The next day, I went to Mom's after school. We had Chinese. I told her about my ideas to decorate my room there.
"I don't plan to change the wallpaper. Yellow is my favorite color," I added.
"Okay," said Mom.
"I shared my ideas with Stephanie and liked them," I said.
"That's good," said Mom. "Maybe we can start doing that next weekend."
"Sure," I said.
"Maybe when you're ready one day, would you like to move in with me?" asked Mom.
"I would, but I'm comfortable being with Dad right now. We're very close," I replied. "I will only visit when Dad's working especially a double shift anyway."
"Okay, I understand," said Mom.
At least I give her credit for understanding. The only time I would've visit Dad when he's off or on vacation. But I love Dad too much to move out to live with Mom. If he didn't lightening up and if I couldn't take it any longer or if he was dead, that's another story.
"What time do you go to bed on school nights?" asked Mom.
"I go to bed at 10:00 pm," I replied.
After supper, Mom and I watched a movie. I love movie nights with Mom. We watched Cheaper by the Dozen. It was very good. I never seen it before. This was an old movie version. I've seen the one with Steve Martin. His movies are very funny. Mom has that one, so we decided to watch both of those movies. I couldn't stop laughing at that one. After that movie was over, I went to bed.
The next day, I woke up with an upset stomach. I asked Mom if I can go back home and be absent from school so I can rest and she didn't blame me for that. I was afraid to be sick at school. She took me back home on her way to work. I already called the school and told the principal I wasn't going today because I was feeling sick to my stomach. He was fine with that and will let my teachers know. I also called Dad, who was working to let him know I was home and told him the reason. He also didn't blame me to stay home from school so I can get some sleep. He came home from work after I did.
That afternoon, I felt a bit better. Whenever the phone rings, I let the answering machine to pick up because I was asleep. Dad lets it ring, too, to let me sleep when I'm sick. Or he'd pick up if it's anything is important like work if he was needed to work for a double shift or they let him know when they're having a meeting and gives him the times. He doesn't pick if there are junk foods. We have a caller ID, so he gets it ring if it's a 1-800 services. It's mostly answering service. I don't pick up their calls either. We would delete their messages like Dad wanted to do. That was a good idea to do. Samuel called me to tell me that he had a study guide today and asked me to help him study for tomorrow's test. I told him that I couldn't.
"I woke up with an upset stomach. I still have that feeling," I said. "Would you mind doing that on your own unless you want your mother's help?"
"I don't mind doing that," said Samuel.
That night, I felt better enough to eat dinner.
"Mom told me when I'm ready, I can move in with her, but I told her I would, but I'm being comfortable living with you especially when we're very close. Plus, she knew that I was visiting her when you work for a double shift during the week or when you work every other weekends. She understood," I was telling Dad. "If I didn't have you, that's different."
"That's true," agreed Dad.
I was just having some soup. I didn't want anything too heavy. After I ate, Dad and I watched some TV for a while before I got up for bed at 9:30 pm because I was getting tired and wanted to get better for school.
The next day, I was good enough for school. At school, I did the stuff that I missed yesterday. I did it during class. The teachers always let us do that. They told me I can do yesterday's homework instead of today's homework so I won't get overwhelmed with all that. They let the others to do the same thing when any student is out the day before. The teachers are good for that. They let us forget to do the today's homework, which was good. We don't usually get a lot of homework anyway.
At lunch, Stephanie and I talked about the weekend trip.
"I can't wait to spend the weekend in California with you," I said.
"Same here," said Stephanie.
"Mom asked me if I wanted to live with her when I'm ready to do so," I said.
"Really? What did you say?" asked Stephanie.
"That I would do it, I'm comfortable living with Dad right now. We're too close. On top of that, I mentioned I already told her I was visiting when he's needed for a double shift during the week or when he's working every other weekend. She didn't mind though. At least I give her credit for not forcing me," I explained.
"That's good," said Stephanie.
"Also, I wouldn't visit Dad too much except when he's off or on vacation. That wouldn't work out. If he was dead, that's another story. Then, I'd live with her," I said.
"I agree," said Stephanie.
