Lone Star in Jersey

by Anne Key

  Daddy leaned in and kissed her temple. “Did you eat? Can I get you something?”

  “I didn’t, not today. You… you want to share a pizza together?”

  “Spinach and mushrooms on my half. And something scary on TV?”

  “Something funny? I don’t want to have nightmares tonight.” She kissed his cheek. “And spinach on pizza is totally gay, Daddy.”

  She didn’t hold her breath waiting to see if he got it. She totally didn’t. And as it turned out she didn’t need to because he grinned at her and gave her a little shove, laughing. “So am I. I’m going to order the pizza.”

  “Okay. That sounds cool. I love you, Daddy. I…. Is it still cool to have friends over? I mean, I promise never to tell on you. Ever. But eventually Mari’s going to think we’re not friends.”

  “What? Tell on me? I’m out, sweetheart. You can tell anyone you want. You can shout it from the rooftops if it makes you happy.”

  She stopped, shocked as all get-out. “But… Daddy, aren’t you scared? You could be fired or beat up or….” She took a shuddering breath. “Can they make me leave if they know?”

  Daddy had been halfway out of her room, but suddenly he turned around and headed right back over. “Sammy, no one can fire me here; it’s against the law. And no one can ever make you leave. You’re my daughter. You don’t have to worry, sweetheart. We’re fine.”

  “For reals? Because I would keep your secret. I promise.” She stood up and pushed into his arms. “I love you, and I… I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

  Daddy let her and pulled her into a hug. “Everyone I know knows I’m gay, sweetheart. At work, at the lumberyard, at the coffee shop. I promise it’s okay. It’s actually easier for me, because now I can have my friends around more too.”

  She didn’t point out that it wouldn’t have been so hard if Daddy had been honest, but she could hear Momma’s voice in her head. If it doesn’t make anything better to say something, young lady, you keep it under your tongue.

  Shut up, Momma. You’re still in trouble.

  “Listen, if there’s ever something to worry about, or someone I don’t want to know, I promise I’ll tell you. But I chose to live in this town and I work in the city for a reason. People here are accepting, friendly, supportive. And there are lots of nontraditional families in this town, Sammy. You’re not alone at all. Single parents, interracial parents, gay parents, grandparents. Look around, pay attention at school. You’ll find them.” He let her go. “Just plain? Or pepperoni for you?”

  “Just plain. Pepperoni is greasy, and I don’t want zits.”

  “You should talk to Jian. He has some miracle face thing he does to keep his skin looking like he’s twenty.” Daddy winked at her. “I love you. Okay, pizza.” He laughed and disappeared down the hall.

  She sat for a second, then grabbed her phone. She had texts from Lacey and Mari and this gal Hannah she’d met in English. The one she was looking for, though, was Eli’s, and she found it.

  Hey. Feel better.

  I do thanx. Talked to daddy some. Didn’t suck. U around 2nite later?

  Im always around I have no life

  like I do

  But she did have pizza and Daddy and friends. Maybe Mari would come over Friday night and sleep over.

  Really glad you talked to your dad. wanna hear about it sometime.

  That was followed by a picture of Eli smiling a little and giving her a thumbs-up.

  I’ll call later & tell all After all, it was Eli that sort of helped her figure it out.

  cant wait

  Chapter 11

  THE HOMEWORK since Monday had been out of control. Eli knew why. It was because next week was Spirit Week, and the teachers weren’t supposed to schedule any major tests or whatever since everyone was going to be distracted. So Eli had had not one, but two exams on Thursday that he’d had to study for and an essay due today. Stupid school ate his whole week.

  The only good thing was that nobody, including Sammy, thought he was blowing them off because they were all in homework hell too.

  The one thing he never canceled, though, no matter how busy he got, was his therapy session. Last night had gone really well. He’d made a plan, and this morning as he hopped up on his skateboard to go meet Sammy, he was feeling pretty stoked.

  He turned the corner easy. Eli didn’t wipe out there anymore, but he’d learned the hard way one morning last week that the joint in the sidewalk was hosed over on the right side just as you came around. Sammy had been super sweet after he’d wiped out and took a bunch of the skin off his elbow on the concrete. She’d run in and brought him ice and a Band-Aid.

