Here is another chapter. Sorry for the long wait. REVIEW!
Her heart hasn't been anything all the way since he stopped talking to her. Teddy stares at her computer screen, looking at directions on how to get to Colorado Springs. It is like three hours away so she couldn't say she is going to the mall but she doesn't even know if she is going anyway. It has been two months since PJ left, and a month and a half since he stopped texting or messaging her. The pain still lingers deep in her heart about being abandon by him. The fear of a face-to-face rejection has paralyzed her for the past weeks. Any thought of skipping school to talk to PJ is accompanied by the overwhelming hurt and fear. Who would knowingly drive to their imminent rejection?
"Teddy?" Ivy's voice comes from downstairs. Teddy lazily gets up, and heads down the stairs. She stares at her best friend for a moment before sitting on the couch, giving a hand motion for Ivy to sit next to her.
"What's up?" The tone that used to be there, the excitement and joy, is gone. Ivy gazes at her with sad eyes for a minute, and the silence is unbearable. She knows this will end with a speech about how she has changed since PJ left and how she should move on. But it isn't as simple as everyone thinks… or maybe it is, and she thought it there was something when there wasn't. Her head hurts as well as her heart. She glances at Ivy, waiting for an answer.
Ivy doesn't say anything; instead she drops Teddy's keys in her hand. Teddy looks at them, wondering so many things, and looks back at Ivy.
"Go. I've already told your parents that you are staying the weekend with me. They were all for it, hoping it would get you back to your old self. But I know only one person can do that. So go."
That is not the speech she expected at all. Her mouth drops, stunned by Ivy's insight to her thoughts, and she struggles to form words.
"But- But I don't want to feel that pain again. He will just want to push me away again." Teddy's voice is small, afraid of admitting her fears. Ivy shifts closer, and rests her hand on Teddy's leg. Teddy turns away, struggling to summon any strength.
"Then you show him what he missed out on. Even if you pretend to be strong, you will be there to force him to talk to you. He needs to explain to your face why he ditched you. Then you head right back here. No lingering." Ivy half glares at her but she knows it a protective, you-need-to-do-this-for-your-own-good glare. That gives her a little confidence, and she feels herself wanting to see PJ's face when she leaves. He needs to know how it feels to have someone leave.
"I'll do it. But can't you come with me?" She needs someone there to help her. She pleads to her best friend but Ivy shakes her head.
"I can't. I promised my mom that I would stay home and do homework so she would let me go to the concert we said we would see. You can do it. Now go pack, you have a journey ahead of you!" Ivy says the last part dramatically. It actually does make Teddy smile, and for a moment everything is okay. She nods her head, goes to get a bag of clothes, and food. She doesn't know exactly how long she is going to stay but she has to be back by Sunday night. She comes down the stairs, and hugs Ivy goodbye. She goes out to her beat up truck, and drives away.
The drive wasn't that bad. She had the radio on her favorite radio station, and directions on the dashboard. It took about three and a half hours but nothing she couldn't handle. So now she glances nervously at a gated community, wondering if this is really where PJ lives. Taking one last look at her map, she slowly drives into the rich neighborhood. She takes two turns then suddenly she sees the house that is all over PJ's pictures on Facebook. There is a huge garage, but PJ's incredible car is in the driveway. Just seeing that makes it all real. Nothing helps calm her down as her chest tightens with fear and pain once again. Taking deep breaths, Teddy pulls into the driveway, and gets out of the car.
Her legs have trouble moving; every step feels like it takes every muscle to move. Teddy stops when she finally reaches the door. She closes her eyes, and pulls everything Ivy said back to her current thoughts. She has to remain strong and not let PJ see any of her pain. She presses the doorbell, and hears the ring echo through the large house. Someone is going to the door because she can hear steps. Teddy opens her eyes, and feels a rush of desperate panic course through her. She isn't ready to see PJ yet. But it is too late: the door opens.
