“As bad as you are, I’m going to be waiting on this table for an hour.”
Allison looked up to see who was insulting her. She had no idea who he was, but it was a shame he had to be such a jerk. This encounter summed up how her luck was going. She is approached by an attractive boy, so of course he says something rude.
“You’ll be waiting longer than an hour. I have plenty of quarters,” she said.
“I see,” he turned to walk away.
Allison rolled her eyes and continued the game. She sunk a ball on her next shot.
“Tell me that’s bad,” she muttered to herself.
“Okay, you’re not too bad.”
She turned to see the tall boy was back, this time with a pool stick.
“What are you doing?”
“Since you’re going to take all day, I might as well join you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t blame you, I am pretty good. I guess if you don’t play anyone else you don’t have to worry about losing.”
“Fine. Set up a new game, and you’re paying.”
“What about your pocket full of quarters?” he asked.
“You want to play, you can pay.”
“Fair enough.”
She knocked the remaining balls in various pockets while he inserted three quarters and set up the game. Allison was not sure what to think.
“You can go first,” he offered.
She approached the old pool table, with its tattered green felt and warped surface. Allison concentrated, wanting her shot to be good. She hit the cue ball as hard as she could manage and balls went in every direction. She knocked in both stripes and solids.
“So do you want stripes or solids?” he asked.
“Stripes.”
“That figures.”
“What figures?”
“I have a theory.”
“About pool balls?”
“Yes. I believe most people prefer stripes to solids because they’re flashier. People always go for the flash.”
Allison sunk one ball and looked up.
“Now you’re calling me shallow?”
“Not shallow, just human.”
Allison laughed, “I suppose you always pick solids?”
His smile widened, “No. I like stripes.”
“Doesn’t matter what you pick, I’m about to run the table on you,” she said, taking her next shot.
She hit the cue ball and sent it toward the closest striped ball. It rolled across the table, crashing into the wall before coming to rest right in front of the pocket. She stared at the ball, hoping it would somehow drop into the hole. She looked at the stationary ball, and to her amazement, saw it begin to roll once again. It rolled as if someone had pushed it, landing in the corner pocket. Allison felt her mouth open, but suppressed a gasp.
“What are you, magic?” the boy asked.
Allison also wondered what she was, but recovered from the shock and tried to play it off, “Yeah, I have the magic of a warped table and uneven floors.”
After that shot, her trash talk proved incorrect. Nothing went in, and the boy had his first turn. He was good, he made shot after shot. It was a while before he missed one.
“So,” Allison said, “you intrude on my game, insult my pool skills, call me shallow and even insinuate I’m some sort of witch. You could at least tell me your name.”
“I’m Adam Davis.”
“Allison Taylor. I haven’t seen you around school, are you new or just visiting relatives?”
“New. Monday will be my first day.”
Allison hit the cue ball and disaster struck. The ball she was aiming for went spiraling toward the 8-ball, sending it into the corner pocket.
“What’s that? Looks like I just won the game,” Adam said.
Allison tried not to smile but she could not help it. The smile faded when she noticed Siler walk into the building. He spotted her about the same time and walked over to the table.
“Is that your boyfriend?” Adam asked when he noticed Siler walking toward them.
“No, thank God. I insulted him in class the other day and I’m sure he has a few choice words for me.”
Siler approached Allison.
“Do you realize how lucky you are that you’re female? If you were a dude, that stuff you said in class would have landed you in the hospital.”
A million amazing insults flooded Allison’s mind, but she did not want to start an argument or cause a scene in front of Adam. Instead, she tried to be reasonable.
“You know how you got mad and embarrassed when I called you stupid? That’s how you made Wes feel when you called him a geek.”
“So what? He is a geek.”
Common sense, empathy and basic reasoning skills were too complicated for Siler. Maybe he’d had too many helmet-to-helmet collisions on the football field.
“And you are stupid. In fact, that geek will probably end up being your boss one day. Speaking of being stupid, why aren’t you playing football tonight, academically ineligible?”
“No, I had a one game suspension. And by the way, I would never work for someone like Wes Young.”
“Keep telling yourself that. Do you know where high school heroes end up? Manning the counters of gas stations all across the country. They spend their lives talking about that one time when they won that one game back in high school.”
Anger flashed across his face. “Yeah, maybe I’ll end up living in The Dirt Lot right next to you and all the other white trash. You’ll probably end up on a pole somewhere dancing for dollars or working the truck stop parking lot.”
Adam noticed Allison’s immediate change in demeanor and he stepped between them.
“There’s no reason for any of this,” Adam said.
Siler noticed Adam for the first time, “Who’s this? Your first client?”
“No, but I was your mom’s client last night,” Adam said.
Adam led Allison towards the door and she followed in silent awe.
“Best dollar I ever spent,” Adam called out before he and Allison exited the doorway.
Siler stood for a moment until he finally processed Adam’s words. He ran to the door, but they were already out of sight.
