and way too girly for my liking. Plus I hated the fact that she was a younger woman. It irritated the shit out of me. I wasn't sure I would ever accept her completely. I still hated her for t

Amelia ForbesI had gotten to the bus on time. And now I was in second period trying not to fall asleep as Mr Redmey droned on and on about something. An hour later the class was over. I nearly cried out loud in joy, grabbing my books. For some reason I felt very sleepy, but I'd been fighting to control myself. Was it the baby? Or was the class just really boring? I placed a finger on my temple, willing my thoughts to go away. As I got up and trudged to the door, Mr Redmey called out, "Amelia?"I turned around in surprise and walked to his table. I secretly prayed it wasn't another debate he wanted me to participate in. I honestly had no energy for that. "You have a meeting with Principal Harris in. . ." He looked at his watch. "Thirty minutes."I concealed my frown. What was this about now? My grades? They'd gotten better since then, so what was it. Knowing he wouldn't be able to answer me, I nodded and proceeded to the principal's office. To

Amelia Forbes"You never told me you knew ASL," I said to Dani as we sat side by side on my bed. She only shrugged. "It never came up."She laughed when I pushed her sideways onto the bed. "Easy, Ammy. Why so serious?"When I didn't change my expression, she sighed. "Fine. I wanted to surprise you."My face dissolved. "Really?"She nodded, smiling.Something warm filled my chest. Having people do nice things for me still felt very weird. Plus, I was really beginning to like Dani, which was scary because it meant that I was left in permanent fear of wondering if she was going to leave me, let me down, hurt me. And I didn't like that. I was meaning to talk to her about it but there was no time yet.Inhaling deeply, I smiled at her and murmured a "thank you". "So. . ." She began. "You think Nana likes me?"I froze. She had called my grandma 'Nana'. Everyone else referred to her as 'your Nana' but Dani called her Nana. I figured and ho

Amelia ForbesI sucked in my breath as Benson finally took off the piece of cloth he had used to cover Nana's full length mirror. If I wasn't consciously present, I wouldn't have believed that the girl I was staring at right now was me. As I slowly twirled, my mouth fell open. I knew the dress Adrian's mom had picked out for me was nice but I didn't think it was THIS hot. "Well fuck," Dani whistled, as she walked in. "I just had an orgasm from staring at you."I whipped around, my eyes wide. "Dani! Stop being so nasty." I covered my eyes with my hands. She replied with a loud laugh and did a once-over in the mirror. She wore a baggy, all black suit that fell around at the ankles.Duh. Dani was the only person I'd ever met that could rock a baggy suit and make it look hot. "Oh shush. You look good, girl," She winked at me. Turning to Benson she said, "You did a great job on her hair and makeup y'know. It's awesome."I held