Night Road - Kristin Hannah [39]
Jude thought about Mia before Lexi, when her daughter had been like a scared, fragile turtle with her head tucked deep inside her shell. Mia’s only friends had been fictional. Lexi had changed all that. “Whatever happens between them, you and Lexi have to stay honest with each other. You have to stay friends.”
“After Zach breaks up with her. That’s what you mean.”
“I’m just saying…”
“I’ve thought of it myself, believe me. But … I think he really likes her. He talks about her all the time.”
Jude stood there a minute longer, trying to figure out how to best bring up the other thing on her mind. Finally, she decided to just do it. “There’s one other thing…”
“What? You want to ask me again if Tyler and I are doing it? We’re not.” Mia laughed.
“I remember the first time I fell in love. Keith Corcoran. Senior year of high school. Just like you. I didn’t know until Keith kissed me how falling in love could be like riding a waterfall into warm water.” She shrugged. “No one talked to me about it. Grandma is a pretty buttoned-up woman. All she ever said to me about love was that it derailed a woman. So I learned on my own and, like everyone, I made some mistakes. And the world is more dangerous now. I don’t want you to sleep with Tyler—you’re too young—but…” She went over to the second drawer beside the stove, opened it. She took out a small brown bag and handed it to Mia. “These are for you. Just in case.”
Mia peered into the bag and saw the word condom printed on a brightly colored box. She gasped and clamped a hand over the bag. “Mo-om. Gross. We haven’t done anything.”
“I’m not saying you’ll need them. In fact, I hope you don’t, but you know me. And I can see that you think you do love him.”
“I don’t need these,” Mia mumbled. “But thanks.”
Jude looked down at her daughter. Touching her chin, she forced Mia to look up at her. “Sex changes everything, Mia. It can be great for a relationship when you’re ready—older—but it can be napalm when you’re not ready. And baby, you’re not ready. Just so you know.”
* * *
By mid-November, every kid in the senior class was stressed out. The high school hallways were filled now with kids talking about colleges. Families spent weekends on the road, visiting campuses and talking to admissions counselors and trying to find the perfect fit.
Lexi’s concerns—and stresses—were less complex. She didn’t have some endless bank account from which to draw money, so her choices were limited to state schools. And sadly, since she’d fallen in love, her grades had dropped. It wasn’t much, just a tenth of a point, but in the dog-eat-dog world of college admissions, that was appreciable. Lately, when she was at the Farradays’ or out with Zach and Mia and Tyler, she felt like some visitor from another country, unable to really comprehend their conversations. They all talked about USC and Loyola and NYU as if they were shoes you could point to and purchase.
Lexi could hardly comprehend that kind of confidence.
She stared down at the paperwork in front of her. Columns of calculations taunted her. No matter how hard she tried, there wasn’t going to be enough money. Not for a four-year school. If she didn’t get a governor’s full-ride scholarship, she was out of the race.
Down the hall, a door opened.
Lexi looked up, saw Eva coming her way. “You’ve been at that a long time.”
“College is expensive,” Lexi said with a sigh.
“I wish…”
“What?”
“How did I get to be this age with no money? I hate that I can’t help you more.”
Lexi felt a rush of affection for this woman who had changed her life, given her a place to belong. “Don’t say that, Eva. You’ve given me everything that matters.”
Eva looked down at her. She looked worried; the wrinkles around her mouth compressed into deep grooves. “I talked to Barbara today.”
“How is your sister? Still knitting enough blankets for a third world country?”
Eva sat down across from Lexi. “She wants me to move to Florida with her—after you graduate, of course. I wouldn’t even think of it, but … this weather is hell on my knees. We were thinking maybe