by Sarah Markel
“I’m not happy with her math grade,” Ambrose said, sliding the glasses onto his face, “You failed a test that dropped your grade down to a D. That’s simply unacceptable, Aspen.”
Aspen’s eyebrow crawled up her forehead. “How, and why, do you have my grades?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she sat as far back as she could on the couch. “I enrolled myself in school, and didn’t list a guardian.”
Ambrose noted the hostility in his daughter and moved to assuage it. “Sweetheart,” he said gently, “there’s no need to be upset. I’m not sure why I got them, either, but I did. I can only assume there was a mix up with the paperwork when you transferred schools.”
“You don’t want me to be upset that you have my grades,” Aspen bit, “but you called us here to chastise me for my math score? How can you expect me not to be upset with you for being upset with me over something you have no reason to be upset over?”
Ambrose and Lorelei both stared at Aspen, their eyes nearly crossing as they tried to process what she’d just said.
“I think you broke them, Sis,” Brett snickered from the doorway, earning a scolding look from his father. “What?” he asked, shrugging his shoulders as he continued to munch on the bowl of cereal in his hand, “All I’m saying is that she could have worded it differently, sheesh!”
“Go away, Brett,” Aspen laughed, tossing the small decorative pillow at her brother. Brett grinned and took his leave, waggling his fingers teasingly at his sister.
“Seriously, Daddy,” Aspen returned her attention to her father, “Why do you care about my grades?”
Ambrose blew out a heavy breath and levelled his daughter with a serious look. “Because I love you, Aspen Rain, and I’m tired of your mother’s vitriol. She wants nothing more than to see you fail, and I won’t have it. I won’t let you give her the satisfaction of believing that your lifestyle has any bearing on your intelligence. She already denigrates you enough because of your hair color.”
Aspen rolled her eyes. Talia had always despised the fact that her daughter had been born with blonde hair. No one seemed to know why, but Talia hated the hair color with a passion. It didn’t matter what kind of a person a woman was; if she had blonde hair, Talia hated her. She didn’t seem to mind it on men and boys, but women and girls with the fair colored locks always sparked her ire.
“Don’t worry, Daddy,” Aspen said dismissively, “I’m working to bring the grade back up. I already asked my teacher if I could make up the test, and she agreed to let me take it again right before winter break. I have plenty of time to study for it.”
“You need to make sure you get top marks on every assignment as well,” Ambrose instructed, his voice brokering no argument, “You only have one shot at this, Aspen, and while you can always make up any lost credits and officially graduate at a later date, your mother will be the victor if you mess around.”
“My father made it clear that in order to receive your trust fund, you have to graduate high school on your first try. That means no summer school and no GED program. We don’t need your money, sweetheart, but you know your mother wants it just to spite you. Don’t let her have it.”
“What do you suggest?” Lorelei asked her father-in-law as she placed a comforting hand on Aspen’s knee. She could see the tension in her wife and she didn’t like it. She hated seeing the way Talia’s influence affected Aspen, even when the evil old bat wasn’t present.
“I suggest Aspen spend a lot more time studying,” Ambrose said simply. “I know she has cheerleading practice and drills, but beyond that, she needs to be hitting the books. I’d be happy to pay for a math tutor, as well, if that’s something you’d be interested in.”
“No,” Aspen said, shaking her head quickly, “I don’t want the tutor. And before you go and decide to hire one anyway,” she added, narrowing her eyes at her father, “I’ll just do the same thing I did last time and it will just be another waste of your money, and their time.”
Ambrose growled through his nose to cover the laugh that bubbled in his chest, but couldn’t hide the laughter dancing in his eyes.
Two years earlier, Aspen had been failing English. Ambrose had insisted on a tutor for her, despite the sixteen-year-old’s staunch objections. When the perky young English major from Marilynn Community College arrived at the house for their first tutoring session, Aspen had intentionally destroyed every part of the English language she could.