  “Hey, Sparkles.” He smiled at her as he pulled up next to her bike.

  “Hey, Mister. How goes it?” She was wearing this amazing eyeliner this morning, all glittery and shiny, and it matched her shirt.

  “It’s a beautiful day, my big exams are done, and I’m about to hand in an essay to Satan, so I’d say I’m awesome.” Stop talking about yourself. “You look great.”

  “Yeah? Thank you. I was feeling like getting my pretty on.”

  He had to smile. He wasn’t sure exactly what had happened before Sammy and her dad worked things out, but Sammy seemed more relaxed, less like she was about to cry all the time. It was cool, because he liked her a lot even then, but this Sammy was tons more fun to hang with.

  And speaking of pretty—Part One of The Plan was to ask Sammy to the homecoming dance. He talked about it with Doc, he’d worked up the nerve this morning, and now he just had to get the damn words out of his mouth. Right now, before school, because by the end there’d be people around.

  “Do you mind walking for a bit? We have time.”

  “Sure. It’s almost chilly, huh? So exciting! I love sweaters.”

  “You better. It gets cold up here come January.” Eli stepped out of her way so she could shift around and walk her bike. “You ever get snow down your way?”

  “No. I mean, I remember an ice storm once, but there’s lots of winters that I never wore my coat at all.”

  “Oh, you have some shopping to do.” Eli laughed. As they turned the first corner, Eli realized he was running out of time and he’d better speak up. He took a deep breath, straightened up his shoulders. Would you like to go to the Homecoming dance with me? Okay, got it. “Hey, Sammy? I was wondering if….” You wanted to go to the dance with me. Just say it, dork.

  “Wouldyouliketogotothehomecomingdancewithme?”

  Oh my god. What the hell was that? She’s going to think you sneezed or something!

  “I’d love to. That sounds like so much fun.”

  Wait. Could it be that easy? Really?

  He dared to look at her, and she was smiling at him, cheeks flushed pink. “I was hoping you’d ask.”

  Probably not quite like that, though. “You were? I’m… really happy you said yes.” He was stoked. Except the problem with yes is that now he had to deal with Parts Two, Three, and Four of The Plan.

  “Well, sure I would. There’s no one I’d rather go with, you know.”

  “Me neither. My day just hit a ten, and it’s not even eight yet.” He winked at her. “Whew. And I can breathe now too.” Eli looked at her. “Is that oversharing?”

  “Probably, but a girl likes to know the guy she likes, likes her too.” She stopped, rolled her eyes at herself, and then kept going. “Because like.”

  Eli laughed but quietly. He was so lucky the person he was into was Sammy. Not only was she pretty and smart and funny and sparkly, but she was also patient with him and kind, and that was almost more important. Right now, it was actually more important, because even though he just made a complete fool of himself and he knew he was still blushing, he didn’t feel like he was going to throw up.

  “He does.” He stuck his skateboard on the pavement and hopped on. “Like you, I mean.”

  “Mari and Erik are going together, so we’ll know people there too.” She eased up on her bike, ridin
g easily.

  “Oh, that’s cool. Erik is into her. I wasn’t so sure she was into him, though.”

  “She faked this college-crush thing, and Erik totally went all cave skater. He bought her a pair of earrings and took her out.”

  “Whoa.” He’d have to ask Erik if he was doing flowers. He heard sometimes guys did that for girls. Maybe his mom would know. Oh—and maybe he should tell his mom he asked Sammy. Or maybe not. Why was every decision he made so complicated? Was he ever just going to know what the right thing to do was? Did everything have to feel like a coin toss? Ugh.

  He carved a turn off the ramp at the corner and did a big circle around Sammy as she rode by. The school entrance was close, and then his rockin’ morning would be over.

  “Is it the weekend yet, Eli?” Sammy parked her bike, locked it up.

  “No, but it will be soon!” They had different classes today mostly, so Eli was starting to head off on his own, but he stopped for a second. “I’m around tonight.”

  “Me too. You want to meet at the coffee shop? I can ask Daddy to pick us up and take you home so we don’t have to walk in the dark.”

