Note: Hi all. Here's the update that I'm sure you've been waiting
impatiently for. Thank you C-chan96, DuckHockey, crazy4nc128, anne918,
Banksiesbabe99 and Jennifer for you reviews and sorry about the cliff
hanger but I have to admit it was fun reading all the guesses. And in case
anyone was curious the trip went well even though I could've done without
fighting with the snow at the airport on Friday which made for quite an
adventure. Hopefully the trip this weekend is a little less adventuress.
Well, I'll let you get to ready so you can all stop being in suspense, lol.
Charlie's POV:
I took the photo that Adam handed me and took a look at it. I could feel my jaw drop. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I looked over at Adam and could see in his eyes that he was looking for confirmation. I noticed Alex looking back and forth between the two of us.
"What is going on?" She asked looking at Adam for an answer and then when she didn't get one looking toward me.
I looked at the photo one last time. There was no denying it. I had seen the woman in the photograph before. In fact I had seen it plenty of times. I took a deep breath.
"I know who this woman in the photograph is," I told her finally looking straight at her. Alex didn't say anything but I could see the impatience and the unspoken question in her eyes. "It's my mother, when she was younger." I said.
And as soon as I said it I felt resentment. Not at Alex but at my mom. I thought the two of us had always been close. For the most part it had always been just her and me. Yet, she had this secret that she had never once even mentioned. All the time I spent growing up wishing that I had a brother and a sister and little did I know, I did. I had an older sister. How could she not have told me that? How could she have given a baby away for adoption and then have another one not even two years later. It didn't make sense.
As I looked at Alex now I could see some resemblance between us and Alex had red hair like my mom did. And then there was the temper. I then Adam's words from the week before came back to me. He had told me that Alex reminded him a lot of me. Well, now we all knew why.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked me. She looked as if she was having about as hard of a time grasping the idea as I was.
"I'm positive," I told her. I was debating on whether or not I wanted to actually asked the question I wanted to ask her. I finally decided to just go for it. "Are you going to tell her?" I asked her.
Alex paused for a moment. I think she trying to decide what she really wanted. Part of me was hoping she would say no. Then maybe I could forget all about this photo and the fact that I had an older sister that my mom had never told me about but deep down I knew I couldn't do that. Truth was I wanted a sister. I wanted to know my sister. To have her a part of the family even more so now that she was alone. But I couldn't help but wonder if it would actually work out after sixteen years.
"Yes," she finally said. "I at least want some answers. I've come this for and if I back off now I know that eventually I will regret it if I just let it go."
"I'll go with you," I told her. She had only met my mom briefly over the weekend when she was helping us move. She didn't really know my mom that well but that was only part of my reason. I also to be there for her and I had my own questions that I wanted to answers too. "She's off tonight," I suggested wanting to get it over with.
"Okay," Alex said.
We went back to sorting through the stuff but it was much quieter. I don't think Adam knew what to say and Alex was probably wondering the same thing I was. How was my mom going to take it tonight when we told her what we had found out.
Not to long after that Shane showed up. No one mentioned what we had discovered. I still didn't know Shane all that well and I figured if anyone should tell him it should be Alex. We worked until Mrs. Larson called us down for dinner.
Jesse's POV:
I was a nervous wreck during dinner. I kept thinking about my date with Alisha. I wanted it to go well. I didn't want to do anything stupid. Of course I dropped my fork three time during dinner and managed to knock my glass of soda over. Poor, Connie who was sitting across from me ended up wearing some of it. Needless to say she wasn't to happy.
After that little incident I left the dinner table before anything else could go wrong. I was to nervous to eat anyway. I headed back to my dorm room to start getting ready. I was disappointed to find the room empty when I got back. I had been hoping that Adam would have been back even though he wouldn't have been much for advice. Besides Connie, Julie, and Alex I don't think I have ever seen Adam talk to a girl. I think they scare him. Still, it would have been nice to have some on around to talk to who I knew would at least listen to me. Maybe talking about it would have helped ease my nerves some.
After trying on just about every article of clothing I owned, I finally decided on the first outfit I had put on. On second thought maybe it was a good thing that Adam wasn't around. If my friends ever found out about the outfit changes I would never hear the end of the jokes, especially from Connie and Julie who we were always making fun of when they took a long time to get ready. I had even mentioned to Connie one time that I was surprised she didn't accessorize her hockey uniform.
I glanced over at the clock and saw that it was only five thirty. I still had a half hour before Alisha was going to be here. I sat down at my desk and attempted to start some of my homework. That was a loss cause. I knew after a couple of minutes that I wasn't going to get anywhere. Finally, I decided to go see if maybe Guy was in his room. At least he had some experience with girls.
I knocked on his door and was relieved when he opened it.
"Great, you're here," I said walking into his room without being asked.
