Shying at Trouble

by Bonnie Bryant

  A.J. looked startled. “What do you mean?”

  Veronica rolled her eyes. “Drugs, of course,” she said disdainfully. “And I know we’ve never been that close or anything, A.J., but I just have to tell you: Messing around with that stuff is way dangerous—not to mention stupid and totally un-cool.”

  “Drugs?” A.J. blurted out. “You think this has something to do with drugs?” He let out a short, disbelieving laugh. He turned away from Veronica and stared at Phil. “I’ve never touched a drug in my life. I don’t even drink at parties. Don’t you know me better than that?”

  Phil knew an opening when he saw one. “I thought I did, man,” he said sharply. “But what else are we supposed to think?”

  A.J. shook his head vigorously. “It’s not drugs.”

  “What then?” Stevie had run out of patience. Veronica’s tactless accusation had actually done the trick—it had broken through A.J.’s defenses and gotten him talking. She wasn’t about to waste the opportunity. “What is it, if it’s not drugs? Is it gambling? Did you run someone down with your bike?”

  “What about medical problems?” Alex put in. “Do you have a disease or a tumor or something?”

  “Or school trouble?” Lisa added. “Are you flunking out? Having trouble? A learning problem, maybe?”

  “Is one of the teachers hassling you?” a girl Stevie didn’t know suggested. “Mr. Hall can be a real jerk, and I know you have his class.”

  Carole gasped. “It’s not Crystal, is it?” She glanced toward the stable. “Is she sick?”

  Veronica was shaking her head through all this. “You guys are way off,” she announced. “It’s definitely got to be drugs. Or maybe drinking. He could be an alcoholic.” She turned to A.J. curiously. “Is there any history of that sort of thing in your family? I heard it can be, like, genetic.”

  “It’s not about me, is it?” Julianna’s voice was soft but steady. “Does this have something to do with us?”

  A.J. took a step backward, looking a bit overwhelmed by the sudden onslaught. He held up his hands helplessly. “It’s not you,” he told Julianna. He glanced around at the others. “It’s not any of the things you think. I told you, it’s nothing.”

  Something inside Stevie finally snapped. She couldn’t stand to hear him say that one more time, not now when she thought they’d finally broken through. “Don’t lie to us!” she shouted, taking a step forward. “Don’t you dare lie to us about this anymore, A.J. We’re sick of it!” She shook off Phil’s restraining hand on her arm and stepped forward again until she was staring directly into A.J.’s face. This mystery couldn’t go on any longer. She couldn’t stand it. Not for one more day, not for one more minute. “There’s something going on with you, and we want to know what it is! Now!”

  “Forget it, Stevie,” Veronica said blandly from across the circle. “When someone’s into drugs, they don’t care about anything or anyone else.”

  “That’s true,” someone else agreed.

  A.J. took a step back, looking more overwhelmed than ever by Stevie’s outburst. He glanced at Veronica. “I told you, it’s not—” He backed away another step and stared around at the group. “I’m not—I mean, why can’t you just—”

  “Why can’t you just tell us the truth!” Stevie shrieked, startling even herself with the force of her voice. She stepped forward again and jammed one finger at A.J.’s chest, shoving him back another step. “Just tell us! Tell us!”

  “I can’t!” A.J. cried, looking downright frightened this time. He held up his hands in an ineffectual attempt to keep Stevie away from him. “It’s too … I just can’t.”

  “You have to, man,” Phil said, his voice as steely as Stevie had ever heard it. “This has gone far enough.”

  “I told you!” Veronica whined loudly. “It’s no use talking to him. He’s probably strung out on something right now. You should just call some drug hotline or something and let them handle it.”

  “Stop it!” A.J. squeezed his eyes shut and slapped his hands over his ears. “Why aren’t you listening to me? I already told you this has nothing to do with drugs or anything like that. Why can’t you just leave me alone?”

  “Because we’re your friends,” Phil said calmly. “We’re never going to leave you alone until you talk to us.”

  “Never,” Stevie snapped, jabbing him in the chest one more time.

