Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable to Ann M. Martin's writing.
Chapter Seven
Mary Anne and Kristy wandered into Kristy's house to find both Stacey and Abby already there. Stacey was flirting with Kristy's older brother, Charlie, but it seemed to be in all good fun. He flirted outrageously back, after all. Stacey had a strange relationship with Kristy's older brothers. Mary Anne felt herself roll her eyes.
"Ew, gross!" Kristy said in a disgusted voice, glaring at her brother and Stacey.
Charlie smirked deviously, and wrapped his arm around Stacey's waist. Charlie was the more serious brother but he liked to have his fun. Stacey was way to young for him but that didn't mean that he couldn't have some fun. He would anything to irritate Kristy.
Stacey was grinning, knowing exactly what Charlie was doing. Charlie was home from college that summer and he had nothing better to do than irritate anybody that he could.
"Come on!" growled Kristy at Stacey and the other girls. "Let's order some pizza."
Stacey and Mary Anne exchanged looks. "It's almost midnight."
Kristy glared at them. "Pete will get us the pizza."
This caused Mary Anne to tense. She had forgotten that Pete Black worked at the Pizza Express sometimes. Mary Anne figured that Kristy didn't realize how awkward that would be for her, because Kristy was not the most sensitive girl. She and Mary Anne were very different in that Mary Anne was very sensitive.
She blinked away her feelings as they went upstairs to Kristy's room that was adorned with a television set and a stereo. She had gotten both last summer.
"I cannot believe that we will be upperclassmen next year," Abby said, excitedly.
"I know. We can be at the top of the food chain, and torment those freshmen," Kristy said, evilly.
Mary Anne rolled her eyes. She was planning on helping with orientation before school started. She wanted the younger students to feel welcome.
Stacey laughed. They all knew that Stacey wouldn't take any notice to the freshmen either way. It was interesting, however, that both Mallory and Jesse would be freshmen next year. Mary Anne wondered, briefly, how they were doing.
"So, did you and your boyfriend manage to get into anything tonight?" Abby asked Stacey, with a sly expression on her face.
Stacey pouted. "We only got into a heavy make out session before the cops reigned on our parade. But we plan to--"
Mary Anne tuned her out then. She really did not want to know about Stacey's sex life. Stacey wasn't a slut, despite what she sounded like. She and her boyfriend had sex, but she had never been with any other guy.
Mary Anne wondered what it would be like when she and Logan finally consummated their relationship, sometime in the far future. She couldn't help feeling bad about holding back but she wasn't ready for that. She could barely bare talking about that word--sex.
The rest of the night passed with fun and games and a lot of disgusting girl talk. Abby spent the entire night trying to make all of the girls to blush. She had succeeded numerous times with Mary Anne but Stacey seemed to be embarrassment proof. Kristy blushed once to her chagrin.
Sooner than Mary Anne's liking, the next morning arrived. It was time to take Kristy to the train station so that she could leave to Albany.
"I'll miss you," Mary Anne said, in her normal emotional manner, hugging Kristy.
Kristy patted her on the back. She didn't really like the touchy feely stuff but finally said that she would miss Mary Anne too…and she would.
When Mary Anne arrived back at her dad's place it was almost one in the afternoon. She could hear crashing and shouting in the house. She rolled her eyes. Great, a family crisis.
"Sweetie, calm down," Mr. Spier could be hear saying, in a soothing voice.
"My daughter is a slut, just like your daughter is," Sharon yelled.
"Now, wait a minute. Neither one of them are sluts--" Mr. Spier's usually calm voice was angry now.
Stacey and Abby had gotten out of the car when they heard the yelling. They exchanged glances.
"What the hell?" Abby finally said, turning to Mary Anne. "What's going on?"
Mary Anne shrugged, a little frightened of going inside.
Stacey looked worried, but turned to Mary Anne too. "I'm sorry, I have to go, but if you need anything--"
Stacey's voice trailed off as Mary Anne nodded and mumbled. "Yeah, I know. Thanks."
Stacey really was a good friend if she trusted you. She was loyal to a fault to her friends, but had plenty of enemies. Nobody wanted to be her enemy. Abby looked at Mary Anne helplessly. She turned and followed Stacey and they drove off after some hesitation.
Mary Anne stood up straighter and walked up the path to her front door. She opened the door to see two very angry adults, a crying girl, and Jeff. Jeff looked incredibly awkward and his head shot over to Mary Anne when she came in.
When had life become so complicated? Mary Anne really didn't know. Her home life used to be almost perfect. It was a dream come true when Mary Anne and her best friend, Dawn, matched their parents up. They had been so excited to become stepsisters. What had gone wrong?
Dawn looked miserably between her stepfather and mom.
"What is going on?" Mary Anne asked Jeff, who had walked towards Mary Anne.
"Apparently my sister got into a little trouble, but they won't tell me what," scoffed Jeff, rolling his eyes. "Apparently I'm too young or they just like to ignore me."
"They seem to be a little preoccupied right now," Mary Anne said. "I doubt has anything to do with you personally."
Mr. Spier shifted his gaze to his daughter and his strained expression turned to a smile. "Hi, sweetie. Did you have a good time at Kristy's?"
Dawn scoffed, regaining some of her composure. Mary Anne narrowed her eyes. Did she know about the party?
"It was fun," Mary Anne said, thinking back to the night before. The only downside was when Pete Black showed up with the pizza. Kristy had taken the pizza, without paying him, and slammed the door in his face. That had been embarrassing and Mary Anne felt bad because they had, in a sense, stolen from somebody. "What is going on here?"
