Ch 65: That’s high school!

Janet didn’t notice it at first. It came to her slowly. 

Some kids merely whispered behind her back as she past, others stared at her with stunned expressions on their faces, but a few came up to her beaming for no other reason than to say hello…at least that’s what they told her. She suspected they just wanted to see if she and Wes were really going out. High school kids can be so nosy! But then...so were adults. Evidence of that was the school nurse winking at her and Wes.

Perhaps her mother was right, Janet mused. She often heard Wendy say, "High school never ends!" Now she understood.

Janet tried not to laugh at them, but that was her favorite part of high school, getting to laugh at her fellow students and even some teachers plus all the silly things they do.

Ch 64: Doing it on their own

Janet filled the vase with water and then placed the flowers in it one by one. “They’re really nice, Wes, but you shouldn’t have taken them from your mom’s garden,” she said.

Wes stared at her reflection in the mirror and wrapped his arms around her. “It’s what guys in love do,” he whispered, nuzzling his face in her hair. “You’re so beautiful.”

Ch 63: Breakfast at Wendy’s

“Oh, Mom, you did awesome last night!” Janet gushed, hugging her mother. “Everybody said so, and you’ll never guess who was there.”

“The entire town from what I saw,” Wendy said, handing Janet a plate of French toast topped with glazed strawberries. “It was lovely of you to do that, Janet. Seeing a room full of friendly faces is so much better than…”

“Enemies?” Steve said bouncing in just then. He kissed his mom on the cheek before grabbing a plate and taking three pieces of French toast. He took a huge bite and continued talking with his mouth full. “Mom, you rock! Everything was awesome last night.”

Janet grimaced. “Those gentleman lessons haven’t done much yet, huh?” she said with a derisive shake of her head.

Chapter 62: The serious talk

“Wesley, I’d like a word with you, please,” Donny spoke, his voice coming from the living room.

“Oh, crap,” Wes muttered under his breath, softly closing the door behind him.

Wes found his dad sitting on the sofa and switching off the TV. He threw down the remote and gestured for Wes to take a seat beside him. Donny then proceeded to glare at him. “If you had walked from Janet’s house I could almost see it taking this long to get home… if you were keeping pace with a racing turtle. As you have a perfectly functioning car, however, and even if you had driven at twenty miles under the lowest speed limit, as unlikely as that is for a teenager to do, you should have been home quite a while ago. Am I wrong?”

Ch 61: Truth and guilt

Jasmine sat down on the bed and watched with growing impatience as Janet methodically slipped out of her clothes, pulling her voluminous night gown over her head.

“So? What do you want to tell me?” she asked at last when Janet sat with her hair brush in hand and still had not uttered one word.

“It’s my fault Mom won’t forgive Dad and let him come back home,” Janet said, a catch in her throat.

“Whoa! What? That doesn’t make sense. How is it your fault?” Jasmine asked.

“First, I gotta tell you, I talked to Dawn. She was at the Picadillo.”

“I didn’t see you talking to her. I didn’t see her at all.”

“It was in the restroom,” Janet said, pulling the brush through her hair.

“So, that’s why you took so long! I thought you were…anyway. What did she say? She couldn’t possibly blame you for…”

Ch 60 An ever fixed mark

The cell phone sounded just as Wes was in the middle of kissing Janet.

“Dad,” he muttered, annoyed as anything. He stared at Janet for a second and kissed her again while he dug in his pocket for the offending device. He put it to his ear only after he pulled away from her. 

“Hello,” he growled.

“Wesley, where are you? You do realize it’s a school night,” Donny said.

“I’m on my way home now, Dad,” Wes said, winking at Janet.

She shook a disapproving finger at him and she giggled when he went to bite it. He then covered her mouth so his dad wouldn’t hear her laughing.

“I realize you and Janet have made up, but…”

“I’ll be there soon, Dad,” Wes said.

“I can still ground you, you know.”

Ch 59: Crazy love

“See you at school, Steve,” Cindy said, hopping into the front seat of her father’s car.

“En Espanol, senorita,” Steve said.

“Hasta la vista,” she replied with a giggle.

“Um...I guess that’s right. I’m not too good at it yet,” he said, shrugging.

“You make sure I pass math and I’ll help you with Spanish, okay?” she said.

“Deal,” he said brightly. “Bye, Mr. Sebastian.”

“Don't think so. You have to come with us, kid. Your ride just left,” Donny said pointing at Wes’ tail lights, only just visible heading down the street. 

“What the heck!” Steve grumbled, just as Jasmine and Troy came out of the restaurant. “At least I’m not the only one left behind.”

Ch 58: Almost there

   

Janet and Dawn stared at the woman who just bounded into the restroom.

“Hey, is there a Janet in here?” she said. 

“Uh, yes? I’m Janet,” she said, a confused expression on her face.

“There’s a boy out there looking for you. He looks ready to call in the Marines. He must think you fell into the toilet and drowned,” she said, laughing and she walked off into a stall.

“Oh, that must be Wes!” Janet said, placing her hands to her cheeks.

“Who’s Wes?” Dawn asked.

“Um…my boyfriend,” she replied.

Ch 57: Back in the day

Janet waited with as much patience as she could muster as Dawn seemed to go back in time, her plump face acquiring a reminiscent glow. 

“I say this with the utmost affection, but your father was pathetic when it came to Wendy.  Frankly, not much has changed.”

“You think so?” Janet said, unconvinced.

Dawn smiled. “Yes, I do. Your mom was very popular back then, you know, from the moment she arrived in town. Why wouldn’t she be? She was perfect. Beautiful, charming, smart, sweet as pie and so witty. She had all the girls wishing to be her best friend and all the guys drooling at her feet, but none so much as Jeff. Love-sick puppy, he was,” she said.

“And this Karen person…where does she come in?” Janet asked.

Chapter 56: The substitute brother

Wes found Janet standing by the restrooms with his jacket neatly folded over her arm. When he approached her, she handed it to him.

“I’ll be out in a little while. Just want to wash my face,” Janet said.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

She nodded and had place her hand on the door ready to push it open, but then she looked at him again.

“What?” he asked.

“Can I ask you something else?”