  A.J.’s eyes flew open and he slapped her hand away. “Fine!” he snapped back. “If you want to know so badly, why don’t you talk to my parents? Maybe they’ll tell you, even though they never bothered to tell me.”

  “Tell you what?” Stevie asked, confused.

  Behind her, she heard Veronica gasp. “You mean your parents are the ones who got you started? Are they junkies, too?”

  A.J. ignored her. He was staring at the ground now, his expression weary and somehow defeated. “They never bothered to say a word,” he murmured, more to himself than to anyone else.

  Stevie opened her mouth, but Phil nudged her in the ribs. “You mean this is a family thing?” he asked A.J. gently. “Do you want to go somewhere and talk about it—just the two of us? We can do that.”

  A.J. shrugged, and Stevie saw that his eyes were shining with held-back tears. “Forget it,” he said. “I didn’t want anyone to know. It’s too … But if you’re all going to start telling people I’m a drug addict … I don’t … Maybe I should just …” The struggle going on within him was evident on his face, which shifted rapidly from one tortured expression to another. There was a moment of breathless silence as everyone waited for him to go on. When he spoke again, still staring at the ground, his voice was little more than a whisper. “I found out that I’m not—that I’m—I’m adopted.”

  EIGHT

  Lisa was as stunned as everyone else by A.J.’s revelation.

  Adopted? she thought in disbelief, thinking of A.J.’s father’s auburn hair, which so closely matched his son’s—his adopted son’s, she corrected herself. No wonder A.J. was so freaked when he found out, she thought.

  But there was no time at the moment to ponder the ironies of the universe. After a second or two of shocked silence, everyone had started talking at once—to A.J., to each other, and, in Veronica’s case, to herself.

  “I thought it was drugs!” she exclaimed, throwing up her hands and sounding oddly disappointed. “I still think it’s drugs.”

  Lisa glanced at A.J. His eyes were starting to look as red as his hair, and he once again seemed to be looking for an escape route. This time Lisa thought he should find one. Now that his secret was out, there was no reason he should be completely humiliated in front of all his friends.

  She nudged Alex and Scott, who were standing on either side of her. “Open up,” she whispered. She stepped back a few paces. The guys did the same.

  A.J. spotted his opportunity and took it, racing for the hole in the circle and then the break in the hedge. As he passed her, Lisa would have sworn he shot her a grateful look.

  “Hey!” Stevie shouted as A.J. disappeared. “Where are you going?”

  But it was too late. Seconds later, the sound of bicycle tires skidding on dirt answered her question.

  “I think he needs to be alone right now,” Lisa said.

  Stevie gave her an irritated glance. “Did you let him go?” she said. “How come? We were just getting through to him. Besides, he barely told us anything.”

  Phil put a soothing hand on her arm. “He told us enough,” he said, his face pale but calm. “I think it’s safe to say that our plan worked this time.”

  “Right,” Lisa agreed, slipping her hand into Alex’s. “Our job here is done. He doesn’t need a crowd now.”

  A few other people nodded. “Maybe someone ought to follow him, though,” someone suggested. “Make sure he’s okay.”

  “Phil?” Scott suggested. “You’d be the logical choice—you’ve known him longer than anyone here.”

  Phil nodded. “I’m on it.” He glanced at Stevie
. “Okay?”

  “Okay,” she said reluctantly.

  Lisa smiled in relief. “This turned out better than I expected,” she told Alex quietly as Phil departed and other people started breaking into smaller groups or drifting toward the parking lot. “I’m just glad A.J.’s not mixed up with drugs.”

  “Me too.” Alex squeezed her hand comfortingly. “And I’m sure he’ll feel better once he and Phil have talked.”

  “I hope so.” Lisa tried to imagine how A.J. must have felt when he’d discovered he was adopted. Would it be easier or harder than what she had gone through when her father had walked out? Lisa had no idea, but she was sure it couldn’t have been much fun either way. “I wonder how he found out, anyway?” she mused as she and Alex strolled slowly toward Stevie and Chad, who were talking with Julianna and a couple of the other Cross County kids. “He said his parents didn’t tell him.”

