Changes

Chapter 6

“JR, are you ready for breakfast?” Melanie called up the stairs.

“Yes,” a sleepy voice answered.

“Then get down here. You don’t want to be late for the first day of school.”

“O-kay,” came the slow reply.

Melanie shook her head and walked out to the kitchen. “What the fuck’s the matter with that girl?”

“It’s the first day of high school,” Lindsay informed her.

“Oh, yeah. I guess she’s a little uptight.”

“Weren’t you?”

“No, not particularly,” Melanie replied.

“I was scared shitless.”

“I thought you would have been with your cheerleader friends who all stuck together,” Melanie informed her.

“I wasn’t a cheerleader,” Lindsay said adamantly.

“I was a loner,” Melanie stated.

“By choice?”

“Nobody’s a loner by choice, but I soon found I preferred it to the bullshit that went on in high school.”

“Maybe that’s what JR’s worried about, the bullshit she knows awaits her.”

“Hm,” Melanie said.

 

*****
 

JR heard her phone ring and reached into her backpack. The cell phone was a present from her father. She had received it at Molly’s housewarming. Her father had wanted her to have it for school, and they had cleared it with her moms. It had to be her dad calling. Only Gus had the number besides her father. She smiled.

“Hello,” she said after pushing the right buttons.

“Hey, honeybun! You ready for your first day of high school?” Michael’s cheerful voice came to her.

“I guess so,” she sighed.

“Don’t worry, JR, you’ll do fine.”

“I hope so.”

“I know so, and make sure you turn your phone off. You don’t want to get into trouble the first day if it rings during class.”

“Okay, daddy.”

“Love you.”

“I love you too, Dad.”

“Call me tonight and tell me how it went today.”

“Okay.”

JR cut the connection and turned the phone off. She heard her mother calling her for breakfast again as she dropped the phone in her bag and picked it up.

 

*****
 

“Dada, are you sure I can’t go to Penn with Gus?” Bree asked. She was strapped into the back seat of Justin’s SUV.

“Not today, Squirt,” Brian replied.

Bree let out a long suffering sigh. “Oooookaaaaaaaaaay!’ she whined.

“Bree, you are going into first grade,” Justin said to his daughter. “It’ll be a new adventure for you.”

“Yeah, first grade was pretty fun,” Patrick said with a big smile for the little girl. He reached across from where he sat in the back seat next to Bree. He no longer needed a booster seat, and he was quite proud of that fact. He took hold of Bree’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’ll like first grade,” he told her.

“’Kay,” Bree said with a wan smile for her cousin.

 

*****
 

Gus’ alarm rang and he reached over to turn it off. He gave it a smack to stop the annoying sound. That done, he rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling of his bedroom at Penn.

Today he started classes…at university. He wondered what they would be like. He had always found school easy. People told him he was smart, like his Pop. That made him smile. Gus knew that school hadn’t been much of a challenge up till now. He had handled it with a minimum of effort. Everybody had told him university would be much harder, and with a double major, Gus had to wonder just how much harder it might be. He also wondered if he was really ready for this. He had never been on his own before. He had always lived at home with his mothers, and he knew his Pop and Justin were just a phone call away. Now he was a long way from home with people he didn’t know, with a schedule that he had made up himself, and with responsibility for everything resting on his shoulders. He hoped he was up to the challenge.

He threw back the covers and grabbed his shower kit. He supposed it was time to find out.

 

*****
 

“Here we are, JR,” Melanie said as she stopped the car in front of the high school. “Do you want me to come in with you?”

“No, I’ll be fine, Mama.”

“Then have a good day.”

“I’ll try,” JR replied, but she made no move to open the car door.

“Is something wrong?” Melanie asked with a frown.

“Mama, could I have a hug?”

Melanie looked down into her lap and shook her head at her own stupidity.

“I’m sorry, Mama. I shouldn’t have asked,” JR said quickly, interpreting her mother’s action as Melanie not wanting to give her daughter the requested hug. JR reached for the door handle.

“No, wait,” Melanie said hurriedly. “Come over here.”

JR found herself engulfed in her mother’s arms.

“I should have done this without you having to ask,” Melanie whispered. “I love you, sweetheart.”

“Thanks, Mama,” JR replied holding on tight.

“You’ll do fine today. I know you will.”

“I’ll try,” JR whispered.