She purposely mispronounced words, used inappropriate indirect articles, and actually said things like LOL. Her tutor, a very nice young woman working on her Master’s in English Literature, lasted for exactly one session. Aspen had brought her grade up on her own, but Ambrose had always suspected that she’d done so simply out of spite for his hiring the tutor.
“Okay,” he said, raising a hand to calm her, “No tutor. But you are going to need to fix this grade. Why don’t we talk about how you’re going to achieve that? We’ll work out a plan, so you have something to follow. That way you don’t feel overwhelmed, or find yourself cramming at the last minute.”
“I said I’ll study, Daddy,” Aspen whined, “what more do you want?”
Chapter 9
“This is fucking ridiculous,” Aspen fumed as she stomped toward the car, “I can’t believe this shit!”
“Honey, you agreed to it,” Lorelei said, moving quickly to open Aspen’s door for her, “It’s not the end of the world, and it’s only temporary. Once the school year is over, we’ll never have to worry about anything like this ever again.”
Aspen stopped, her body already bent to drop into her seat, and stared at Lorelei in disbelief. “Were you in there with me?” she asked, astonished that Lorelei seemed so accepting of their current situation, “Did you miss the part where we agreed not to have sex until I pass that stupid test?”
Lorelei rolled her eyes when Aspen yanked her door closed. She rounded the car and climbed into her own seat before attempting again to soothe her livid wife.
“Baby, that’s not what we said, and you know it. I think it will be good for us to wait until a certain time before we get intimate. It’ll allow us to get a lot more done during the day, that’s for sure,” she said with a chuckle, hoping a bit of levity would lighten the mood.
“My father was just involved in the planning of our sex life, Lorelei,” Aspen crossed her arms over her chest and leaned heavily on the door, as far away from Lorelei as she could get within the confines of the car, “Is that normal? Are parents usually involved in those decisions? You’ll have to help me out here, honey, I’m still new at understanding the intricacies of adulthood.”
Lorelei growled and started the car. She understood that Aspen was irritated, but she wasn’t used to hearing the typically upbeat young woman speak to her with such sarcasm. It frustrated her that Aspen was refusing to see the bigger picture, instead choosing to focus on the restriction of their bedroom activities.
“Being an adult is about more than having sex whenever you feel like it,” Lorelei said sharply, keeping her eyes on the road as she maneuvered them away from the Aldrich home, “Some adults, even married ones, go years without having sex. You know; before you and I slept together that first time, I hadn’t been with anyone in almost a year.”
Aspen shrugged, unimpressed. “Eighteen,” she said snidely, “Before you, I hadn’t been with anyone in eighteen years. I think I have every right to be pissed off that once again, I have no control over when I get laid.”
“You need to stop,” Lorelei said, irritation making the vein in her temple dance rapidly. “You’re acting like a spoiled brat, and it’s ridiculous. There are two of us here, babe, and you aren’t the only one who gets to decide when you get laid. If I’m not in the mood, you’re out of luck.”
Aspen scoffed. “Like you’ve ever said no to me,” she muttered.
“I haven’t yet,” Lorelei conceded, willing her tone to remain reasonable in the face of Aspen’s continued recalcitrance, “but that
doesn’t mean I won’t. This situation aside, it’s bound to happen at some point. Life happens, Aspen, you know that. We spent a few weeks apart this summer while I was with the Hotshots, remember? We didn’t have sex then, and you survived. Why are you so mad about it now?”
“Because it’s not the same!” Aspen slapped her hand on the dash, her green eyes flashing wildly. “During the summer, you were gone. It was something we were prepared for. You weren’t in the bed right next to me where I could touch you, and curl up with you, and feel you near me!”
“Baby,” Lorelei sighed deeply, not sure how to ease the tension radiating from her wife. Aspen either couldn’t, or wouldn’t, see things from Lorelei’s perspective and Lorelei didn’t want to fight with her. “We didn’t say we were going to stop having sex.”
She pulled into their driveway and unbuckled her seatbelt. Shifting in her seat, she unbuckled Aspen’s and reached up to brush her knuckles over her wife’s cheek. “It’s just for a little while, baby,” she said, her voice soft and pleading, “Please don’t be so upset. I hate seeing that look on your beautiful face.”