"Can I help you?" A tall, blond woman answers the door. Teddy, very loudly, sighs. She is relieved that PJ didn't answer the door. Now she can leave without seeing him. She turns her back on the woman to go to her car, but the woman sets a gentle hand on her arm. The move startles her so much that she turns around, and becomes paralyzed by the kind smile on the woman's face.
"Are you lost?" The woman gazes at her, expecting a reply of some sort, but Teddy can't talk. Her voice is lost in this important moment. Is she going to say who she really is and see PJ, or can she lie?
"I-I am Teddy." She hears her own voice but she didn't realize she is talking. The woman's features instantly contort to surprise, then to a broad grin. The woman pulls her lightly into the large house. All the alarms in head immediately go off; she is going into a stranger's home! But her body has betrayed her all day, and it doesn't fail to betray her this time. The door shuts before she can even react.
"I'm Emma White, PJ's foster mom." The woman, now named Emma, sits down on the couch and offers her a seat too. All Teddy can do now is to head into her confrontation with as much confidence as she can pull out her butt. As soon as she sits, Emma slides away a bit and gives her a thorough look over. It feels like she is being examined for any flaw. She nervously smiles at Emma, and that makes Emma stop her analyzing and smile proudly at her.
"I knew you had to be something special." Emma says joyfully. Is she missing something? The woman acts like she knows something that Teddy doesn't and it bothers her.
"Excuse me?" Teddy says it as politely as she can but it still comes out slightly offended. Emma stops grinning giddily but smiles gently at her. Teddy uncomfortably shifts on the couch, waiting for Emma to answer.
"The first time I met PJ, I was so nervous. How do you act when a practically grown teenager is taken away from his family, told he isn't apart of that, then is forced to come to your home?" Emma asks, sighing and glancing a way for a moment. Teddy keeps quiet but observes Emma's reaction carefully. "At first, I could tell he was angry. He wandered through the house like it was a museum and looked at us like we were trying to replace his family. I wanted to get to know him but I didn't want to push him. We introduced Rafa, and that softened him up to the house but not to us…"
"What does that have to do with me?" Teddy speaks up, trying to get the story on course again. Emma softly smiles and it looks like she almost blushes but Teddy isn't sure.
"The very first evening, I caught him texting someone. He was smiling so broadly that I knew it had to be a girl. He told me later on what her name was… it was yours. You made him relax and that helped me get to know him. I knew you had to be a gorgeous, smart girl."
Now it is Teddy's turn to blush. Her cheeks heat up red as Emma laughs quietly. She can see how likable PJ's foster parents were. Emma has a kind wit that makes the awkwardness disappear.
"But then after a while, he started hanging out with other people and the smile didn't all the way reach his eyes like they did when he was texting you. I tried to talk to him about it, but he said it was too complicated and that you were too involved in his old life." Emma says. Teddy can tell Emma is watching her cautiously, waiting for a reaction. She wants to hold her features dead set on indifferent but the hurt slips back. She turns away, unable to look Emma in the eye and see the pity.
"He stopped having contact with all of us." Teddy says quietly. She looks back at Emma and is surprised not to see pity, but sadness and confusion.
"Can you tell me what he thinks is so complicated with your relationship?" The word relationship strikes pain and hurt into her heart but Teddy knows she wants to talk to someone about what has happened. The response is what she is afraid for. What PJ and Teddy almost had is almost incest in their minds so why wouldn't it be in everyone else's?
Teddy's mouth opens and closes while she tries to find an explanation that can make it seem less twisted. Nothing comes so she has to trust that her legs will sprint if the moment comes where Emma is disgusted.
"I- I was PJ's sister in the family where he got taken away from. For sixteen years I thought he was my brother, and he thought I was his sister. But then everything changed."
That answer clearly startles the woman. Emma blinks rapidly for a second and Teddy is afraid that Emma is going to scoot as far away from her as possible. Emma glances at the ground and then gazes strangely at her. Teddy assumes the worst.
"I'm sorry I came so abruptly. I should be going." Teddy stands up and heads for the door. She reaches for the door, and pushes it open. Pure fear and heartache return as Teddy stares at the person on the other side of the door.
"Teddy?"