  “Deal. Text me before you head out. I’m not sure yet what Mom expects for dinner. Have a great day!” Seemed like it was best to end on a high note, so Eli left it at that and jogged off to class.

  Pre-Part Two, he had to figure out what he was going to wear. He literally had not dressed in anything but jeans in, like, a year. That meant shopping, which meant trying things on, which meant men’s dressing rooms, which meant—well, he hadn’t done it much, so he wasn’t sure what that meant.

  Oh god. Maybe Amazon Prime.

  Part Two was just actually showing up. Sounded easy for most people, but if he couldn’t even figure out where to buy clothing, showing up was more of a challenge than it seemed. Still, Sammy had made it easy. He didn’t think she’d embarrass him even if he did show up in jeans.

  Part Three was stuff like holding hands and dancing and things people did at, well, a dance. Getting through the night. Making sure they had fun, which, Doc had reminded him, meant he was supposed to have fun too.

  And Part Four. Well Part Four was only going to happen if everything else went well, and it made him so nervous he decided he better not even think about it until after the dance. At all.

  Chapter 12

  IT WAS dark out after their “white chocolate mocha” date, so Daddy picked them up. He dropped Eli off at his house, and then they headed back home.

  “That was a pretty quiet drive,” Daddy said, smiling at her.

  “Yeah? I didn’t notice.” That was such a bad lie. She knew Daddy wouldn’t buy it.

  “You have something to tell me?”

  Did she? Oh God.

  “All the things, Daddy. Eli asked me to a dance, and I need a dress. I asked him what color he was wearing, and he freaked, so I think black. Do you think black? Will you take me shopping? I need shoes too. I really like him, Daddy. Like for reals. He’s so sweet and just dear. Do you think they dance the same here? He’s not very tall, so I can’t wear real tall heels….” She couldn’t believe she wasn’t going to get to have a homecoming mum for her junior and senior years. It wasn’t fair. Not at all. All the girls back home would have them—giant mums—four or six of them with streamers and lights and bells and her name on them for all the dances and the parade, the game. Everything. How on earth could a whole state not know about this when it was everything you worked for during football season?

  “Didn’t you tell me you bought a sequined thing? That sounded pretty. I’m a terrible shopper, but yes, I’ll take you anywhere you need, sweetheart. Jian is good in heels. Maybe you should be talking to him.” Daddy gave her a wink. “Eli freaked about what he was wearing?”

  “Yeah, so first, I did not need to know that. TMI. Second, I need to wear something that will go with anything, you know? Not too fancy, but not too cas. You know, something perfect.”

  “Oh, well that won’t be hard to find. We can just walk into the mall and buy the dress with the sign that says ‘perfect’ over it. Which, yeah, is probably black. Maybe a sweater, nights are getting chilly. And a 10:00 p.m. curfew to go with it.”

  “Daddy! Ten?” No way. Ten o’clock was so middle school. “Midnight is totally more fair.”

  “You want me to let you be out until midnight with a boy when I know damn well the dance ends at ten thirty? Fat chance, kiddo.”

  “So, pick us up after the dance, and let us grab a coffee at Java Jam?” At home, she’d be riding with her friends, and she’d be home by midnight.

  “That might be okay. Have his parents call me.”

  “Okay. Uh… how? I haven’t met them.”

  “Really, Sammy?” He looked at her. “Text him my cell number. He can give it to them.”

  “Oh, right!” She giggled, but her cheeks heated. “Sorry. Sorry, I’m all OMG the guy I like likes me, and we’re dating! You know? I’m just a little stupid about it. I wasn’t being a bitch.”

  Daddy snorted and pulled her into a hug. “I didn’t think you were being a bitch. I thought you were all OMG I can’t talk to his parents OMG panic!” He laughed.

  “I know he has a sister, but that’s all. I mean, he’s nice, so they must be nice too.” She hugged him back. “I love you, Daddy. I didn’t think anyone would like me. I was worried.”

  “I get you. He seems like a nice kid too. Go easy on him, though.”

  “I’m not mean, Daddy!” God, Daddy was acting like she was a… cougar.