“That’s all we ask.”

A horn honking behind them told them it was time to vacate the space in front of the school.

“You’re sure you’ll be fine walking home?” Melanie asked as JR got out of the car.

“I’ll be okay. Thanks for the ride, Mama,” JR said. “I love you.”

Melanie smiled brightly before driving away. JR headed up the steps and into the whole new world of high school.

 

*****
 

Brian and Justin walked Bree to her classroom in the school. Mrs. Blackwood was the first grade teacher of the gifted class that Bree was in. She greeted them at the door.

“Welcome to first grade,” she said cheerfully.

Brian and Justin and Bree had been into the school for a brief visit a few days earlier, so Bree knew where her desk was. She walked confidently to the back of the room and hung up her backpack on her hook. She took out her pencil case and little folder. She walked to her seat and sat down with the other children who were already there. She said hello to many of the familiar faces around her.

“She’ll be fine,” Mrs. Blackwood said to Brian and Justin. They looked over at Bree who turned and smiled at them.

The two men waved and turned to walk down the hall.

“She’s all grown up,” Brian said softly.

Justin merely squeezed his hand.

 

*****
 

“Ashley!” Bree called out as her best friend entered the lunch room. Bree was hoping that Patrick was going to have the same lunch period but when Bree got to the cafeteria, his grade was not to be seen. Ashley had her lunch with her so she made a beeline for Bree’s table.

“How’s your first day?” Ashley asked.

“It’s okay. My class has the same kids as last year. How’s your day?”

“Fine,” the little girl said sadly.

“Why are you sad?” Bree asked her.

“Because I thought there’d be the same kids as last year, but I’m in a new class.”

“What kind of class?” Bree asked as she bit into her peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“I’m in a smarter class,” Ashley whispered.

“But isn’t that good?” Bree whispered back.

“It’s scary. I’m not that smart,” Ashley confided.

“But you’re real smart,” Bree said encouragingly.

“Not like you.”

“Maybe, but you’re smart in other ways.”

“You mean that?”

“Yep. You helped Patrick when he was scared to go horseback riding again. And me when I was scared of the horse. You’re very smart. You're going to be a doctor. Smart people become doctors.”

“But not like you.” Ashley sounded disappointed.

Bree thought about it for a while as she took another bite of her sandwich. She then took a good slurp from her juice box. “My daddies are real smart but different kinds of smart.”

“What do you mean?” Ashley had a tuna sandwich that she was eating in rows like an ear of corn.

“I once heard my Uncle Teddy say that my Dada is very, very smart in business but doesn’t know his ass from his elbow about romance.”

“What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, but I know my Dada is very, very smart and so is my Daddy. He’s always giving us his PSA’s.”

“What are those?”

“Um, I think it’s when he tells me and Dada what to do. But he’s really smart too. Just a different smart. You’re a different smart than me.”

“Oh. OH! Is that good?” Ashley asked a little pensively.

“Oh, that’s very good!” Briana wiped her mouth then gave her best friend a big hug. The girls giggled then resumed eating their lunch.

 

*****
 

“Hi, Gus.” Gus was sitting on a bench under a tree reading a book. He had an hour before his next class. Tim also had time to kill before his next class.

“Hey, Tim.”

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Tim asked as he took out his laptop and began to do some research.

“Is it that obvious?” Gus said with a frown.

“Yes,” Tim said with a chuckle. Gus scowled. “It’s our first day; how bad can it be?”

Just then a group of very pretty young ladies walked by. “Hiii, Gusss!” they all sing-songed at once, batting their eyes and smiling.

“Hi,” Gus replied coolly. The girls giggled and kept on walking.

“Way to go, man!” Tim said, ready to high five his friend.

“Um, Tim, gay boy here,” Gus said as he pointed to himself. "I think they want to save me."

“Damn!” Tim cursed as he lowered his hand. “Wait!” The hand stood up again. “Can I have a try at them? They can save me all they want!” Tim was a very good looking boy in a long haired sheep dog sort of way. Gus grinned.

“Help yourself, my man!”

“All right!” Tim high fived Gus, shut down the laptop then scurried away to catch up with the ladies. As Gus returned to his book, his cell phone began to vibrate.

“Hey,” Gus said low and seductively into his phone. “Just sitting under a tree and reading. Yeah, it’s nice here too. Are you sure your dads will let you come to Pittsburgh for my birthday?”