Aspen scoffed and pulled away to shove her door open. “Tough shit, Lorelei,” she said, turning back to glare at the older woman once she was outside the car, “If you were so concerned about my face, you should have consulted it before making offers to my dad.”
“Aspen!” Lorelei climbed out of the car, hurrying to catch up with her as Aspen turned to storm down the sidewalk. “Aspen, come back here and talk to me. Don’t storm off like that!”
“Fuck you, Lorelei,” Aspen spun on her heel and flipped her wife off, “You shouldn’t need my dad’s permission since I won’t be involved.”
Lorelei stopped in her tracks, staring after Aspen with her mouth hanging open. She watched as her wife disappeared down the hill into the park, at a complete loss for words.
“What the hell just happened?”
Lorelei turned to find Cordy standing on her porch with a confused look on her face, staring out toward the park. Her lip was swollen where Aspen had punched her, and she looked just as surprised as Lorelei felt.
“I’m really not sure,” Lorelei huffed, running a hand through her hair. She wasn’t sure if she should go after her wife, or give her the space to cool off. “We got into an argument on the way home, and she’s still mad.”
“I can see that,” Cordy replied, moving off the porch to join Lorelei at the stone retaining wall that separated their driveways, “Maybe letting her play the butch was a bad idea. First, she knocks me on my ass, now she’s telling you to fuck off. I think she’s gone past butch and moved on to being a dick.”
“She’s just mad at me,” Lorelei said, angling her hip onto the wall, “I’ll give her some time to chill out, then I’ll talk to her. She can’t stay mad at me for long.”
“What did you do?” Cordy asked, mirroring Lorelei’s pose on her side of the wall.
Lorelei let out a mirthless chuckle. “For whatever reason, her dad got sent a copy of her grade report. He knows she failed a math test, and he’s not happy about it. We made a deal that Aspen would study more so she can pass the make-up test. She’s pissed about her dad getting involved.”
It wasn’t an outright lie, but Lorelei didn’t feel it pertinent to tell her friend the details of the agreement.
“I can see why she’d be irritated,” Cordy shrugged, “but that seems like a silly reason for her to throw such a temper tantrum. Wait, is she bleeding? Jenica’s pretty volatile, too, when it’s her time of the month.”
Lorelei huffed out a breath and stood. She was getting uncomfortable with the conversation and Aspen’s absence was making her anxious.
“No, she’s not on her period. She’s just pissed. I’m going to go find her,” she sighed, “Maybe going for a walk has calmed her down some.”
“If not, you could always try another approach,” Cordy offered with a wry grin.
Lorelei tilted her head. “What do you mean?”
Cordy stood and motioned toward the dark blue car that had just turned onto their street, “Do what I do when Jenica’s pissed at me. Take her upstairs and fuck her until she forgets why she’s mad.”
Lorelei barked out a loud, surprised laugh. Even during lewd conversations within their group, Lorelei had never heard Cordy speak so crassly about Jenica before.
“Just saying,” Cordy chuckled, turning to jog over to the car as it pulled into the driveway. She opened the driver’s door and offered her hand to Jenica, who accepted it with a smile.
Lorelei shook her head and offered the Westons a wave before turning to head toward the park. I don’t think sex is going to make her forget why she’s mad.
Lorelei scanned the small park, frowning when she didn’t see Aspen. She moved on, cutting through to the footbridge that would take her over the river. She thought maybe Aspen would be down by the water; Aspen occasionally found peace watching the water flow along the riverbank, but the younger woman wasn’t there either.
A slight twinge of panic began to flutter in Lorelei’s chest, but she forced it down. Relax, you’ll find her. She probably went to the school to run the track.
Lorelei sucked in a calming breath and released it slowly as she turned toward the high school. She forced herself not to run, remembering Aspen’s stern warning not to hurt herself. Walking at a fast clip, Lorelei made it to the high school track in under five minutes. She let out a growl of frustration and lunged toward the chain-link fence, shaking it roughly when she saw the track was empty.