Chapter 5
The phone rang several times before going to voicemail. Allison ended the call- she never left voicemails- and walked into the living room.
Allison was curious about how the dance was, and whether or not Sam had fun with Wes. She assumed that Sam would have told her everything last night, and now it was Saturday afternoon and she was not answering. It was unusual for Sam not to answer right away. Allison wondered if it had something to do with Josh. They were cousins, maybe he told her that Allison had been rude to him, but that didn’t make any sense. She was honest and to the point, but not rude. Besides, Josh was not the type to start problems. Vinnie had filled her in on most of the details from the night before, but she wanted to hear it from Sam.
“I still can’t get a hold of Sam,” she told Vinnie.
“Maybe she’s asleep,” Vinnie suggested.
They heard Ruby’s car pull up, and they both went out to help her carry in the groceries. Ruby usually made one trip to the grocery store, and it was always on Saturday morning. While they put away the food, Allison could feel her grandmother staring at her. The looks and the questions from her Grandmother seemed strange. Something was not right. It was almost as if she was watching and waiting for Allison to do something, but Allison had no idea what it could be.
“It’s Saturday; does that mean we’re going to the flea market?” Vinnie asked.
“Of course,” Ruby said.
They often spent Saturday afternoon shopping in a neighboring town. They would search for treasures at the local flea market, goodwill, yard sales, and a few clothing stores. They would sometimes stop at the video game store, so Vinnie could buy some new games. This was the only day of the week they did not eat at home. They would eat out whi
le they were shopping, usually at Cracker Barrel or Golden Corral.
On the way to the car, Allison tried to call Sam again. There was still no answer. Allison let Vinnie have the front seat. Ruby and Vinnie were talking about finding a good coffee table they could refinish, but Allison wasn’t listening much. She was thinking about Sam’s and Ruby’s odd behavior, but she was mostly thinking about Adam and Josh. Last week she was aware of Josh, but not interested in him. This week she had started to like him and then Adam showed up. Most of the time she was not this interested in high school boys. Most of the guys she found attractive were older than she was. She wondered if Siler would try to beat Adam up first thing Monday morning. She also wondered if they would have any classes together.
“So, did Allison tell you she’s in love with a boy named Adam?” Vinnie asked.
These words cut through the haze of her daydreams.
“Excuse me?” Allison asked.
“No, I didn’t realize she was in love. Do tell,” Ruby said.
“She met the man of her dreams last night while she played pool. He was tall, dark and handsome,” Vinnie said.
“He was tall and handsome, not dark, and just for the record he is not the man of my dreams. As always, that position is held by M. Shadows from Avenged.”
“You always go for the pierced up tattooed boys,” Vinnie said.
“Well, you will be happy to know that Adam is not pierced or tattooed, that I know of.”
“So, tell me more about this Adam boy,” Ruby said.
“There’s not much to tell. He came over and started talking to me while I was playing pool. At first I thought he was kind of a jerk, but he ended up being a nice guy.”
“Does he go to your school?”
“He’s a transfer. He starts on Monday.”
“Oh,” her voice sounded strained, “So you don’t know much about him? Where is he from?”
“I’m not sure where he came from. I think he travels a lot. His dad is in the military.”
“And he just approached you while you were playing?”
“Pretty much. He wanted to use the table.”
Allison sensed something in Ruby’s voice that made her feel defensive of Adam.
“What’s wrong?” Allison asked.
“Nothing, just be careful around this Adam boy. We don’t know anything about him.”
“Okay,” she said, “but, he’s just a regular high school kid like me.”
“You are not regular. You are exceptional and only someone exceptional deserves your attention.”
“Thanks, I think.”
They pulled into an empty spot in the gravel parking lot. On the way inside, a car caught Allison’s eye. It was Susan’s car, the wood panel station wagon. It had to be hers because it had the dent in the right front bumper. What were the odds that there would be two identical cars with a dent in the same location?
“Sam is here,” Allison told Vinnie, “there’s Susan’s car. I hope we run into them before they leave.”
Vinnie looked worried.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Okay, look. I didn’t want to say anything because I thought it might blow over by Monday, but Sam is mad at you.”
“Mad at me?” she felt her face become hot, “What did I do?”
“Nothing, but Wes said something about asking you out first. She didn’t say anything to him about it, but she told me after the dance. She was sort of embarrassed and mad that you didn’t tell her.”
“Who cares if he asked me out first? There was nothing to tell.”
“She does, obviously. Just give her some time to get over it. I told her it wasn’t a big deal, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“I need to talk to her.”
Allison was used to making people mad, and in most cases she enjoyed the chance to get under someone’s skin. This was different though, she did not like having one of her closest friends upset with her, especially when she had not done anything wrong. She had to fix it.
