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Chapter Twenty Five

"This all happened since you got up there?"

"It's all pretty much happened in the last week. I mean the drama."

Stefie clicked her tongue. "Your summer sounds way more exciting than mine's been so far."
I sighed. "I'm a crummy friend. I'm sorry I haven't called, I--"

"So on a scale of 1 to 10, how cute is this Cole?"

I felt myself blush. "What did you say? I can't hear you."

"Shut up. You told me you're holding the phone to your working ear. You heard me just fine. So?"

"He's cute."

"Scale?"

"Seven...and a half."

"Hmm, seven and a half?" Stef repeated. "That's only three-fourths cute. I'd go for more."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not going for anything!"

"You're too pretty not to go for something. Don't you want a summer romance?"

"Do you?" I shot back.

"Si, senorita."

We both giggled. As our laughter died, I heard Stefie's mom call out.

"Just a minute!" Stef called back. She sighed loudly into the phone. "Kill me."

"How are things going?" I asked hesitantly. "I mean...with your parents?"

"My mom is driving me nuts. She's cleaned the house from top to bottom and she won't let me take a step without breathing down my neck. If I sneeze, she bursts into tears. And dad..."

She trailed off. I couldn't help but think of my own mom and dad. There were so many assurances, but still...

No one would have thought Howie and Leigh Dorough would have split. But they had.

"I know this sounds bad," Stefie said. I struggled to hear her. She had lowered her voice almost too much. "I wish I spent more time with him. He just wants me to be my normal self. Mom just can't understand--"

"She's just scared," I said. Stef groaned.

"But I haven't changed really. Sure, I get tired but I'm a teenager. I want to go out and do stuff, y'know?"

"I know," I said.

"I hung out with dad and Paola last weekend," Stef mused.

"How did that go?" I asked. I knew Paola was her dad's girlfriend...or whatever he was calling her.

"I thought I was going to hate it, but it was fun. We went to Dave and Busters and, well, I mean I knew her before the thing with dad really started. She is the chair of the Lupus Foundation. It's hard to hate her because I liked her before. It's just that she's so young."

"How old is she?"

"Thirty four. I mean, I know that's not really young, but it's a little gross. I mean, dad's like twenty years older than she is. What's to say she won't want a family and stuff down the road? I can't see myself with a little brother or sister--"

"STEF, TIME TO GET OFF THE PHONE!"

"Damnit," Stefie muttered. "Listen, I gotta go, but take care of that noggin, okay? I want to go shopping when you get back."

"Absolutely. I'll call soon," I promised.

I hung up the phone just as Shel walked into my room. She smiled.

"I don't think phone calls were on the to-do list for treating a concussion," she teased.

"I feel fine," I said.

"Food, rest, and monitoring. At least until tomorrow. Doctor's orders," Mason said. I looked over to find him leaning in the doorway. Shel set a tray of food down next to my phone and plopped down at my side. She smiled.

"Aren't you glad I married a doctor?" she asked.

I laughed. "He's not a doctor yet," I teased.

Mason winced good naturedly. "Ouch."

"Speaking of ouch..." Shel trailed off and looked up at Mas. "What did you do with Joe?"

"He's with Bren outside. They're making a sandcastle."

After the Dan and Joe incident, Mason had offered to take Joe off his dad's hands for a few days until Dan headed to L.A. With everything going on, Kevin had agreed. It was obvious the boys hated each other. Nothing was bound to change that anytime soon.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with that brother," Shel moaned. She leaned over and kissed my forehead. "Thank God I got a normal sister."

I laughed. "A half-hearing, concussed sister is so normal."

"As normal as I expect," Shel said lightly. She swung herself back up and headed towards Mason. Her arm wrapped around his waist. Mason grinned, his eyes meeting mine.

"We need to treat Ally good. I need her alive and kicking to babysit for my birthday weekend," he said. "Two weeks."

Shel rolled her eyes. "Seriously, Mas..."

"You might not have wanted to celebrate twenty-one, but I do," he said.

They began to bicker playfully. Shel swung out of my door and Mason followed at her heels. I smiled.

Mason was such a ten.

After they left, I slid off my working device and took my tray. I ate slowly, thinking about everybody and everything. I mostly thought about Stefie. How would I feel if dad got a younger girlfriend? Or wanted more kids? Four siblings was more than enough for me.

And then there was mom. Would she be as miserable as Leigh?

I knew I didn't have the whole story, but I was surprised Stefie was so calm. She wasn't letting the Lupus scare her or get her down. She wasn't even letting her parents divorce worry her.

Deep down I was jealous. How could she still be sane? Hell, if mom chipped her nail, I lamented the loss. Mason had to threaten to tranquilize me because I wouldn't quit worrying about missing a day of work with Kim. You wouldn't think there was a thing as too much compassion, but someone up above just hadn't known when to quit. I was almost looking forward to Mason's birthday as much as he was. It would be the half-way point in my stay. I felt like I hadn't accomplished anything so far. I certainly hadn't conquered the world, but I was still holding out for a turning point.

A point in my life that would help me let loose.