"Well hello to you to," I heard Guy said as he closed the door behind us.
"I'm sorry," I said finally realizing what I had just done. I just wasn't thinking straight. "I guess I'm not thinking straight," I told him sitting down on his desk chair only to stand back up again and start pacing.
"What's up?" Guy asked sitting calmly down on his bed and leaning up against the wall. I only wished I could be that relaxed.
"I'm nervous about my date tonight," I told him.
"You have a date?" Guy said surprised. Come to think of it I had forgotten to mention it to any of my friends this afternoon. "With who?"
"Alisha Brown," I told him with a smile.
"Isn't that the cute cheerleader that Russ was annoying at the game last night and who kept making eyes at you all night," Guy said.
"She was not," I said quickly. Probably a little to quickly.
"If you say so," Guy said with a mischievous grin on his face. After all the grief I had given him about dating Connie maybe coming to talk to him wasn't the best idea but I was here now.
"That isn't the point anyway," I told him hoping he'd drop the subject. I knew Russ liked her too which was why we hadn't been getting along here lately. "I'm nervous about tonight. What if I do something stupid?"
"Just relax and be yourself," Guy said growing seriously. She obviously likes you if she's going out with you. "She's going to be just as nervous as you are."
"You think so?" I asked him.
"I know so. It's only natural to be nervous about your first date. I'm going out with Deborah Finks this Friday night and I'm nervous about that and I've been out on a date before," Guy told me.
This was the first time I had heard anything about Guy going out with Deborah but I wasn't asking questions. I was to wrapped up in my problems to even be curious about it.
"Well what do I say to her?" I asked. I stopped pacing and turned to face him.
"Just talk to her like you would talk to any of your friends. Ask her how her day was. Find out what the two of you have in common," Guy said. "Talk about the game Tuesday night."
"Isn't that a bit boring," I couldn't help but say.
"It isn't boring its honest. What do you plan on doing make things up so you can seem more interesting to her.
"Now that's an idea," I said.
"I was kidding," Guy said quickly. "If you start making things up you'll soon forget what you told her not to mention that its wrong."
"I guess you're right," I said reluctantly. "I guess I'll have to stick to be plain boring me."
Before Guy could say anything there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Guy called. The door opened and Portman stuck his head in.
"Have you seen, Jesse?" Portman asked.
"I'm right here," I told him.
"You're ride is waiting downstairs," he said with a grin as he opened the door up all the way and came in. Fulton was right behind him.
"Man, I wish I had a chauffer that looked that good," Fulton commented with a smile of his own.
"Very funny," I said not in the mood for joking. I walked out of the room and headed downstairs leaving my friends to make whatever jokes they felt like making.
Charlie's POV:
I took the photo that Adam handed me and took a look at it. I could feel my jaw drop. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I looked over at Adam and could see in his eyes that he was looking for confirmation. I noticed Alex looking back and forth between the two of us.
"What is going on?" She asked looking at Adam for an answer and then when she didn't get one looking toward me.
I looked at the photo one last time. There was no denying it. I had seen the woman in the photograph before. In fact I had seen it plenty of times. I took a deep breath.
"I know who this woman in the photograph is," I told her finally looking straight at her. Alex didn't say anything but I could see the impatience and the unspoken question in her eyes. "It's my mother, when she was younger." I said.
And as soon as I said it I felt resentment. Not at Alex but at my mom. I thought the two of us had always been close. For the most part it had always been just her and me. Yet, she had this secret that she had never once even mentioned. All the time I spent growing up wishing that I had a brother and a sister and little did I know, I did. I had an older sister. How could she not have told me that? How could she have given a baby away for adoption and then have another one not even two years later. It didn't make sense.
As I looked at Alex now I could see some resemblance between us and Alex had red hair like my mom did. And then there was the temper. I then Adam's words from the week before came back to me. He had told me that Alex reminded him a lot of me. Well, now we all knew why.
"Are you sure?" Alex asked me. She looked as if she was having about as hard of a time grasping the idea as I was.
"I'm positive," I told her. I was debating on whether or not I wanted to actually asked the question I wanted to ask her. I finally decided to just go for it. "Are you going to tell her?" I asked her.
Alex paused for a moment. I think she trying to decide what she really wanted. Part of me was hoping she would say no. Then maybe I could forget all about this photo and the fact that I had an older sister that my mom had never told me about but deep down I knew I couldn't do that. Truth was I wanted a sister. I wanted to know my sister. To have her a part of the family even more so now that she was alone. But I couldn't help but wonder if it would actually work out after sixteen years.
"Yes," she finally said. "I at least want some answers. I've come this for and if I back off now I know that eventually I will regret it if I just let it go."
"I'll go with you," I told her. She had only met my mom briefly over the weekend when she was helping us move. She didn't really know my mom that well but that was only part of my reason. I also to be there for her and I had my own questions that I wanted to answers too. "She's off tonight," I suggested wanting to get it over with.