They browsed at the various booths, Vinnie and Ruby kept an eye out for an affordable coffee table while Allison looked for Sam. There were many good tables but most of them were too new, they wanted a project. For them, half the fun was in refurbishing an old worn table into something beautiful. They walked and browsed but nothing caught their attention. While they were inspecting the different goods, Allison spotted Sam looking at a beaded necklace. She walked off from her family and right up to Sam.
“Hey.”
Sam looked down, “Hey.”
“How was the dance?”
“Good.”
“Look, I know you’re mad at me, and I want to talk about it. I don’t understand why.”
Sam looked up, her face twisted in anger, “You don’t understand why? You humiliated me. That was the first real date I had, and it ends up that I was just a second choice.”
“It’s not like that. I mean, it doesn’t matter that he asked me out; because you’re the one he took. I can tell he likes you, so what’s there to be humiliated about?”
“You just don’t get it.”
“No, you don’t get it. I told him he should ask you out, to help you. I knew you had a crush on him so I tried to be a good friend.”
“If you were a good friend you would have told me he asked you in the first place, and for your information I don’t need your help.”
It was Allison’s turn to get mad, “You need a lot of help if you think I did anything wrong. I didn’t tell because it was irrelevant, I don’t like him like that. I didn’t tell you what I had for breakfast that morning either, because it mattered as much as Wes asking me to the dance did. Wes had no clue you were even interested because you never talk to him, so you must need my help more than you think.”
“Whatever.”
Allison was done with the conversation. If Sam insisted on acting that way, what else could she do? She wasn’t about to beg for anyone’s friendship. She turned to see Vinnie watching from another booth.
“You want to be like this then you can cut your list of friends from three to two. So now you have Vinnie and your own cousin, maybe Wes if you manage to talk to him ever again,” Allison said.
Allison regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth. She could see Sam’s anger turn to pain in an instant. She walked away, afraid that she would see Sam cry.
“That is fine with me,” Sam said in a quivering voice.
Allison joined her family without another glance in Sam’s direction.
“What was that about?” Ruby asked.
“Nothing. Let’s just shop.”
Ruby stared for a minute as if deciding whether to press the issue, but dropped the subject without another word.
Allison, Vinnie and Ruby searched all over, but never found the table they wanted. Allison tried to be in a good mood, but she wasn’t. She kept thinking about Sam. Maybe she should have told her about Wes asking her to the dance, but she never thought about it. She had not meant to be secretive or malicious. It just didn’t seem important enough to mention.
After shopping, they ate and headed home. Allison sulked around the living room, trying to act normal and unaffected. Monday was going to be bittersweet. She would be able to see Adam but she had all this drama with Sam. She looked forward to and dreaded Monday at the same time. While she thought about the potential awkwardness, Vinnie joined her on the living room couch.
“It is going to be weird on Monday with you two fighting.”
Allison shrugged, “It doesn’t have to be weird. I don’t want you or Josh to feel like you need to choose sides. I live with you, so we’ll have plenty of time to hang out away from school. During lunch, I’ll just find somewhere else to sit.”
“I don’t want it to be like that.”
“It is the only way to keep you two from being in the middle of something that isn’t your problem.”
Vinnie did not say anyth
ing. She realized the fact that she was not forcing them to choose sides must take a great deal of stress off him. Allison knew he would always choose her if pushed, but she also knew he cared about Sam too. It would not be fair to put him in the middle.
“I’m going to take a walk,” Allison said, rising from the flower print couch.
Vinnie did not offer to go with her. They both knew if she had wanted him to come, she would have asked. Instead, he turned on the Wii and began playing Skyward Sword.
Allison entered the kitchen where Ruby was going through bills and balancing her checkbook.
“I’m going for a walk. Do you need anything while I’m out?”
She looked up, “No dear, is Vinnie going with you?”
“No.”
“Don’t be too long. I’m about to start dinner.”
“I won’t,” she said before leaving the trailer.
Allison walked along the sidewalk, breathing in the October air; glad for this time to think. She walked at a relaxed pace, considering the many things that were weighing on her mind. Allison passed the main street style storefronts, looking inside the windows. She thought about Sam, and wondered if she should just apologize. No, she was not going to apologize when she didn’t do anything wrong. Allison shook her head, as if to shake the very idea out of her mind. When she passed an accounting office, she noticed a grey cat with striking copper eyes. It had subtle stripes, which were a darker grey than its body. It sat in the grass, watching Allison’s every move. Allison did not really care about cats one way or the other, but this one was beautiful.
“Here kitty, kitty,” she called, crouching to pet it.
The cat approached her outstretched hand, and began to rub against it. Petting the cat seemed to relax Allison. Within a moment, her mind was more at ease. She checked for a collar but there was none. Allison wondered if it had a home, it was friendly so it had to have been someone’s at one time. She stood up and walked into the accounting office, where she found a woman sitting behind an old-fashioned desk.
“Excuse me, do you know who this cat outside belongs to?” she asked the woman.
Inherited Magic Page 4