  Alex shrugged. “I guess Phil will ask him,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll all know everything there is to know soon enough.”

  Carole had been so distracted by the events around her that, for a few minutes at least, she had all but forgotten Ben’s annoying comments. But once A.J. and Phil had gone, their conversation crept back to the front of her mind.

  She fingered her car keys in her jacket pocket. I wish Ben hadn’t decided to come today, she thought petulantly. Or at least I wish I hadn’t been the one to give him a ride. She didn’t much feel like sharing an awkward twenty-minute car ride back to Pine Hollow.

  Still, she didn’t have much choice. She sighed, wondering idly what it would be like to be as selfish and fickle as Veronica, who probably wouldn’t think twice about ditching someone without a ride if she was annoyed with him.

  But I’m not like that, Carole thought. Oh well. Might as well get it over with.

  Still feeling reluctant, she approached Ben, who was standing by himself near the break in the hedge. “Ready to go?” she asked, sounding as natural as she could. It wasn’t easy, especially when she imagined she could still see all kinds of questions and accusations in Ben’s dark eyes.

  But he didn’t speak. He just nodded and started walking toward her car.

  Carole gritted her teeth and followed. Why did she let him get to her like this, anyway? I can’t help it, she told herself. He’s just so—so aggravating sometimes.

  Ten minutes later, Callie managed to drag her brother away from a couple of guys from Cross County and a tedious conversation about politics. “Come on,” she told him wearily. “Let’s get going, okay?”

  “Nice guys.” Scott watched as his new friends wandered away toward their own car. “Interesting opinions.”

  “Whatever.” Callie was used to Scott’s inordinately social ways, but today they were wearing on her nerves. It had been a long day—not just because of what had happened with A.J., which had been draining enough. Callie had also been forced to endure another whole day of stares and whispers and too-friendly greetings from her schoolmates. She’d been through this sort of thing before and knew that the other students would get tired of talking about her family soon. But not soon enough for her. She wished she could be more like Scott, who could ignore the stares—at least in public. Sometimes, though, she wondered if he was really as unmoved by all the attention as he appeared.

  As Scott dug into his pocket for his keys, Veronica came hurrying over. “There you are!” she exclaimed dramatically. “I’m so glad you haven’t left yet.”

  Callie rolled her eyes. Hardly anyone had left yet. Despite the early moves toward getting in their cars, most of the people who had come to help were still hanging around, talking about what had happened—or maybe just talking. As far as Callie could tell, the only people who’d left so far besides A.J. and Phil were Carole and Ben.

  “Still here,” Scott told Veronica cheerfully. “What can I do for you, my friend?”

  Veronica tilted her head to one side and smiled up at Scott beseechingly. “My car won’t start.”

  “Do you want me to take a look?” Scott offered. “I’m not much of a mechanic, but I—”

  “That’s okay.” Veronica put a hand on his elbow. “It’s been acting up all week—I can call my mechanic to come tow it later. I was just hoping you could give me a ride back to Willow Creek.”

  Callie glanced at Veronica’s sleek black sports car, which looked perfectly fine to her. She seriously doubted there was anything wrong with it.

  If Scott suspected anything, he wasn’t letting on. “Sure thing,” he told Veronica graciously. “Your house is right on our way.”

  “Uh, excuse me.”

  Callie, Scott, and Veronica turned and saw George Wheeler standing behind them. He was scratching at his chin with one hand, an embarrassed expression on his round face. “Hey, George,” Scott said easily. “What’s up?”

  “I—um, Carole gave me a ride over here,” George said, looking more sheepish than ever. “From Pine Hollow. She was supposed to drive me back there when this was over, but I guess I was talking to someone and she must have, uh …”

  Callie couldn’t help smiling as she realized what George was trying to tell them. Scatterbrained Carole had struck again. She must have forgotten all about poor George, leaving him stranded miles from home without a ride. “Wow,” she said. “That’s pretty bad, even for Carole.” She smiled sympathetically at George. “Don’t take it personally. She could forget her own father if she got distracted talking about horses.” She shook her head, amazed as she often was that Carole could be so absentminded and still manage to survive day-to-day life.

