Page 48 of Something in Between

“He lives in Bel-Air. He’s the son of Congressman Colin Blakely, the house majority leader.”

I can tell Mom is shocked. She sort of leans back. I’m starting to fear that this is too much for her to take in. First the scholarship, then the trip to Washington, now there’s a boy—and not any boy, but a rich boy with a powerful father who’s practically the enemy. Mom shifts her weight, nearly falling off the bed. “You can’t mean the congressman who’s always on TV trying to kill the immigration bill that the Senate passed?”

“Yeah, but he’s not like his dad,” I say defensively.

“Are you sure it’s safe to know him?”

“It’s not like I told him about us. But he’s not like that, Mom. I know he isn’t. He’s nice.”

“Oh,” she says softly. “What’s his name?”

“Royce.”

It surprises me that even just the sound of his name coming out of my mouth makes me feel more hopeful, like everything is within my reach.

“What kind of name is that?” she asks. “Like the car?”

I giggle. “I know, right?”

“So you like this boy?”

“Yeah,” I say. “I like him a lot.” I’ve never had a boyfriend, I’ve never been allowed to date. But I’m seventeen years old now, and I think it’s okay to admit I like a boy, isn’t it? I’m not just attracted to him—I really like him. He’s just like me, intense and sort of secretly nerdy. Most of all, I like how he looks into my eyes like he’s seeing past the image everyone else sees into who I really am beyond all the things that I do. And he thinks I’m beautiful.

Mom stays quiet.

“I want you guys to meet him,” I say. “Because I want to, um...hang out with him. Okay?”

Mom doesn’t say a word.

“Mom?”

“We’ll see, I’ll have to talk to your dad about it.”

My stomach twists. Whenever she has to talk to my dad about something, it just meansno.

16

She cannot stay out of duty. The things one does,

one should do out of love.

—EDWIDGE DANTICAT,BREATH, EYES, MEMORY

MONDAY, KAYLA ANDI walk together to cheer practice. Our school is a typical California one—the hallways are outside, and people walk through the grassy courtyards to get across campus. Our town is in a valley, so we have a view of the mountains all around. A bunch of football players wave as we walk from the quad to the gym. Not just them. Being a cheerleader means pretty much everyone knows who you are. That’s one of my favorite things about it.

We wave back to people we know. Kayla and I aren’t in the same classes, so this is the first chance we’ve had to download since I got back.

I was worried she’d still be mad that she found out about my scholarship at the same time the other girls did, but she seems to be over it. And she’s over Courtney being named captain while I was away as well. The squad qualified for Regionals, like we all expected we would. That competition is coming up in December, so we have practice almost every day now.

She links her arms around mine. “So how was D.C.? Is the president cool?”

“Yes but more importantly, you’ll never guess who was there,” I say.

“Who!” Kayla can smell a good cute-boy story from one hint. She claps her hands and jumps up and down.

“Remember that guy I met at the hospital? The one from Bel-Air?” I say.

“Right, what’s his name again? Aston? Martin?” she teases.

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