Stacey

Stacey

A week later

"Stace, don't forget you're going to New York tomorrow. Have you packed?" Mom called out from the kitchen as I entered the house. I had just gotten back from my Friday BSC meeting.

"Okay, okay!" I called back. I went upstairs and threw some clothes into my overnight bag. Then I went downstairs again to join Mom. She was standing at the counter, making a salad.

I helped to chop up some carrots and cucumbers, and put them into the big wooden salad bowl. Mom shelled some hard-boiled eggs and added them in. After that we also added lettuce, tomatoes, green and red peppers, chopped nuts, grapes, strawberries, and Thousand Island Dressing.

After dinner (we had the salad, which was terrific, and leftover spaghetti), Mom and I watched a sad romance movie and ate popcorn. At ten-thirty, I dragged myself upstairs and collapsed into bed.

The next day, I took the eleven-oh-six train to New York. When I got off at the station, Dad was waiting for me with his fiancée, Samantha.

"Hi," I greeted them. I handed Dad my overnight bag and we took a taxi to his apartment. Dad ordered lunch from a deli and we ate in the kitchen.

Just as I took a bite of my roast beef sandwich, Dad put his juice glass down. He cleared his throat loudly. I dropped my sandwich back onto my plate. Samantha hadn't even started to eat yet.

"What?" I demanded. I wasn't annoyed, just curious.

"Stacey, I think there's something you should know," he continued, exchanging a look with Samantha. She's been living with Dad for a while, but the wedding isn't going to be very soon.

"Yes?" I said. I picked up my glass of milk and took a swig.

"I'm pregnant." Samantha didn't look me in the eye when she said this. She just stared at her hands, which were folded in her lap.

"Whaaat!" I spat out my milk in surprise. It sprayed across the table into Dad's salad. "Anastasia!" he exclaimed. "Sorry," I squeaked.

Dad shook his head. "Never mind. Look, I know this is hard for you to accept, Stace, but you are happy for us, right?"

I was simply speechless. I just nodded, trying to cram this new bit of information into my brain, which didn't seem to be responding.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't tell your mother just yet," Dad droned on. "I know she won't approve, because we aren't officially married. Try your best to keep this a secret, please?"

I nodded again. What did this mean? I was going to have a stepsister or stepbrother? All along I had been an only child. I hoped the new kid would be cute, not bratty.

"Thanks, Stace. Now let's eat." Dad dug into his salad. I bit into my sandwich, but suddenly I didn't seem to have any appetite.

"I—I think I'll go take a walk outside. Alone." I pushed back my chair and left the table. I rushed out to the front door, snatching my parka from the front hall. I didn't give Dad a chance to yell, "Stacey, it's too dangerous!"

The streets of New York on a Saturday afternoon were busy. People bustled up and down the sidewalks. Snow fell, and I caught a tiny flake on my glove.

"Excuse me, coming through!" a teenage boy burst out from a salon and crashed straight into me. We both tumbled to the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Are you all right?" He pulled me up, and I got a good look at him. My breath caught in my throat. He was so cute! He had a spiky cut, dyed platinum blond. His skin was the same creamy shade as Claudia's.

"I'm fine," I mumbled. I smoothed down my blond curls, hoping I looked okay.

We fell into step together. "So, are you a native?" he asked as we walked.

"Uh, yeah," I replied. I still couldn't seem to look him in the eye.

"Well, I'm not. I just came up here for a weekend to visit some relatives. I just can't get used to New York City. It's so busy and noisy, unlike my home."

"Oh. I was born and raised here, but I live with my mom most of the time. In Stoneybrook, Connecticut. My parents are divorced, you see. I visit my dad here practically every weekend."

"Stoneybrook? Really?" the guy stared at me. "No kidding? Me, too! I live there. Well, actually, my hometown is Arizona, but we just recently moved to Stoneybrook. By the way, my name's Erik. How 'bout you?"

"St—" I started to say, but then I thought Anastasia was more grownup, and would impress him. "Anastasia," I corrected myself. "Anastasia McGill."

"Well, Anastasia. Want to show me around New York?" Erik smiled then, showing a row of pearly whites.

"Of course!" I turned the corner, and he followed. "We'll start with Bloomingdales, my favorite store."

As I unlocked the apartment door an hour later, I was grinning from ear to ear. My bad mood had lifted, and I was feeling really good. Erik and I had exchanged addresses and telephone numbers, promising to contact each other the moment we got back to Stoneybrook.

"Stace?" Dad said as I entered the living room. He was sitting stiffly on the couch. "Um, yeah," I said cautiously. Was he mad for me leaving just like that?

"Are you still mad, sweetheart?" he patted the spot next to him and I sat down. Dad smoothed back my hair.

"No, I suppose not," I replied. I stared at the remote control on the coffee table.

"Great. Because, well, I thought you might be a little upset that Sammy and I are so close now. But you and I still have that special bond." He rested his chin on my head for a few seconds, then said, "Sammy? Are you alright?"

Samantha had come into the living room. Her face was pale. "I'm fine," she said shakily. "I just wonder why my morning sickness comes in the afternoon." She rubbed her stomach queasily.

"Don't worry, I know you'll be fine." Dad jumped up and put his arm around her shoulders. "Do you want to lie down? I'll take you to our room." He led her away.

I glared at them, and narrowed my eyes. It was going to be a long weekend.

The moment I got back to my house in Stoneybrook, I closed my door, settled down on my bed, picked up the phone and dialed. Thankfully Erik was already home. We chatted for hours. When I hung up, I learnt that he had an adopted sister with frizzy red hair and a black hamster called Thundercloud. He had asked me out for Friday and Saturday night.

"Good," I thought. "Now I don't have to face Dad and Samantha."