I glanced at my dad. Why wasn't he saying anything? Usually he was right there with my mom, tag-teaming the discipline. But he was letting her rage all by herself. "Yes, your fault, Mom."
"How?"
I looked back at my mom. "Don't you get it? You're making me crazy!"
"What?" My mom stood up and leaned over the table, glowering at me like some insane woman. "Do you have any idea what we've gone through to give you opportunities we never had? And you just throw it away!"
"What you've gone through?" I jumped up. "I'm the one on scholarship. I'm the one getting straight A's. What are you doing?"
"Taking care of your siblings so you can do your homework!"
"You're my mom! That's your job!"
"Frances!" My dad stood up. "Watch it. Your mom works much harder than she should."
"Well, so do I! Do you have any idea how hard I have to work to get my grades? I have a reputation as a loser at school because I never do anything. Then I actually find an activity with other kids that pads my college application as well as gives me a chance to develop social skills, and you have so little trust in me that you won't let me do it? Haven't you noticed that my grades haven't slipped at all, even though I was doing The Homework Club and dating Theo? Don't you get it? I can do it all, and if you refuse to trust me or cut me some slack, you're going to turn me into one of those rebellious drug addicts with pierced nipples who cracked under parental pressure!"
Whew.
My throat hurt after that screaming episode. And pierced nipples? Where had I come up with that? But I felt good. Really good. It was about time I stood up to my parents.
Speaking of parents ... I eyed Mom and Dad, who were staring at each other with wide eyes and tight lips. What was the look? Shock? Horror? Mental telepathy to grab a straightjacket and haul me off to some institution?
After a moment, my mom sat down.
Then my dad sat down. "Sit, Frances."
I sat, then tucked my hands under my thighs and waited, jiggling my feet under the table. "You need to trust me."
"You lied," my mom said.
"Because you wouldn't trust me."
My mom sighed, and she didn't look so mad anymore. Deflated, almost, with her sagging shoulders and tight mouth. "We want you to succeed."
"And I am! But I have to have a life, you know. Why can't you give me the freedom until I prove I can't handle it? If my grades slip, then you can slam me with a whole bunch of rules that crush my soul. But as long as I can keep my grades where they are, why can't I have a life too?" I leaned back in my chair. "I was so excited about my success with this story. Everyone was congratulating me all day, even teachers!"
My mom eyed me. "Even teachers?"
"Yes, Mom. Even teachers."
"Huh."
"Imagine what that will do to my college application, to be able to say that as a freshman I was a key figure in changing the administration policy of two schools."
My dad grinned, and even my mom looked thoughtful.
I pressed harder. "Think what I could accomplish in the next three years, if you give me the chance."
My mom looked at my dad, who nodded. Go, Dad! Mom turned to me. "Frances, you're right. You can do the newspaper next year."
"Really?" Sweet! "There's a meeting tomorrow night. Can I go?" I wanted to hear all the comments about my article. Tomorrow night I wouldn't be a loser sitting alone against the wall. Tomorrow night, I'd be in. And then after that, going the next time would be so much easier. I hadn't had the courage to return since that first meeting, but if I could go as the superstar, it would be different. I had to take advantage of it!
"Of course you can," my dad said. "Go. Do it."
I grinned. "And can I go to my friends' houses again?" I saw my mom falter, and I jumped in. "You have to give me a chance to prove myself. I hated lying to you, but I need my friends. Base it on my grades. If they go down, then you can stop me."
My dad nodded, and my mom sort of rolled her eyes. "Fine. But if those grades go down..."
"They won't!" I jumped up. I was so going over to Blue's house to tell her.
Blue's house.
Which was also Theo's house.
I thought of how Allie and Blue had told me that Theo hadn't gone out even once since we'd had our fight. I thought of how he'd sat there at my kitchen table for three weeks, because that was the only way he could see me. I thought of how he'd brought twenty friends to The Homework Club and made it work for me. I thought of the look on his face that night in the backyard when he'd accused me of not fighting for him, and I realized he'd been right.
I hadn't fought for anything my whole life, until these last five minutes. My parents might not think Theo was studious or serious enough for me, but he was. I knew the real Theo, but I'd never totally trusted him, despite all the things he'd done to show me that he cared. He deserved to be fought for.
So I sat back down and clenched my hands in my lap. "What about Theo?"
"No." My mom sat back in her chair. "No dating until you're eighteen."
"Eighteen," my dad repeated.
Clearly non-negotiable. Except I couldn't walk away. Not from Theo. "I'm a teenager."
They both eyed me.
"Do you really think you can make me not be interested in boys for my entire high school career?"
"You can be interested in them," my mom said, "but you can't date them."
I gritted my teeth. "I'm going to date Theo."
"Frances!"
"I'm sick of lying to you guys, so I won't do it anymore. But you have to understand that I'm going to date him. I'd rather have your approval, and that way we would hang out here and you could get to know him and keep an eye on us. But if you refuse to let me, I'll do it anyway." My heart was pounding and my hands were shaking. It was one thing to ask my parents to let me be on the newspaper or hang with my friends, but to openly defy them?
