Page 15 of Only Forever

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“When I met Jason in middle school, I was having a tough time.” Marcus revealed. “I had just moved to Hyattsville, and I had a hard time fitting in. So many of the kids in our town are well off.” Marcus gave me a rueful smile as he continued. “We had come from an area where everyone was poor, so I never felt out of place. But here, kids’ parents were driving fancy cars, and everyone was in extra curricular activities. I wanted to play sports so badly, but I couldn’t afford it. All the equipment youhave to buy is so expensive, never mind the fees for playing for club sports and stuff.”

I knew what he meant. A large portion of our town was very well off, while the rest of us straddled between middle class and lower middle class. I didn’t realize that Marcus was from the latter, but I knew firsthand that it wasn’t easy coming from a one parent household.

“I never told Jason any of my problems,” Marcus said. “Honestly, it was embarrassing. Finally, a kid wanted to be friends with me, but I couldn’t even afford to go to the arcade with him. And I didn’t want him feeling bad for me.” Marcus sighed. “But he knew without me saying anything. He saw my house when his mom would drop me off. He saw the holes in my clothes at school. Kids at school used to make fun of me for it, but suddenly, when Jason became friends with me, everyone wanted to be friends with me, too. I was suddenly popular by association.”

Marcus paused as he waited to make a turn. He glanced at me as he continued. “You probably already know this, but Jason has a way of making you feel like everything is going to be okay. When he started to give me his old sports equipment, he acted like I was doing him a favor by taking it off his hands.” Marcus quirked an eyebrow with a half-smile. “Never mind that all the equipment seemed new.”

I smiled. That sounded like Jason. Always generous and always trying to make people feel better. He had gotten that trait from his mom.

“My mom cleans houses for a living.” Marcus told me. “I’ve never been ashamed of that. It’s honest work. All of a sudden, she had a ton more clients referred to her by Jason’s mom, even though she had never cleaned her house personally. And they were well-paying jobs with clients that were kind.” Marcus’ mouth twisted. “Some of these rich people can be real jerks, butall her new clients treated her well. She was able to hire other cleaners and start her own little company. She started being able to afford paying for my sports fees and buying me new clothes, even if they were from Wal-mart. My little brother started being able to do things like take taekwondo classes.”

“I’m so glad Jason and his family could be there for you and your family,” I said sincerely. “Both he and his family are amazing. They’ve always been so kind to me and my mom.”

Marcus nodded. “I didn’t realize until recently how much you and I have in common. Jason doesn’t care about your background. He only likes you for you.”

I stilled at his statement. “What do you mean, my background?”

“I didn’t mean anything bad by it,” Marcus said quickly, glancing at me. “Jason and I tell each other basically everything, and I know you and your mom have struggled too. And his family was there for you financially, like they were for mine.” Marcus gave me a sympathetic look. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

“What do you mean, his family was there for us financially?” I asked, puzzled. I had no idea what he was talking about.

Marcus pressed his lips together, looking regretful. “I’m sorry. I thought you knew that Jason’s family gave your mom money regularly when you were younger. I know it was hard for you guys after your dad left.”

What in the hell was Marcus talking about? To my knowledge, my mother had never taken money from Jason’s family. She had busted her ass working to make sure we had enough after my loser dad left. I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe shehadtaken money from them. I remembered her desperation when he left and she found out that he had hidden the fact that we werebehind on the mortgage. She had been able to catch up on payments, but maybe that was with Jason’s family’s help.

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how to feel about what Marcus had revealed. Why did Marcus know these things about me and my mom that I didn’t know myself?

“Jason still doesn’t care that you guys are different. Even though you’re staying home for college, that doesn’t matter to him. I know it’ll be hard, especially if he goes to school far away, but that’s how much he cares about you. It doesn’t matter to him that you come from a family that has so much less money than him.”

Anger swiftly coursed through my veins. “Is that what he said to you?” I asked sharply. “That he’s okay with me being poor?”

“He didn’t mean it like that,” Marcus said quickly, looking at me worriedly. “He just meant that he likes you for you, and nothing else matters.”

There were a million things I wanted to scream. That I wasn’t poor, and even if I was, Jason had no right to look down on me. That my mom worked for everything we had, and I would know if she had taken money from Jason’s family. That it was messed up Jason would tell Marcus all these things, even if they were best friends. But I kept silent. There was no reason to get angry at Marcus. He was just the messenger.

“I hope I didn’t upset you,” Marcus said, looking concerned as he pulled into my driveway. “I didn’t mean anything bad by what I said.”

“No, it’s fine. I’m not upset.” My answers were short and clipped, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to get out of Marcus’ car and away from his pitying look.

“Thanks for the ride.” I said when he parked in my driveway. I quickly got out of his car, humiliation burning my cheeks, and ran inside my house without a look back.

Chapter Five

I was thankful my mom wasn’t home yet. I needed time to think. I was shaken by the things Marcus had told me, but I tried to calm myself and think logically.

Had my mom actually taken money from Jason’s family? And more than once? Marcus had said it was regularly. I would never know unless I actually asked her, and I knew that was something I would never do. So what if she had taken money from them? I told myself I didn’t care. If she did, it had only been because she had no other choice. Whether she had taken money from them or not, I knew how hard she had worked to get us where we were today. Asking her might make her feel shame, something I never wanted her to feel. I made the decision that I would never bring it up to her, because it didn’t matter. The only thing that made me angry was that Jason had told Marcus about it. I didn’t care if they were best friends. That wasn’t something you went around sharing.

The second part of what Marcus told me was what really pissed me off. So, Jason graciously deigned to lower himself to my level? Who the hell did he think he was? The condescension of it made me sick. It also confused me. It was more than obvious that we came from two very different socioeconomic levels. As kids, his mom would take us to amusement parks and play places that I would have probably never experienced on my own because my mom didn’t have extra money for things like that. When my mom would take us places, it would be somewhere like the frozen yogurt shop, which would be a special treat. Maybe we were too young to notice, but the differences between our households had never fazed us. At least, it had never fazed me. Jason and his family had never made me feel less than. But maybe I just had been too oblivious and naive to realize they were looking down on us.

I took a deep breath and told myself to slow down my racing thoughts. Maybe Marcus had misinterpreted what Jason had told him. Maybe Jason hadn’t even said anything to him directly, and Marcus had just assumed things. I told myself I needed to stay calm until I spoke to Jason, and found out exactly what he had said.

I was debating whether to call Jason when his name suddenly lit up my phone. It was perfect timing and I took a deep breath before picking up his call. My heart twisted a bit when I heard how happy and enthusiastic he sounded.

“Daphne! It feels like it’s been ages since we’ve talked, even though it’s only been a couple of days.”

“How’s California?” I asked weakly, my resolve to find out the truth wavering. What exactly would I say? Should I demand to know if he really said what Marcus told me? I didn’t now how to approach the topic.

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