Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher [68]
Mom came back into the trailer, pausing to make sure I was off the phone.
“Everything okay?”
I sat down in front of the Scrabble board. “Yeah, she just wanted to make sure we were still on for tomorrow.”
“Hmm.” Mom obviously had reservations about me leaving town with Sage. I’d considered not telling her who my ride was, but that would involve a lot of lying and getting either Jack or Tim to pretend to be going with me. In the end, I just emphasized that I’d be sleeping in another room.
I looked down at my letters. S, Q, P, P, T, B, and the blank. I shuffled my tiles, still thinking of Sage. She was beautiful and my friend, and obviously nuts about me. If the world made sense, this afternoon would have been the greatest experience of my life. Instead, it was just confusing and scary. Why couldn’t Sage just be a normal girl?
She probably was asking herself that same question.
chapter twenty-four
I CRAMMED the clothes I needed for the weekend in a canvas Houston Oilers bag I found in the shed. It had probably belonged to my father. Every so often, I’d come across something Mom hadn’t thrown away: a soldering iron, some fishing tackle, a catcher’s mitt.
Dad, if you were still here, would I be such a romantic screwup? Maybe you of all people could have convinced me to get over Brenda sooner. Then I never would have known Sage. At least, not like I do now.
Then again, the only advice Dad would probably give was to run away when things got too difficult.
Sage was picking me up shortly. Mom was in the kitchen, busy packing me a lunch. Apparently, there was no food in Columbia.
“Logan, are you sure you have enough money? You guys might want to go out, and things are a lot more expensive than in Boyer.”
“I’m fine, Mom.” I had forty bucks, the last of my snow-shoveling cash. I hoped Laura didn’t want to go anywhere too fancy.
“How about a jacket? I know it’s warm, but the weatherman says—”
“I’ll be fine, Mom.” I think if I’d been going on an expedition to the Sahara, she’d want me to take a jacket.
Mom joined me on the sofa. “Be sure and see how Laura’s doing. She won’t take any money from me, and I worry she’s doing okay.”
“I’m sure she’s good.” Actually, Laura had told me that her job paid really well. Barring unexpected expenses, she was planning on sending money home next semester.
Mom started to get up, then sat down. She picked up a gossip magazine and nervously flipped through it.
“Is something wrong, Mom?”
She frowned. “Logan, you’ll be spending the weekend with Sage.”
I manned the defenses. “We’ve been over this! Sage will be staying with Laura, and I’ll be with some friends of hers.” I prayed that Laura really had found me a bed in another dorm. It would be difficult to explain why I was sleeping in the hall, otherwise.
Mom cocked a knowing eyebrow. “I was young once, too, you know.” She held up a hand to stop my protests. “Let me finish. You keep telling me Sage is just a friend, though I think you should give her a second look. My point is, if you should find yourselves—”
“Please don’t say it!” God, not the sex talk. Where the hell was Sage?
Mom plowed on. “Logan, just in case. You’re old enough now that I can’t stop you. But please, promise me you’ll take precautions. Will you do that?”
My thoughts briefly blinked to an image of Sage opening her robe. Too humiliated to speak, I just nodded.
“I’m not trying to embarrass you, sweetie. But you’re about to go off on a great adventure this fall. If Sage ended up pregnant, that would be the end of that.”
I wanted to protest that there was no way I was going to sleep with Sage, but I kept my mouth shut. If I argued too much, Mom might start to wonder just why I wasn’t attracted to her.
“Mom, you have nothing to worry about.” If Sage got pregnant, I’d be on the lookout for three wise men from the East.
There was a shy knock at the door. Sage stuck her head in.
“Hello?”
“Come in!” Mom was already standing to invite her in,