"Oh. Well. I told Lorraine Sanders I would stop by at seven-thirty to help her choose some new wallpaper for their kitchen."
"Don't wait around, Mommy. He's rude to be this late and not call me."
"Just don't get yourself upset over it. Grace,"
"I'm not." I lied. "I'm doing the studying I have to do anyway."
She nodded. "I'll call you in an hour. You know where I am if you need me.," she added.
I heard her leave the house, and then I sat back and folded my arms under my breasts. When I gazed at myself in the mirror. I thought I looked as if I was fuming enough to start a stream of smoke out of my ears. Wendi and Penny must have gotten to him. I thought. They must have found out, and they must have pulled him aside and told him ridiculous stories about me. My rage blurred my eyes when I went back to my notes, which only made me angrier.
Finally, at seven thirty-five, the phone rang. I made up my mind I would tell him the thirty-five minutes we lost couldn't be made up. We were stopping at nine no matter what. I had other things to do. People had to realize the consequences of their inconsideration.
To my surprise it wasn't the guard at the gate. It was Trent.
"I'm sorry," he said. "I sprained my ankle at baseball practice, and they took me to the hospital emergency room. I just got home. and I'm sitting here with ice on my ankle."
"Oh."
"I would have called you earlier, but with all the excitement and waiting for the X ray..."
"That's all right," I said "Is it painful?"
Not as much now, but I'm out of the game. I might even have to stay home tomorrow. I don't know. They gave me a crutch so I would stay off the foot, but maybe if I just rest it I won't need it. "Anyway," he said before I could respond, "I'm really in deep trouble now study-wise and need your help more than ever. Would it be all right if I send a cab to pick you up and pay for one to t
ake you home?"
"'What?" He was speaking so fast I couldn't absorb the idea.
"The taxi could be there in twenty minutes. I already found out. Actually. I've already sent him to your address, hoping you'll say yes. We could still get in a couple of hours. My notes are a mess."
"I..." I looked in my mirror and saw myself shaking my head. "A taxi? That's expensive, isn't it?"
"It's worth it. My parents will be proud that I spent money on a good thing for a change."
There was a beep on the phone.
"Hold on, someone's calling," I said, and pressed the button marked Flash.
"I have a taxi arriving for Grace Houston." the guard at the gate declared.
"What?" He really had done it.
"Sending him through," the guard declared.
"Wait," I started to say, but the line went dead. I flicked the button. "The cab is already here!"
"Great. See you soon. He knows my address." Trent said, and hung up.
When I looked at myself in the mirror again, I saw how my jaw had dropped.
Quickly I rose, went out to the kitchen to find the Sanders's number on our Rolodex. I heard the taxi driver beep his horn. As soon as I found the Sanders's number. I punched it out, but it rang and rang and rang, and no one picked up. Whoever was on the phone was not going to permit an interruption. The driver sounded his horn again.
I went to the front door and waved to him. "Just a minute, please." I called. He nodded,
I returned to my room and stood there for a moment, completely indecisive. Then I gathered up my books and notebook and went back out, stopping in the kitchen to call the Sanders's home again. It still rang and rang. so I gave up.
As quickly as I could. I wrote a note to Mommy, explaining what had happened, and left it beside the phone. Then I hurried out to the cab. The driver was standing and smoking. He flipped his cigarette at the street and opened the door for me. I got in, and he backed out of our driveway. My heart was thumping.