"Okay," Alex said.
We went back to sorting through the stuff but it was much quieter. I don't think Adam knew what to say and Alex was probably wondering the same thing I was. How was my mom going to take it tonight when we told her what we had found out.
Not to long after that Shane showed up. No one mentioned what we had discovered. I still didn't know Shane all that well and I figured if anyone should tell him it should be Alex. We worked until Mrs. Larson called us down for dinner.
Jesse's POV:
I was a nervous wreck during dinner. I kept thinking about my date with Alisha. I wanted it to go well. I didn't want to do anything stupid. Of course I dropped my fork three time during dinner and managed to knock my glass of soda over. Poor, Connie who was sitting across from me ended up wearing some of it. Needless to say she wasn't to happy.
After that little incident I left the dinner table before anything else could go wrong. I was to nervous to eat anyway. I headed back to my dorm room to start getting ready. I was disappointed to find the room empty when I got back. I had been hoping that Adam would have been back even though he wouldn't have been much for advice. Besides Connie, Julie, and Alex I don't think I have ever seen Adam talk to a girl. I think they scare him. Still, it would have been nice to have some on around to talk to who I knew would at least listen to me. Maybe talking about it would have helped ease my nerves some.
After trying on just about every article of clothing I owned, I finally decided on the first outfit I had put on. On second thought maybe it was a good thing that Adam wasn't around. If my friends ever found out about the outfit changes I would never hear the end of the jokes, especially from Connie and Julie who we were always making fun of when they took a long time to get ready. I had even mentioned to Connie one time that I was surprised she didn't accessorize her hockey uniform.
I glanced over at the clock and saw that it was only five thirty. I still had a half hour before Alisha was going to be here. I sat down at my desk and attempted to start some of my homework. That was a loss cause. I knew after a couple of minutes that I wasn't going to get anywhere. Finally, I decided to go see if maybe Guy was in his room. At least he had some experience with girls.
I knocked on his door and was relieved when he opened it.
"Great, you're here," I said walking into his room without being asked.
"Well hello to you to," I heard Guy said as he closed the door behind us.
"I'm sorry," I said finally realizing what I had just done. I just wasn't thinking straight. "I guess I'm not thinking straight," I told him sitting down on his desk chair only to stand back up again and start pacing.
"What's up?" Guy asked sitting calmly down on his bed and leaning up against the wall. I only wished I could be that relaxed.
"I'm nervous about my date tonight," I told him.
"You have a date?" Guy said surprised. Come to think of it I had forgotten to mention it to any of my friends this afternoon. "With who?"
"Alisha Brown," I told him with a smile.
"Isn't that the cute cheerleader that Russ was annoying at the game last night and who kept making eyes at you all night," Guy said.
"She was not," I said quickly. Probably a little to quickly.
"If you say so," Guy said with a mischievous grin on his face. After all the grief I had given him about dating Connie maybe coming to talk to him wasn't the best idea but I was here now.
"That isn't the point anyway," I told him hoping he'd drop the subject. I knew Russ liked her too which was why we hadn't been getting along here lately. "I'm nervous about tonight. What if I do something stupid?"
"Just relax and be yourself," Guy said growing seriously. She obviously likes you if she's going out with you. "She's going to be just as nervous as you are."
"You think so?" I asked him.
"I know so. It's only natural to be nervous about your first date. I'm going out with Deborah Finks this Friday night and I'm nervous about that and I've been out on a date before," Guy told me.
This was the first time I had heard anything about Guy going out with Deborah but I wasn't asking questions. I was to wrapped up in my problems to even be curious about it.
"Well what do I say to her?" I asked. I stopped pacing and turned to face him.
"Just talk to her like you would talk to any of your friends. Ask her how her day was. Find out what the two of you have in common," Guy said. "Talk about the game Tuesday night."
"Isn't that a bit boring," I couldn't help but say.
"It isn't boring its honest. What do you plan on doing make things up so you can seem more interesting to her.
"Now that's an idea," I said.
"I was kidding," Guy said quickly. "If you start making things up you'll soon forget what you told her not to mention that its wrong."
"I guess you're right," I said reluctantly. "I guess I'll have to stick to be plain boring me."
Before Guy could say anything there was a knock on the door.
"Come in," Guy called. The door opened and Portman stuck his head in.
"Have you seen, Jesse?" Portman asked.
"I'm right here," I told him.
"You're ride is waiting downstairs," he said with a grin as he opened the door up all the way and came in. Fulton was right behind him.
"Man, I wish I had a chauffer that looked that good," Fulton commented with a smile of his own.
"Very funny," I said not in the mood for joking. I walked out of the room and headed downstairs leaving my friends to make whatever jokes they felt like making.