A Place In This Life

Chapter 24

Weeks had passed since Todd turned 18... and without my seeing much of him. By this time, several months into our relationship, it was weird to not see him at least once during the week, and then at the weekend. We talked on the phone and sent text messages, but even these lines of communication had grown thin.

Everything at school was weird, too, because of Alex. I kept my cool at the locker, trying to not stare at Kyra's stomach or notice the constant scowl on her puffy, zitty face. Alex didn't look too good either, with dark circles under his eyes and a pulled look on his face. Then again, I wouldn't exactly glow if I had a baby under my expanding belt.

My grades were going okay through all of this. Other than chemistry and math, I had straight Bs and was satisfied with that. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't understand the reason and purpose behind formulas. Mr. Stankey suggested a few tutors, the idea of which made me want to barf. The last thing I needed was to sit with some nerd named Devin while he tried to explain X and Y. As far as I was concerned, those where chromosomes.

The secret about the mixed and expanding chromosomes of Alex and Kyra gnawed at me, though, and I wanted so badly to tell Cara and shatter her image of Alex as the good guy and Todd as the bad. A sense of loyalty and yes, loving feelings, kept me from doing that to Alex. The same feelings are what also drove me to call Todd on Friday after I got home.

"Hi Todd," I said, putting on a cheerful front when I was really worried and just a tad pissed-off that he'd dropped off the face of the planet.

"Natalie," he sighed. It sounded loving, warm, and appreciative. I heard clinking glasses and music blaring in the background.

"Do you enjoy being 18? Is it everything you ever dreamed of?" I asked, trying so very hard to keep steam from pouring out of my ears.

"That and a whole lot more. Hey, can I call you back?"

In the entire history of Todd's phone calls, he had never asked if he could call me back.

"Uh, okay. Like, in 10 minutes?" I swore that I heard a girl laugh in the background, and then Todd, covering the phone saying something like "Lease."

"Yeah, I'll call you back then," he said, hanging up with a crash. I noted the time on the clock and counted down 10 minutes. No call came.

He must have had friends over. Todd had started to rekindle old friendships with the jerks who abandoned him. While I wanted to punch every one of them in the face, I also wanted Todd to be happy. Thankfully, Lisa hadn't come around again. To my knowledge, she wasn't making a move on Todd, but with his strange behavior I doubted myself.

It was this worry that made me think more than twice about the woman laughing in the background during our brief conversation. Had it been the television? Was it his mom? One of his friend's girlfriends?

I called back after 20 minutes and got his voicemail.

"Hi Todd, it's Nally. When you didn't call back I got worried. Give me a call, kay?" I tried to sound fluffy, light, and not worried at all. At least, I thought so. What I really needed was to go pound dirt, so when it started raining I grabbed my umbrella and headed out for a walk.

My mom knew something was up.

"Where are you going? It's raining."

"For a walk. I thought it would be nice with the rain."

"I don't remember the last time you willingly walked in the rain," she said, frowning with concern. Odd things, like walking in the rain or sitting on the roof were usually reserved for when I was really, really upset.