"I told Dad about it, too, and he agreed I'd only live with her if something ever happened to him anytime," I said.
"True," said Stephanie.
"And, suppose moving in with her wouldn't work out at all. What if she's gone off again like she did a long time ago? I'd have to move back in with Dad," I said.
"Exactly," said Stephanie.
"I didn't want to tell her that part in case that did happen," I said.
"I don't blame you," said Stephanie. "You didn't want her to get mad."
Samuel was sent to the principal's office because he got caught cheating on a test before he got the test back. It happened earlier while I was in the school library since I was excused from it because I wasn't in to get the study guide. The teacher said I can bring the test home to make up for it. He claimed he didn't cheat at all. The principal didn't believe him since he was the one who was caught. He wanted to proof he was incident, but they didn't let him. I heard he was right because he had his eyes on the paper the whole time and someone else was telling a lie. Stephanie was telling me that she was the witness and said that she noticed Frank was doing that. She brought it up to the principal. And, she noticed Samuel's name was erased and Frank puts his name instead. The teacher thinks it was Samuel who did it. She showed it to the principal and he noticed it that Samuel was telling the truth. Samuel was the one who passed the test, not Frank. He changed the name to pretend that Frank passed. So, Frank got suspended for two days. Samuel was glad that he cleared his name. He mentioned it to me when he joined us.
"The teacher and the principal should've listened to you in the first place instead of going through all this mess," I said.
"I know," said Samuel. "I never cheat and they know it. I also would never change a name on someone else's test to make off that I passed. That's cheating, too."
"I agree with you. Accusing you isn't right. And, what kind of a friend Frank is for doing that to you?" I asked.
"I told him that as well. I mentioned real friends don't do that to each other and add how he would've felt if I did that to him on his test. The principal agreed with me," said Samuel. "His mother just picked him up before I came in here."
"I bet she was furious for what he did to you," said Stephanie.
"She sure was," said Samuel. "She made him apologize and made him promise not to do it again. I forgave him. He realized he made a mistake."
"I hope he would learn his lesson now," I said.
"Me, too," said Stephanie.
"Would your mother believe you anyway?" I asked.
"She probably would because she knows that I never cheat. I study too hard to do that," said Samuel.
"Especially when you and I do that together," I added. "Was she able to help you study last night?"
"She did," said Samuel. "She told me she can cover for you whenever you're sick."
"Sounds good," I said.
After school, at home, I did yesterday's homework including the test from today. The teacher told me I can use the study guide that he gave me after class. I didn't want to do that because the class might not like that idea. They might think it's okay to cheat. Besides, I want to be a good example by not cheating. So, after I did homework, I studied for a bit and did the test.
The next day, I passed everything in and I learned I passed that test with an A+. After school, Stephanie and I came up with a plan.
"Whoever can bring us to the airport, we can bring one of our suitcases to school and the other can put it in either my dad or your mom's car," I said.
"Good idea," said Stephanie.
"What time is our flight on Friday?" I asked.
"5:00 pm," said Stephanie. "We would have to go there after school."
"Alright," I said.
"Mom said the best airport we would fly out of here is T.F. Green Airport because it's closer."
"I agree. Can you imagine taking a plane from Boston? We'd be stuck in traffic since it's busy there. Aunt Betty's husband used to live there before moving here and she said it's always busy. The only way to avoid that is taking the train. That would've been the smarter choice," I said.
"I know," said Stephanie. "My grandparents used to take flights from Logan when they travel to visit us. They lived in Quincy and that was closer. They used the train to the South Station and took a taxi to the airport."
"That was smart," I said.
"Yeah. They moved to California to be near us. I only have parental grandparents now," said Stephanie.
"I remember when your mom's parents died in the same car accident. I went to the funeral with you," I said. "That must be almost two years already."
"Yes, in December," said Stephanie.
"I can't believe my birthday is in two weeks," I said.
"Yeah," said Stephanie. "Any plans do you want to do yet?"
"Yes. Just a movie and dinner," I said. "Since Eliza apologized for her remarks, I'll let her join. You and Samuel would be joining me as well."
"Oh, yeah," said Stephanie.
"Did you forget?" I asked.
