“That was great,” Graham said, patting Jade on the back.

Jade chuckled and gave him a light punch in the arm. “Don’t lie,” she replied, laughing. “I suck at this. I couldn’t get a strike if my life depended on it.”

“We’re just doing this for fun. It’s not a contest. Besides, you’re enjoying yourself, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” Jade admitted.

“Well, then, that’s what matters. I’ll go get us some more Cokes. Sounds good?”

“Great.”

“Be back in a bit, then. Don’t run away,” Graham said cheerfully.

Jade watched him head to the snack bar, smiling to herself. She was having a lot of fun, more than she’d expected to. Jade had assumed that he’d been the type to consider a date to consist of tattoos, piercing, and mosh pits. Instead, here they were at a nice little family-owned bowling alley.

Who’d have guessed he was so… I don’t know… normal? Jade thought, amused.

Just then, she felt someone grab her shoulder. Instinctively, she whipped around, ready to attack, and found herself face to face with the last person she’d expected to run into: Mark.


“W-what are you doing here?” Jade asked, trying to look anywhere but at him.

“Spending time with some friends,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Female, I bet.”

“Wrong. So, what are you doing here? I thought you mainly hung out at Z’s.”

“I’m on a date,” Jade replied, somewhat defensively.

“Really?” Mark responded, surprised. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Jade nodded in the direction of Graham, who was returning from the snack bar, sodas in hand. Mark scoffed a little. “Doesn’t seem like your type.”

“Funny,” Jade replied, still avoiding looking at him. “People probably thought the same thing about you.”

“Just saying, what’s so great about him?”

Jade finally looked up at him and said, “Well, for one thing, he’s probably more likely to want a steady relationship, rather than a series of random hookups.”

“Ouch,” Mark muttered. “Point taken.” But he smiled and patted her shoulder affectionately. “You have fun, then. Maybe I’ll see you later.”

“Sure,” Jade muttered, turning away. Mark shrugged and walked back to his friends.

“Who was that?” Graham asked, setting the sodas on a nearby table.

“Just someone I know,” Jade replied.

“A former boyfriend?”

“Not exactly.”


Valo walked out into the backyard and slowly headed over to the swing set, where her younger step-cousin, Tabitha, seemed to be deep in thought. Valo smiled a little, remembering how awkward she’d been at that age. Still am, she admitted to herself. The strapless plaid dress and matching headband was not Tabitha’s typical choice of clothing. Aunt Lynn must have bought it, Valo decided.

She leaned against one of the poles of the swing set. “Hey,” she said softly, greeting the teenager.

“Hi,” Tabitha muttered, not looking up.

“What’s wrong?” Valo asked, concerned. “Do you have a headache or cramps?”

“No, nothing like that,” Tabitha replied. She was silent for several seconds, and then finally looked up at Valo. “Jess, I wish I could be more like you.”

“Why would you want to be like me?” Valo asked, surprised by this comment. “I’m nerdy and ugly and…” Thinking of her mother’s comment, she added, “…and fat.”

Tabitha scoffed. “You’re really smart and have really cool clothes, and you’re not fat; you're curvy. You have a really cool personality. It’s like you don’t care what other people think about you. You do things that make you happy, and you don’t care if people think any worse of you.” She sighed. “I wish I could be like that.”

I’m not like that, though, Valo thought. I’m just as worried about what people think of me as any other person. Still, she was concerned about what was troubling her young relative. “Why do you feel that way?” Valo asked. “Has someone been picking on you at school?”

“No. I mean, yeah, but that’s not what’s wrong.”

“Okay, then what?”

Tabitha sighed. “You remember Sophia, right?” Valo nodded. “Well… I… we…” Tabitha bowed her head, blushing vividly. “Mom found out-- Crystal probably told her-- and… well, you can figure out how it went.”

“Let me guess. ‘It’s just a phase.’”

“How’d you know?” Tabitha asked.

“Common response from parents, in that type of situation. So, what else?”

“Mom basically said it was just a phase I was going through and that I was just confused and didn’t actually feel that way about Sophia.”

“Wow… I see.”


Tabitha looked up at Valo. “Jess, you’re a psych major. What do you have to say about this?”

Valo, surprised to have this question posed to her, collected her thoughts for a few seconds, and then slowly said, “Well, Tabby, it is true that at your age, it’s common to experiment a lot and have your hormones controlling a lot of your thoughts and feelings. However, there’s nothing wrong with you having feelings for your friend. I’m going to tell you something that more people should hear from their loved ones: I don’t care if you end up with a guy, a girl, or yourself. What matters is your happiness. I want you to do what you feel is right, and I’ll support your decision.”

Tabitha nodded slowly, and then, for the first time that day, she smiled. “Thanks,” she finally said, hugging Valo.

“See, now that’s the Tabitha I know. Ready to go inside?” Valo said, patting her cousin’s back.

“Yeah, I guess,” Tabitha replied. “But I don’t want to deal with Crystal and Joe. He freaks me out, and Crystal… oh God, ever since she’s gotten engaged, she’s acted like the world revolved around her. Mom’s not doing anything to make her think any other way, obviously.”

“Yikes. Yeah, Joe gives me the heebie-jeebies,” Valo responded. “And I’d like to see Crystal try to say something stupid to me.”

“Why?”

“Because, like you said, I don’t care what other people think of me. And that goes double for people who are self-absorbed.”