It was exhilarating!
And terrifying.
Because Theo was at stake.
My dad was eyeing me, and again, it really looked like pride in his eyes. "Since when did you grow up?"
I blinked. "What?"
"You're not a kid anymore, are you?"
"No."
He nodded. "You're doing well, Frances. Good job on the article."
I grinned. "Thanks."
My mom cleared her throat. "You aren't thinking of letting her date, are you?"
Dad shook his head. "No."
Oh.
"But it looks to me like she's going to hang out with Theo. I'd rather have her hanging out here where I can watch them. It's not dating, though." He shook his head at me. "No dating."
A glimmer of hope flickered inside me. "No dating," I agreed.
My mom sighed. "No dating."
"And if you're at Blue's house and he's there too, their parents have to be home."
"Agreed." But it would hardly be my fault if I went over there to see Blue and discovered her parents weren't home but Theo was.
I grinned. Okay, so I wasn't the perfect Frances I used to be. It was a good compromise. "So, can I go?"
"Where?"
"To Blue's house. To tell her about the article."
My dad narrowed his eyes. "Is Theo going to be there?"
"I have no idea." I hoped so. Unless it was too late for us recover what we'd had. I stood up. "I have to go."
"Is your homework done?" my mom asked
"Not yet, but I'll do it over there." I grabbed my book bag.
"Frances!" My mom stood up, looking like her head was going to explode again.
I stopped and looked at my parents. "My homework will be done. I swear."
After a long moment, my dad looked at his watch. "I want you home by eight."
Eight? That was a little early.
Then again, it was better than being grounded.
"Fine. Eight."
He nodded.
I nodded.
Small steps, but huge progress.
One more hurdle to go, and his name was Theo.
Chapter 20
I ran out the front door and down the steps, and had just turned right to head to Blue's house when a voice stopped me. "Frances."
I spun around. There was Theo, leaning against his car, which was parked in front of my house. He looked so good, with his black jeans, his hair blowing in the breeze, his arms folded as if he didn't care about anything.
"Theo!" Oh, my God, I was so happy to see him! But I was suddenly nervous, too. I hadn't heard from him in two weeks. I wasn't sure what to say, or how to act. Did he still like me?
"Heard about the article," he said. "Good job."
I grinned, sudden hope surging through me. "Thanks. Did you see your name in the article?"
"Yeah. You didn't need to do that. I didn't need credit. It was your deal."
I shook my head. "No, way. You deserved to be called out. I couldn't have done it without you."
He shifted. "You didn't make me sound like a jerk. You left out the first meeting I went to."
"Yeah, well, you redeemed yourself." I took a few steps toward him, stopping just out of his reach. "Why'd you come over here today?" I had to know. I couldn't stand not knowing anymore.
"To tell you good job." His eyes were wary, his face reserved. Sort of how I felt. We hadn't exactly parted on good terms.
"So, I'm not grounded anymore," I said.
He nodded. "Good."
"I can do the paper and hang with my friends."
He lifted a brow.
"No dating, though," I added.
He shrugged. "I don't care."
I took a deep breath. Just say it, Frances. "I asked them about you."
His eyes softened for one second, and his lips twitched in surprise. "You did?"
"Uh huh. They said I couldn't date you."
His face became cool again. "Not a surprise."
"I told them I'd do it anyway."
He didn't say anything. Just looked at me, but the wariness was gone from his face, replaced by a softness that made my heart speed up. "And what did they say?"
"They agreed we could hang out at your house or mine, as long as parents were around. But no dating." I grinned nervously. "I think it's a good start."
He nodded, and didn't say anything. Didn't reach out for me.
Hope began to fade. It was too late. Too little, too late.
"About The Homework Club," he said.
I sighed. "What about it?"
"I kept it going."
Really? I frowned, trying to figure out his point. "Why?"
"Because you started it, and I figured you'd want it to keep going. And it was a good thing."
I smiled, a warm feeling building in my chest. "You did it for me?" That was the sweetest thing he'd ever done. He'd kept it going, for me. That was better than flowers or a date. That said everything I needed to hear.
He shrugged. "Maybe a little."
I dropped my backpack on the sidewalk and walked over to him. "You did it for me."
He set his hands on my hips and pulled me against him. "I'd never do anything for a girl."
"Liar."
He grinned.
And then he kissed me.
"Frances Spinelli!" My mom hollered from the front porch.
Theo cursed under his breath and pushed me away from him, and I grimaced. Sunk, already? This totally sucked.
"Frances!"
I sighed and turned toward the porch. "What?"
"Don't you and Theo need to come inside the house to do homework?"
"She's not sending me home?" Theo whispered.
Yes. I tried to look smug. "I told you I fought for you."
He looked impressed. "I guess."
"Inside. Homework. Both of you. Now!" My mom stood on the porch and waited.
I picked up my backpack and looked at Theo. "So? Can you take it?"
"Take what?"
"Hanging with a girl who can't go clubbing every night?"
He grinned and grabbed his own bag from his backseat. "I think I can manage."
I smiled and started walking toward the house, only to have Theo catch my arm. "Frances?"
"What?"