“Fuck, where did she go?”
Lorelei felt tears begin to sting the backs of her eyes and she fisted her hands in her hair. Tugging roughly on the short red strands, she tried to think of anywhere else her wife might have gone. Aspen hated the upper park; a larger park in another part of town where softball and baseball games were played, so she wouldn’t go there.
She might have gone to the Elementary School, but Lorelei doubted it. Aspen always said that an empty elementary school creeped her out. It was too chilly out for her to be lounging by the falls, so Lorelei was certain her wife wouldn’t have gone up there, which left only one place for her to check.
Lorelei headed back up the gravel path, praying that she was right this time. Please be at the fire house, please be at the fire house.
There weren’t many reasons for a volunteer to be at the fire station on a random night, but the station had gym equipment that was available for the firefighters to use. Because there was no gym in Falls City, aside from a bar called The Gym, many of the firefighters took advantage of the equipment whenever they could.
Lorelei jogged across the street in front of the bar, waving in greeting to the tall blonde bartender and her wife. Lorelei liked Alicia and JC, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d had the chance to converse with either one. She made a mental note to stop by and remedy that soon.
Using the badge she carried on her at all times, Lorelei let herself in through the firefighter’s entrance. Due to the small size of the department, the Falls City Fire Department housed not only the fire trucks, equipment, and offices used by the firefighters, but also held the community center. To keep the general public away from the equipment used to fight fires, a special entrance was installed, bypassing the community center area and leading directly into the truck bay.
Stepping inside, relief flooded through Lorelei when she heard Aspen’s voice coming from the other side of the trucks. The relief was short lived, however, when she heard another voice that she knew.
“… I mean, if you aren’t happy you should just divorce her.”
Lorelei stopped in her tracks, her heart dropping into her stomach. What the fuck? What did she tell him? Why would she confide in him of all people?
“Shut up, Tim,” she heard Aspen hiss, “I asked you to spot me, not give me marriage advice.”
Lorelei grinned to herself. That’s my girl. When she heard the familiar clang of a weight bar being placed
back in its hold, Lorelei continued toward the other end of the bay.
“All I’m saying is that you can do so much better than Blaise,” Tim said.
Lorelei frowned as anger began to boil in the pit of her stomach. She stopped on the other side of Ladder 121, giving herself a semi-clear view of Aspen and Tim while she remained hidden. She wanted to hear how Aspen was going to handle the bastard.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Aspen asked, moving away from the weight bench and over to the shoulder press.
Tim shrugged and plopped down on the edge of the weight bench. He seemed content to watch Aspen go through her exercise routine, rather than do any actual exercise himself. “You need someone closer to your own age. Blaise isn’t exactly old, but she isn’t a kid either. You need someone to experience life with, not someone who’s already been there, done that.”
Lorelei’s face grew hot as her anger continued to simmer. Her hands clenched at her sides, and she grumbled under her breath. “Fuck you, Tim, you’re older than I am.”
“You’re out of line, Tim,” Aspen snapped, blowing out a hard breath as she pumped her arms against the weights, “I love my wife, regardless of her age. You don’t know shit about my marriage, or how I experience life. I’ve already knocked one person on their ass today, so unless you want to be number two, you’d better keep your opinions to yourself.”
Lorelei felt a smirk crawl across her face at the venom in Aspen’s words. She peeked at where Tim was sitting and noticed that his face had turned a deep shade of red. Oh shit, he looks pissed. A twinge of worry began to niggle at her, but Lorelei kept her cover. She didn’t want to risk a confrontation if she could avoid it.
“Sure you did, Princess,” Tim chortled, glaring hatefully at Aspen as she moved from the shoulder press to the leg press, “What’d you do, push one of your little friends for making fun of your shoes?”
Tim stood and started toward Aspen, whose back was to him. Alarm bells went off in Lorelei’s head, and she decided she’d stayed hidden long enough. Time to put a stop to this and defend my wife.