Gus listened contentedly to the voice of his caller.

“Ray, I wish... I know, but I was young and too stupid to know any better. I just wish we didn’t waste all that time. But it was my fault. Okay, okay. It was Cole’s fault. Okay, I promise, no more talk about him. I just hope...yeah, me too.”

The boys talked softly, Gus under a tree in Pennsylvania, Ray under a tree in New York.

“I miss you too. Later.” Gus gathered up his books then went to his next class.

 

*****
 

“Hey, JR, how was the first day of high school?” Gus said into his phone.

“Not so bad.”

“That sounds promising.”

“I met a new girl who just moved here from Cincinnati. We ate lunch together and she’s in some of my classes.”

“That’s great. Are your other friends in any of your classes?”

“Some, but Annette and I really hit it off. She’s real nice.”

“Good going,” Gus chuckled. “New friends are always a bonus.”

“How about you?”

“Tim, one of the guys in my house, is an okay guy, but he’s so into girls. I don’t have all that much in common with him.”

“Maybe you’ll find a new friend too,” JR said hopefully.

“That would be nice.”

“Thanks for calling me,” JR said sweetly. “It’s nice to know you care, even when you have a whole new life for yourself so far away.”

Gus heard the wistful tone in his sister’s voice. “I’m not that far away, and of course I care.”

“Gus,” JR said, and he could hear the seriousness in her tone.

“What?”

“Do you think the moms are going to be okay?”

“Are they fighting again?” Gus asked as a feeling of dread swept over him.

“No, nothing like that,” JR said softly. “They’ve been really nice to each other, but I think everything hinges on their weekend at the Plaza.”

“Then let’s pray that it goes well.”

“I’ve been doing that everyday.”

“Good girl! I better go, and I hope your second day of high school is as good or better than your first.”

“I hope yours is better,” JR said before she cut the connection.

 

*****
 

“Hey, short stuff,” Gus said as Brian handed the phone over to Bree. “It’s your big brother.”

“Hi, Gus,” Bree responded, a big smile on her face.

“How was your first day of first grade?”

“Okay, I had lunch with Ashley and she’s in a smarter class than she was before and she was worried, so I told her she was very smart just in a different way than me, ‘cause remember when she helped Patrick get back on the horse and that showed how really smart she is.”

Gus laughed. “I remember that very well. She knew just what to say.”

“See, she’s smart.”

“I know she is, but what about your first day?”

“I have a new teacher, Mrs. Blackwood. She’s okay.”

“You miss your old teacher?” Gus asked knowingly.

“Yeah,” Bree sighed.

“I’m sure you’ll do some fun things with Mrs. Blackwood.”

“Maybe,” Bree conceded. “Did you have fun on your first day?”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it fun, but I learned I like philosophy.”

“What’s fill-aw-sophie?”

“It’s all about big ideas of what the world should be like and how to make it better by learning about the past,” Gus said trying to simplify his concept of philosophy for his sister.

“I could study that,” Bree said quickly, “if I came to Penn.”

“I think all the spaces are filled for this year,” Gus informed her, thinking that might be the easiest way to dissuade her from starting in about going to Penn.

“Oh,” Bree replied, and Gus could hear the sadness in her voice.

“I’ll be home for my birthday. Remember that, Bree.”

“’Kay, Gus,” Bree said cheering up at that prospect.

“I gotta go, short stuff. Be good.”

“You be good too,” Bree said before she handed the phone back to her father.

 

*****
 

“Hi, Bree, it’s JR.”

Bree smiled at the phone. She had wondered if JR would call like she promised. “Hi, JR. Gus called me. Did he call you?”

“Yep, I miss him.”

“Me too.”

“Was your first day at school all right?” JR asked.

“Yeah, it was okay. How was yours?”

“I made a new friend.”

“That’s good.”

“I think I’ll like high school okay.”

“I hope so.”

“I should go, Bree.”

“’Kay, but call me again if you want to.”

JR smiled. “I will.”

Bree handed the phone to her Daddy and ran off to her room. “She’s such a little … person,” Justin said with a catch in his voice.

“And tomorrow she’ll want her own cell phone,” Brian replied.

“Bite your tongue!”

“Why don’t you do that for me?”

Justin proceeded to try to devour Brian’s tongue.

 

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