  “That was just an observation, Sammy, not a judgment. He just seems… new to me. Sensitive. You know more about this stuff than he does; I can tell. He’s nervous. That’s all I meant. Obviously, you see that already. I’m sorry.”

  “We’re the majesties of I’m sorries today.” Sammy thought they were both a little wigged out about this date. “Yeah. I think I’m the first girl he’s asked out. That’s sort of sweet, huh?”

  “It’s adorable. And it says something about you too.” Daddy smiled at her. “You’re pretty special.”

  “I don’t know about that. I’ll get back to you.”

  He let her go. “Oh, hey. I have something for you.” He disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a couple of glossy brochures. “I’ve been doing some research,” he said, handing them to her. “That’s a dance school in town. They have an acro team, and I thought maybe it might be something you’d like to try? It’s, um… acrobatic dance. Tumbling and stuff and… what do you think?”

  “Oh….” She wasn’t sure what was cooler—the fact that this was a thing, or that Daddy had cared enough to find this. “I would totally like to go see. How cool! Thank you, Daddy. You are made of win.” She hugged him tight. “This has been the best day!”

  He hugged her back. “I’m glad, Sammy. I truly am.” He kissed the top of her head. When he let her go, he looked at her. “Okay, then. If you want to stay out past the dance, you better get Eli that number. And I’ll call the dance school tomorrow and get you a couple of trial classes. Good?”

  “Yes, sir. Oh, is it cool if my friend Mari spends the night tomorrow night?”

  “Definitely. Is it cool if Jian comes to help me finish the dining room? We’ll stay out of your way.”

  “Uh-huh. If you want, I’ll help in the morning? I’m meeting Eli and them at, like, two-ish.”

  “Hey, I’d love that. Maybe we’ll be able to eat in there again by Monday or Tuesday.” Daddy headed for the kitchen. “I gotta finish cleaning up in here; I was doing the dishes when you called for a pickup.”

  Sammy’s phone played “Texas Fight.” It was Erik.

  Hey Sam find out from Mari what color she is wearing 2 the dance & dont tell her I asked

  np. She wouldn’t want to match or clash with Mari anyway.

  ty. So…. you going?

  Me and Eli are, yeah. Cool huh?

  YES! That’s my man I knew he’d pull it off

  She cracked up. Be nic
e! Dork. :D :D :D

  Then she texted Mari. so 3 things: whatcha wearing 2 dance? Wanna spend the nite 2morrow? OMG ELI ASKED ME OUT! I totally need a dress!

  Chapter 13

  ELI HAD been shopping around online since Sammy’s dad dropped him home. He knew he could find a shirt, and he knew he could rock a vest over it to dress up his look. Vests were great; they gave him shoulders and kind of narrowed his waist. He was way more worried about pants. Pants were super hard. They had to sit just right on his hips, they needed to fit his butt, have a little room in the crotch to imply something that wasn’t there, and then they needed to fit pretty close in the thighs. Old Navy was kind of a bust, but he was having some luck with the look he wanted at Aeropostale. They had some slim-cut dress pants that were looking promising, not that he had any idea how he was going to be able to buy anything at Aeropostale. They were hella expensive.

  He sighed and leaned back in his chair. He didn’t want to ask his parents. They’d already been weird enough when he’d given them Sammy’s dad’s number. Maybe he could sell that old guitar he never played. Or his old ice skates.

  He was looking around the room, thinking about what else he could sell to make some cash, when there was a knock at his door. He changed the tab on his browser from shopping to YouTube. “Yeah? Come in.”

  His dad poked his head in. “Hey, Eli. You got a minute?”

  “I guess.”

  “You want to come join your mom and me in the living room?”

  Uh-oh. Trying not to panic, he did a quick rundown of the last couple of days in his mind. Oh. “Is this about PE? It’s my last detention, Dad, I swear. I brought in the note yesterday, and they told me I was rescheduled for study hall starting next week.”

  “Well, I’m not thrilled about detention, Eli, but no. It’s not about that. Come on out.”

  Eli stood up. It was actually a little freaky that his dad didn’t seem to care about detention this time. He was always a jerk about it. Eli followed him out into the living room, where Mom was sitting on the couch with her cell phone in her hand. This was getting weird.