"Hey, Joan!" Joan looked across the cafeteria to see Glynis waving at her. She signaled for Glynis to join her. As soon as she sat down she started talking again. "It's been a while. So what's been going on?" Instantly a look of regret came over her face. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. I heard about your father, I shouldn't have said that. How are you holding up?" Joan said, "There's still hope, and as long as that's true I'm not giving up."
"Oh look, there's Adam," Glynis said. Surprised when he didn't sit with them, she went on, "I though you two were still okay. What's going on?" "I don't know, lately he's just been kind of distant, like he'd prefer if I just stayed away from him." Glynis looked confused. "Something must have happened; you were on pretty good terms with him last time I saw you." Joan shrugged. "The best I can figure is it has something to do with Ryan." "The guy on the school board?" "Yeah."
Glynis didn't look any more mollified. "What does he have do to with you and Adam?" For a few seconds Joan thought about just what she should say. Then, "Please don't ask why, but I don't trust Ryan. He gave Adam this great internship, and everyone else in my family seems to think he's a great guy. But I don't. I can't help thinking he's not doing this out of the good of his heart; there's something else that he's planning."
"Huh," Glynis replied. "Okay, I won't ask, but I don't see it. By the way, do you know if he's available?" Joan didn't even try to contain her shock. "Did you just ask me what I thought you did?" "Yes. Well, do you?" Not seeing any other way out, Joan finally said, "No, I don't think so." Before either of them could say anything else, they were distracted by a shouting match between Adam and Bonnie, who had just walked up to him. It was difficult to make out much, but the fight ended with Bonnie walking away, saying "And don't worry about me. I've moved on. And on, and on, and on."
"Did you hear that?" Glynis said. "She stole my best line. Well, bye." Joan watched her walk away, wondering if she was about to lose another ally.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
"Mom, I'm home!" Grace said as she walked into the house. "In here, Grace," her mother's voice said from the kitchen. She noticed the all too familiar slur on the end of her name, and went into the room with trepidation.
"Hi, honey!" said Mrs. Polonski. Grace's eyes went to the bottle of wine next to her on the table, and something snapped inside her. "Why do you do this, mom? You're not just hurting yourself, you're hurting all of us. You know I've even been going to Alateen meetings because of you?" Ignoring her mother's shocked expression, she went on. "I hate it when you're like this. Do you realize how many friendships you've cost me? I can't say I blame them. Who wants to spend any time in a place where someone's regularly soused?"
Mrs. Polonski stood up, and said, "Now Grace," but stumbled and fell, hitting her head on the table. Instantly Grace's anger left, and she did something else all too familiar; calling for an ambulance.