  Scott clapped George on the shoulder. “Don’t worry,” he told him. “We were just about to head out. You’re welcome to hitch a ride with us.”

  Carole clenched the steering wheel tightly in both hands, being careful to keep her eyes trained on the road in front of her. I won’t look over at him, she told herself fiercely. I won’t let him think I care if he never says another word to me as long as we live.

  Ben hadn’t spoken at all since they’d left Cross County ten minutes earlier. He had just sat there, hunched over in the passenger seat, staring gloomily out the side window.

  Carole was driving a little too fast, trying to get back to Pine Hollow and end this horribly awkward ride as soon as possible. Her foot pressed down a little harder on the gas pedal as she stared fixedly at the paved road surface in front of her, willing herself not to glance Ben’s way.

  “Carole?” His voice sounded worried.

  “What?” she asked, triumph flooding through her. She had done it. She’d made him break the silence first!

  “You’re going to miss the turn.”

  She gasped and spun the wheel hard to the left, hitting the brakes at the same time. The car’s tires squealed in protest as it spun and skidded to the side, and Ben gulped audibly as the car in the oncoming lane blared its horn at them. Carole squeezed her eyes shut and hit the gas again. The car jolted forward awkwardly, finally landing safe and sound in the correct lane of the side road before conking out completely.

  “Oops,” she said after a moment.

  Ben didn’t respond. He just glanced at her as she carefully started the car again. Soon they were driving down the side road at a much more sedate pace.

  “Sorry about that,” Carole said as soon as she felt she could trust her own voice again. “Um, I guess I was distracted.”

  Ben stayed silent for another long moment before speaking. “You’ve been distracted a lot lately,” he said quietly. “Um, that’s why I tried to say something earlier. You and Samson—”

  “Me and Samson are just fine,” Carole said sharply. “I mean Samson and I. We’re fine and dandy. I told you that before. Why don’t you listen?”

  Ben scowled. “Odd question for you to ask,” he snapped.

  “What are you talking about?” Carole asked, stung by his cold, brusque tone.

  “Nothing.” With that, Ben fell silent again.

  Carole wasn’t about to argue anymor
e. “Fine.” For the rest of the ride back to the stable, neither of them said another word.

  Callie was feeling decidedly uncomfortable. Veronica had commandeered the front seat of Scott’s car, which meant that Callie and George were crowded together in the cramped backseat. Normally that wouldn’t have been such a bad thing—Callie’s leg made getting in and out of the back of the car a little difficult, but not impossible. And sitting in the back had the advantage of making conversation with those in the front seat harder, and Callie certainly had no interest in making small talk with Veronica. But at the moment, the way George was looking at her, his eyes never wavering from her face, was making her think that maybe she had been missing something here. Did George think of her the way she thought of him—as a Pine Hollow pal, a chemistry crony? Or could she have totally missed the fact that he might be interested in something more?

  Callie gazed out the window at the scenery speeding by along the two-lane highway that linked Cross County and Willow Creek. The trees were just starting to show their autumn colors, but Callie barely registered their beauty. She was busy sorting out this George business in her mind. Now that she thought about it, he had made a point of seeking her out earlier in the afternoon. And he had a way of turning up rather frequently when she was at the stable. When he mentioned that weekend’s study date for the fourth time in ten minutes, Callie had to admit that she might be in trouble.

  What have I gotten myself into? she wondered desperately as she did her best to keep smiling and nodding at whatever George said. Why can’t guys ever want to just be friends? I was looking for a study partner, not a date.

  The sudden shrill squeal of Veronica’s laughter made her wince. Callie had been doing her best not to pay attention to what was going on in the front seat, but she’d overheard enough to realize that Veronica was coyly trying to get Scott to ask her out. He was more than a match for her wiles, though, deflecting every hint with an affable joke or witty comment. Callie idly wondered if he intended to blow her off completely and was trying to be tactful about it, or if he was just toying with her a little before he gave in and asked her. She certainly fit his type well enough—good-looking, self-confident, and definitely interested in him.