Taking A Stand

"I quit this job. I quit your family. And I'm moving out." Rhonda had just come from the kitchen and was shocked to hear those words from Sam's mouth. For a moment, Fiona, Gabriella, and Brianna stared at her. Then, they laughed.

"And where would you live?" Fiona asked smugly. Without this job she has no money and no one would ever take her in, she thought.

"With me," Rhonda answered, stepping forward to stand beside the girl. "And let me tell you something, the only reason I-or any of us-have stuck around for so long is because of this girl right here," Rhonda continued, wrapping Sam in a half hug. The trio laughed again. Right. Like Sam's worth anyone's time, Gabriella scoffed to herself. "I quit too," the woman continued. Fiona gave Rhonda a condescending look.

"Well, don't expect any help from me when you can't get anything employment...sistah," she said, ending in a bad "black" voice.

"Oh, it is on now," Rhonda stated, as she began to take off her earrings. Fiona shrieked and pushed Gabriella and Brianna in front of her.

"Rhonda, calm down," Eleanor said.

"Why? She already quit. It's not like she can fire her," Bobby responded. Besides, I want to see her kick her butt, he thought to himself.

"Don't hit me! Hit the girls! Their faces are much newer! Go for the girls!" Fiona exclaimed.

"Mom!" Gabriella and Briana cried in surprised unison.

"Rhonda, she's not even worth it," Sam told the woman. "Come on. Let's just go," she sighed. With that, the two headed out.

"Well, I quit too," Eleanor stated. Fiona, Gabriella, and Brianna watched as one-by-one, the staff declared that they quit and walked out the door.

"Well…" Fiona's voice trailed off in surprise. I can't believe they all did this. What did Sam do? Bribe them or something? she wondered. I can't believe Sam would do this to us after the way we've helped her, Gabriella thought. Rhonda drove Sam back to the house, where the girl packed up her belongings, and then they headed to Rhonda's house, where she put her suitcase on the floor and her cell phone on the nightstand beside the bed.

"Oh, I don't believe this," Sam sighed, flopping down on the bed. "I feel like I can finally breathe. Like I'm at home," she commented.

"Compared to the Addams Family, I'm sure," Rhonda said, and the girl chuckled. Wow. I guess today didn't end so badly after all, she thought. Rhonda looked at the girl in concern. Something was wrong. She could tell. "Sam, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked.

"I didn't get into Princeton and I broke up with Austin," the girl answered.

"WHAT?" the woman exclaimed. "What do you mean you didn't get in? And why would you break up with the boy? I thought you liked him," she said.
"I do," the girl replied. "I was thinking that we'd never make it in the real world. I mean, he was already getting so much flack for dating me. It wasn't fair to him," she continued.

"Sam-" the woman started to say.

"But a friend of his made me see that if I want something, I have to be willing to fight for it," she interjected. Now I just have to see if he'll still even talk to me, she thought to herself. Rhonda rolled her eyes. Teens. Sometimes I don't know what to do with them, she thought to herself. However, since it sounded like Sam was planning on taking care of the Austin issue, she moved on to something else.

"Now, what's this about Princeton? How could you have not gotten in?" she wondered. The girl shrugged.

"I don't know. The letter didn't say. Maybe I just didn't have enough extracurricular activities or something," she answered.

"Honey, I'm so sorry," Rhonda said with a sympathetic hug.

"It's okay," she answered. "You know what? I'm just gonna go for a drive, clear my head...see if I can find Austin," she decided.

"You sure?"

"Yeah." With that, Sam sat up, grabbed her cell phone, walked out the door, got into her car, and began driving around. She hated to admit it, but it hurt somewhat to know that all of her efforts to get into Princeton had failed. Maybe, I should've graduated two years early instead one, she joked with herself.

Biting her lip, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and started dialing Austin's number, which she had saved when he had called her to pick her up for the school dance. Hopefully Austin will talk to me and won't mind helping me figure out what to do since I didn't get into Princeton, she thought to herself. What she didn't know was that Austin hadn't gone home and was still driving around town. His cell phone went off.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Hi, Austin," she greeted nervously.

"Sam!" Austin exclaimed happily. I can't believe she actually called me, he thought.

"Listen, Austin, can we meet? But not at the diner, since I don't think I'm welcome there anymore," Sam requested.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Austin replied. What happened at the diner? What did Fiona do now? he wondered. "How 'bout the Burger King in town?"

"Yeah, that'll work." They each hung up and drove towards the destination. Sam got there first, parked her Mustang, and then went in and got a table. She only had to wait a few minutes until he showed up. Well, he doesn't look mad, she thought. Whoa. She looks gorgeous, Austin thought to himself. He sat down at the table in the seat across from her.

"So, what's up?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. I was stupid. I got scared and I shouldn't have," she answered. He sighed.

"Why? Why'd you get scared?"
"I guess-you remember how I said at Pierre's that I had trained myself not to get my hopes up?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…I-I guess-some part of me was afraid that it would all come crashing down and that it'd be better for me to break it off than to let myself get disappointed." Austin shook his head.

"Sam."

"I know it was stupid. And…I don't expect you to forgive me. But…I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." She looked down at the table. I know he probably won't forgive me for hurting him, but at least I explained myself, she thought. I don't believe this. All because she was scared? he thought to himself Austin sighed and stood up, causing Sam to look up at him. He's going to leave…not that I blame him, she thought.

"Hey…it's okay," he said quietly, coming over to her. Surprised, she scooted over. I don't believe this. He's not leaving? she wondered. I guess I can understand how she feels. I mean, she's been dumped on for so long, it's probably hard getting used to things being good, he thought to himself. "Look, Sam. Everyone gets scared. The main trick is to stick together," he continued, drawing her into a hug.

"You're right," she said. "Wow. It's a good thing I listened to David."

"David, what's he got to do with this?"

"He's the one who told me to talk to you."

"Really?" Wow. I guess he finally came to his senses, Austin thought.

"Yeah." I totally owe him, Sam thought. She sighed. "Now, if I could only figure out why I got rejected by Princeton," she continued. It doesn't make sense, she thought to herself.

"What?" he asked. That's unbelievable. I know I've only known Sam for a little while, but I know she's got the grades to get in, he thought.

"Yeah, I know, right?" she responded. "The only reason I could think of was no extracurricular activities." Softball would've been a good one. Austin hugged her again.

"Well, no matter what, it's all gonna be okay," he promised. Sam smiled. For once, she actually believed it. I'm so glad we're going to work things out, Sam thought.