Dawn's gaze shifted to the floor when Mary Anne asked that question. She didn't look so obnoxious now.
Sharon scowled at Mary Anne. "It's your fault for being such a slut!"
Mary Anne stared, in disbelief, at her stepmother. When had she become such a spiteful bitch? "I am not a slut! I have never even been with a guy like that!"
Silence rang out at that. Now, Mary Anne felt her face turn bright red. Why had she said that? It was true, but it wasn't something Mary Anne felt all that comfortable talking about.
Sharon laughed at Mary Anne. "You are a nasty little liar, you know that?"
Mary Anne felt tears well up in her eyes. She hated Sharon, hated her.
"No, I am not a liar. I have never had sex, not that its any of your business!" Mary Anne yelled, she could feel months of frustration coming out. How dare that bitch talk to her that way? She tried to calm herself down when she saw the look on Dawn's face.
"What's wrong?" Mary Anne asked Dawn in a softer voice. She knew that there was something very wrong.
"I might be pregnant," Dawn stated in a small voice. Mary Anne stared at her stepsister, now knowing what to think.
Mary Anne had spent months cursing Dawn for all the things she did to Mary Anne, cursing her for destroying a good friendship. She had wanted karma to rain down on Dawn, but Mary Anne had never truly believed in karma. Now she felt horrible. She didn't want this for Dawn.
"Have you taken any pregnancy tests?" Mary Anne asked softly. "I assume you've already missed your period but could it be stress?"
Dawn looked at Mary Anne in shock. She didn't seem to understand why Mary Anne was acting like cared. Mary Anne wasn't sure why she cared. "I took a take home test and it said yes but I haven't gone to the doctor yet."
Mary Anne stood shocked. "Oh well, why are you guys arguing so much about it? Just get her to the doctor and go from there."
Sharon glared at Mary Anne but Mary Anne chose to ignore her and went to her room. She really didn't see how any of this involved her. Dawn would be going back to California in August no matter what.
Mary Anne laid on her bed, feeling suddenly very exhausted. Dawn might be pregnant? She didn't know what to think about that.
Think about something else, Mary Anne thought desperately. Work. Yes, she would be starting work tomorrow at the bookstore. She was more than excited, even if all she did was stock shelves. She didn't think she could handle staying in this suffocating house for much longer after all.
The phone rang and a few moments later, Mr. Spier called up the stairs. "It's for you Mary Anne. Remember you are grounded."
Mary Anne had completely forgotten, but she assumed that she could still talk on the phone.
"Thanks, dad. Who is it?"
"Stacey." He left the room and then he turned back. "Don't talk for long."
Mary Anne smiled and said. "Hi, Stace."
"So, what's going on?" Stacey asked, in her gossipy voice.
"Well, that didn't take you long," Mary Anne said, sarcastically.
Stacey laughed. "Well, you know me, so give me the dirt."
"Dawn might be pregnant," Mary Anne spilled, knowing that Stacey wouldn't tell anybody. She kept a lot of secrets despite her liking of gossip.
Silence. And then a crash. "What?!"
"That's almost how I felt," Mary Anne grumbled.
"Oh my gosh," Stacey said this time. "Wow." She snorted. "It's kind of ironic though."
"What?" Mary Anne asked, surprised at the change of tone.
"Well, she went on and on about how you were a slut, which is ridiculous (not that you are a prude), and then she ends up pregnant. Karma is a bitch," Stacey said, almost gleefully.
"Just because you become pregnant doesn't make you a slut," Mary Anne spoke up.
"Oh, I know," Stacey sighed. "I've had a pregnancy scare but it still is kind of funny."
Mary Anne started to laugh, to her surprise. Then, she immediately felt bad about it. Stacey laughed as well. Stacey was, genuinely, a good person, but she had a very vindictive streak.
Stacey and Dawn hated each other. They hadn't always hated each other. In fact, they were never particularly close in Middle School but they would have been considered friends. It was mostly Dawn and Mary Anne that were close. Dawn had, apparently, done something with Stacey's last boyfriend. Mary Anne wasn't entirely sure if that 'something' was a kiss or more, but she knew that she shouldn't be all that judgmental after the Logan debacle.
"Well, anyways, I just wanted to check up on you and make sure that you weren't murdered. You are okay, aren't you?" Stacey sounded concerned, suddenly.
"Just the normal bitching between my dearest stepmother and I," snorted Mary Anne.
Mary Anne could picture Stacey rolling her eyes. Stacey scoffed, "Bitch. Well, I really have to go. My boyfriend looks like he wants to strangle me. Hmm, I'll have to make it up to him."
"Ew, don't tell me that!"
"Bye, oh innocent one," Stacey said through the phone. Mary Anne rolled her eyes again but said 'Bye' in response, before hanging up.
Mary Anne sighed. She didn't know what to do with her time now. She knew that she couldn't leave the house and calling Logan would probably be pushing her luck. Thinking about Logan brought back the memory of the very bizarre cop experience last night. Mary Anne was concerned that Logan was getting into something dangerous. She knew that she was being ridiculous, but she had a very bad feeling. The gang activity and the strange cops. This summer was turning out to be a great summer so far, Mary Anne thought sarcastically. A pregnant stepsister, strange boyfriend activity, Kristy being gone all summer, Sharon, and a ton of other issues. She had no idea of how badly her summer would turn out to be.
Notes: I am so sorry that this took so long to get up! I am afraid my next chapter might take a while as well. I'm moving into my new apartment and then starting my second year of college. Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. Please, read and review. Oh and I want to warn you: one person dies in this story (not anytime soon, but a fair warning.)