"I guess so," said Stephanie as we giggled at that.
Two days later, I packed my suitcase to get ready for the weekend. That would be the smart choice. Dad offered to take us to the airport, so I'll put my suitcase in his car and Stephanie would take hers to school like we planned. Stephanie and I can't wait to surprise our girlfriends. They still didn't have a clue that we're coming. We would do that the day after tomorrow since we'd be having dinner when we land in California. Although we would land at 10:00 pm our time, it would be 7:00 pm in California since it's three hours behind.
What bothered me is that I received a text from Janet after I finished packing saying Mary Jane is very sick. When I asked how sick, she added Mary Jane learned she has cancer and was in stage 4. I replied saying I pray she'd feel better. I texted Stephanie to tell her the news. She couldn't believe it either. It was a good thing we'll be seeing them this weekend. Luckily, we're not coming home until late Sunday afternoon since our flight is at 1:00 pm (4:00 pm- my time) and the flight would land in Providence at 9:00 pm, which would be 6:00 pm in California.
I went out to Dad and told him what I learned from Janet.
"Wow. That's a surprise," said Dad.
"Yeah. I could've told them that Stephanie and I are coming, but she wanted to surprise them, so the girls don't have a clue about that," I said.
Janet texted me saying that Mary Jane was giving six months to (if she's lucky) a year to live. That got me scared. Stephanie got terrified as well and said we can pray for her. I agreed with her on that. Dad would do the same thing.
The next day, I put my suitcase in Dad's car before I left for school. At school, I managed to focus because I didn't want my grades to go down if I had my mind on Mary Jane's illness even though the teachers probably would've understood what was happening. After that, Mary Jane is one of my best friends. Imagine if I ended up losing her? I would be very upset.
After school, Dad picked me and Stephanie up from school and took us to the airport. The plane is on time, which is perfect. She and I said good-bye to Dad as we went in, checked in, and went to our gate to wait for the flight.
We only waited for two hours before the plane arrived. Once everyone got off, we went on the plane. Then, it took off at 5:00 pm. We landed in California five hours later. Her father was already at the airport to get us when we were getting our suitcases.
"Hi, Dad," said Stephanie.
"Hello," I said.
"Hi, girls," said her father, Steven. "Want to go out for dinner on our way to my house?"
"Sure. We were planning to do that when we got here anyway," said Stephanie.
"Okay, good," said Steven.
That's what we did. We went to the diner. I remembered going to that diner while I lived in California. It felt funny to be in my old hometown. I heard someone already moved in my old house.
"It was a couple that I knew while I was growing up," said Steven.
"Wow," I said. "When did they moved there? After my dad and I moved to Rhode Island?"
"Yes, just two weeks later I believe," said Steven. "They have two children, Lily and Morgan. Their parents are expecting another child. Their house is big enough for the family of five."
"Wow. I know. It had four bedrooms. One of them used to be my Grandma Pat's bedroom before she died. The last one was a guestroom," I said. "The new house where we live now has two bedrooms. My room includes a playroom, so I use that for my laptop. It has a desk, which is pretty neat."
"I told her that was Mom's former childhood house," said Stephanie.
"No kidding," said Steven.
"It's true," said Stephanie. "That was before she and her parents moved here during high school."
"I thought it was cool, too," I said.
"I believe it," said Steven.
He didn't seem to care. Stephanie and I are suspecting he's still friends with Stephanie's mom, Miranda. It turned out that they are good friends. They feel that they got along much better after their divorce. At least Stephanie knows her parents are great friends. After dinner, we went to his house. We got settled in.
"Do any of you girls want any ice cream?" asked Steven. "I have lactose free ice cream for you, Rebecca."
"I'll take that," I said.
He knows I can't drink milk without the pills, but Stephanie already informed him about my pregnancy and that I can't take the pill while I'm pregnant the other night. So, lactose free ice cream is a good idea to have. It worked out just fine for me. Stephanie has twin beds, so we'd share her room when I sleep over there. We went to bed at 11:30 pm and we whispered for a while until we fell asleep five minutes later. I didn't sleep too much because I was worried about Mary Jane, but I finally did at midnight.