changes in her. Even when they were just hanging out, she felt Kedisha observing her, studying her. Abby had experimented with different makeup, different hairstyles and different clothes. The changes weren’t obvious from one day to the next, but over a week, over a couple of weeks for sure, they compounded into significant changes. Abby seemed altogether different.
Like a patient who gets a sudden new lease on life after a blood transfusion, Abby felt like she had been injected with a drug that made her into a whole new person.
She noticed it herself the most when she approached the lunch table occupied by her peers. Before she had felt apprehensive, even scared, about sitting down. Will they get up? Will they make fun of me? Or worse, will they even know I’m here? But now it was different. Now she was self-assured—she had a confidence that enabled her to approach them and not live and die with someone else’s reaction.
“So who is he?” Kedisha asked as Abby spun the combination at her locker. She pulled on the lock and opened the door.
“Who is who?”
“You know who. How did you guys meet?”
Abby avoided eye contact. “We’re just friends.”
“So there is someone,” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Name.”
“None of your business,” Abby whispered, hoping Kedisha would do the same and not draw attention to their conversation.
“Come on. Out with the details. How did you guys meet?”
“I have to get to class.”
“You’re smart enough. You can afford to skip a few minutes to give me the—”
“We met online,” she said, thinking that giving Kedisha a few details would get her to stop her inquisition. “A friend of a friend.”
“Is it that guy I caught you staring at on your phone? Cute. What does he do?”
“He’s graduated.”
“And doing what now?”
“Lots of questions, Kedisha,” Abby said, grabbing her biology textbook and closing the door.
“What do you really know about this guy?”
That didn’t go over well. Abby did little to hide her reaction. “Thanks.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Can always count on you, Kedisha.”
“Abby.”
“Always seems to be so fitting that you have a super guy with you all the time, but poor, pathetic Abby, she couldn’t possibly get a guy. So when she does, he must be a creep.”
“Abby, I’m just curious.”
“No, you’re not. You’re surprised.”
The walk home usually gave Abby a chance to let her mind wander—to explore places without any restrictions. But today, the memory of the conversation she had earlier with Kedisha plagued her thoughts. She tried to get rid of it the way people do when they want a particularly awkward or painful event out of their mind. But the more she tried, the more it came back. Like a boomerang returning. Every time she attempted to throw that thought away, it seemed to come back twice as strong, until it felt impossible to shake loose.
Why was I so defensive around Kedisha?
It’s her fault. The tone in her voice was so judging.
She’s a friend. She’s just asking.
Yeah, asking how I could possibly find a great guy.
She punched in her code in the garage door—the basketball hoop may as well have been invisible—and entered the kitchen. The moment she did, her phone buzzed. A message. A jolt of excitement ran through her. She checked. Jake.
“Canada’s Wonderland tonight?”
“Hi, sweetheart,” her mom said from the kitchen. The words were normal. The tone was not. To any outsider it would have seemed like any other greeting on any other day. But when people know each other well, and for a long time, even the slightest nuance in how they say things conveys much, much more than the simple words themselves.
Something was wrong.
“Hey, Mom,” Abby replied, wondering if her own tone conveyed that she had discovered something odd in her mother’s tone.
“How was school?”
Sucked. It was awful. My friend doubts that I can have a boyfriend—Come to think of it, Mom, do you doubt the same thing? Do you think I deserve a good guy? Would you believe me if I told you this great guy took me out to a super nice restaurant, called me beautiful and gave me a—
“It was good.”
“Your nose a hundred percent?”
“It’s fine,” Abby said, heading up to her room to respond to Jake.
Her mother poked her head around the corner. “Why don’t you come sit down. Let’s catch up. I haven’t seen you a while.”
Haven’t seen Dad either. He always comes home late and is so bagged. Business. I know. Pay for the mortgage. I get it. He has lots on the go.
“I was just going to go out tonight,” Abby said, stopping on the stairs.
“Great. With Kedisha?”
“Maybe. Some other friends.”
I just lied. Why did I lie? Big deal. She wouldn’t understand … Or maybe she would?
“Supper is in a bit. You want to get washed up?”
No. Not really. I just want to get out of here and hang out with Jake.
“Sure.”
Abby’s mother smiled and returned to the kitchen. Abby looked at her phone as she went to the back hall sink.
“Hey, Jake! Canada’s Wonderland sounds great!”
“Super. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”
“Me too! It’ll take me a while to get there by bus.”
“Bus? Not my girl. Let’s go by car.”
“That’s a long way to go.”
“Your worth it.”
“Awwww. Thanks. And by the way it’s spelled you’re as in you are.”
“You see. Pretty and smart.”
“Want to pick me up at my house?”
“Would love to.”
“Super.”
She put the phone in her pocket and was about to head to the kitchen when it buzzed again.
“Actually, want to meet at the Richmond Hill Centre platform? That might make it faster for both of us.”
She admired his ingenuity. If she took the train towards him and he drove towards her, that would speed up the time for them to meet. It reminded her of math. If a bus heading towards Jake leaves in half an hour and travels at an average speed of 50 km/hr, and Jake drives a car towards Abby travelling at an average speed of 70 km/hr, what time would they—It didn’t matter. Even if it didn’t make chivalry sense, it did make romantic sense. People doing what they could to see each other as soon as possible.
“For sure. See you there.”
She entered the kitchen and saw her mother blowing on dough in the oven.
“Sorry,” she said. “I tried to rush the process. Wanted us to have fresh garlic bread for supper. Ruined it.”
“No worries.”
She sat down with her mom. Spaghetti and meatballs. Her