"The Homework Club thing? When I kept it going?"
"Yeah?"
"It might have been for you."
I smiled. "I know."
He grinned, and I knew it wouldn't be too long before I found a way to go out dancing with him again. Because he'd turned me into a new person who I was beginning to like very much.
For a jerk, Theo was turning out to be quite the guy.
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Keep reading for a sneak peek of the next Mapleville High romance!
Sneak Peek: Pedicures Don’t Like Dirt
Swimming at midnight with Tad wasn't what I'd planned when I'd agreed to go on the camping trip with his family, but I'm not going to lie, sliding into that pitch black water with only a full moon to show me the way was amazing. When he stuck his head in my tent to invite me, my first thought was that a midnight swim with bedhead and no makeup wasn't exactly top on my list of things I'd been dreaming of lately. But, it was Tad, and he'd already knew exactly how bad I could look, right? Plus, my bee stings were killing me, and he was pretty convincing that the lake would feel good on them.
So I went.
And he was right.
It was pretty cool.
We said nothing as we swam out into the water, going farther than I thought we would. We were pretty far from shore, but Tad was such a camping geek that I felt safe with him. Safe with Tad! How funny was that?
He finally stopped when we were about thirty yards from shore. He turned toward me, treading water easily. "Can you float on your back?"
"Of course I can." Did I really look that pathetic? Just because I was hopelessly inept at farming (gah! Farming!) didn't mean I was incapable of any physical activity whatsoever. Okay, I was moderately incapable, but not completely, and that was a significant difference. "Why?"
He pointed upward. "Do it, and look at the sky."
I glanced up and realized the black sky was dotted with more stars than I'd ever seen in my entire life. I immediately rolled onto my back and puffed up my chest so I didn't sink. The dark night stretched endlessly above my head, a blackness illuminated with glittering diamonds as far as I could see. Millions and millions of dots of light. It was incredible, daunting, and the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen in my life. I felt tiny, but at the same time, I felt drawn into the magnificence of the sky, as if it were a part of me, and I was a part of it. "It's incredible," I whispered.
"I know. I could stay out for hours," Tad said, floating so close that his shoulder brushed into mine. "Did you see that?" Tad asked.
"See what?" I was too busy thinking about the tingling in my arm from touching Tad to be paying attention to anything else.
He pointed off to the right, his hand coming across my field of vision. The rope bracelet on his wrist brushed against my nose, but he didn't seem to notice. Weirdly, I did, and it didn't bother me. "The shooting star," he said. "Off toward shore."
"A shooting star? Really? I didn't see it! Where is it?" I turned so I could study the sky over the land.
"It's gone now, but there will be more. Keep watching."
I nodded, anticipation rolling through me. "What am I looking for?"
"A streak of light." Tad bumped against my leg. "Sorry."
"No problem." Really. It was no problem. Sometime between having him tackling me into the water to save me from the killer bees earlier in the day, and his incredible patience in helping me hold ice on various parts of my swollen and stinging body, it had become okay to have him touch me. More than okay
. I liked it. Idly, I wondered what it would be like if he held my hand, just to hold it, and not to enact some heroic rescue—
I saw a streak of light and shrieked. "Was that one?"
"Yeah. Cool, huh?"
"Incredible." The most mind-blowing thing I'd ever seen. It was like the universe was lighting up just for us.
We stayed floating forever, and I saw eight shooting stars. It was, quite possibly, the coolest thing I'd ever experienced in my life. Maybe nature wasn't so bad after all? Or maybe it was just Tad that wasn't so bad. Hmmm…
Like it? Get it now!
Sneak Peek: Geeks Can Be Hot
Matt might be my fake boyfriend, and a little annoying at that, but there was no way I was going to leave him hanging in front of my friends. They thought we were going out, and we'd both look like idiots if they found out the truth. I owed Matt bigtime, and that meant I was going to play the role that I'd trapped him in…even though I had no clue how to actually be a girlfriend, especially out on double date night with my friends.
Matt was already uncomfortable with the fake boyfriend thing, and I'd made it worse by making him come out with my friends and fake it in front of everyone. So, yeah, it was my job to make it easier for him. I took a deep breath, then leaned over and rested my chin on Matt's shoulder, trying to act uber cool and casual.
Matt glanced at me, which meant his face was about a quarter of an inch from mine, seeing as how I was still using his shoulder for a pillow. I'd meant it as an expression of solidarity, but now I was sort of enjoying it. It felt good. I don't know why, but it did. So I smiled at him.
He smiled back. Nice teeth. Hadn't realized how white and straight they were. "Did you have braces?" I asked. Random question, I know, but I was curious. I'd never noticed how nice his smile was, probably because I was usually so annoyed I had to spend time with him that I'd never bothered to actually look at him as a human being, or even a guy.
"Nope."
"Lucky dog." I'd just gotten my braces off about six months ago. It was so great not to be carrying around a wad of wax anymore.
"I agree," Tad said, joining in our discussion, startling me. For a brief second, I'd completely forgotten that there was anyone else at the table.
How to Date a Bad Boy (Mapleville High #2) Page 13