Around nine o'clock Sunday evening Mary Anne heard the garage door open, and her dad and Sharon drive in. Her mind was full of seemingly useless details about the Krebs Cycle and other things of the like in preparation for her upcoming biology test. Studying was hard work, even for a good student. It was made significantly harder than it should be this afternoon and evening, as she had had to block out the noise that Abby and Dawn had been making.
It in no small way irritated her that Abby had not gone home yet. Seriously, the two of them had not been separated all weekend. As they had just reunited a few days prior to that, it seemed a little extreme. Dawn and Abby had shut themselves in Dawn's room all afternoon, under the pretense of doing home work. Mary Anne was not fooled. She smelt something strange burning at one point, and heard laughing until they had tumbled out of Dawn's bedroom about an hour ago to make lasagna. Thankfully, this hadn't lasted long, and no huge mess had been made. The two of them had once again sequestered themselves in Dawn's room, leaving Mary Anne to worry and wonder just what the hell it was that they were doing.
Hearing her dad and Sharon walk into the kitchen, Mary Anne rose to go downstairs and greet them. To be honest, a part of her worried that maybe they had some how heard about what had happened last night. But that was impossible. She attempted to rid these thoughts from her head as soon as they came, which mostly worked, but a small part of her still worried. Walking into the kitchen, she put on a big smile to remind her dad and Sharon that she was the daughter that they didn't have to worry about.
"Hi dad, hi Sharon," She said brightly. "How was your weekend?"
"Great," Sharon responded. "I don't see why we don't go to New York more often!"
"Because you packed power tools and dish soap instead of clothes, and we can't afford to buy a new wardrobe every weekend," Richard said lightly.
"You're too much Richie!" Sharon replied.
Mary Anne just stared at the two of them. She wondered, as she often did, when exactly her father had changed into the man with whom this was permissible. Two years ago, he had organized his socks by color.
"It was a great time anyways," Richard said, gazing as Sharon. He turned to Mary Anne. "How was your weekend? Did you and Dawn find anything to keep yourselves occupied? And did Dawn get started on all of the homework that she has to catch up on?"
"We spent a lot of time together," Mary Anne said carefully. "Dawn has been upstairs with Abby all day. I guess they have a few classes together."
"That's what I like to hear. I won't have anyone shirking their responsibilities in this house."
Mary Anne rolled her eyes. She was the only one who in any way fulfilled her responsibilities in the house. If things kept up the way that they were going, Dawn would flunk out of school in about three weeks. And Richard and Sharon probably wouldn't notice, which pretty much said it all in terms of their parental responsibilities.
Richard walked out of the kitchen, and began walking up the stairs just as Dawn and Abby came bounding down them. As they passed, Richard sniffed at the air, but just shook his head and continued upstairs. Dawn and Abby came rushing into the kitchen. Maybe they were ready for a second go at the lasagna.
"Hell-o, everyone!" Abby exclaimed.
"Hi mom, how was your trip?" Dawn asked
"It was great honey. I just hope that you and Mary Anne don't mind too much that we were away all weekend."
"It was fine," Dawn responded. "We mostly just hung around and did homework anyway." Behind her, Abby stifled a giggle. "Abby's been helping me with a lot of things. We have three of the same classes together," she explained.
"Well that's very nice of you Abby," Sharon said.
"Anything I can do to help," Abby responded, smiling.
"Do you need a ride home Abby?" Sharon asked
"She's staying the night mom. I still have a lot of homework to catch up on," Dawn explained.
Mary Anne's mouth almost dropped. Abby was staying the night again? Surely Sharon wouldn't approve. They had never been permitted to have friends over late on school nights.
"Well I guess that's alright then. As long as Abby's mother doesn't mind."
"She doesn't," Abby replied cheerfully.
"Well I'm just exhausted, I'm heading to bed. Don't stay up too late studying girls." With that, Sharon left the kitchen, leaving the girls alone.
"That was easy," Dawn said. She grinned at Abby.
"I told you," Abby responded.
"What has Anna been up to Abby? Since your mom is in New York, and you're never home?" Mary Anne asked
Abby shrugged her shoulders. "She started dating Bart Taylor a few weeks ago. She's been spending all of her time with him."
"Anna's dating Bart?" Mary Anne asked incredulously. Kristy hadn't told her about that. Even Dawn looked intrigued.
"Yeah, I don't quite get it either. I think it may be one of those cases of opposites attracting. Whatever," Abby shrugged her shoulders.
"At least some of us is getting some action," Dawn said, smiling. "Except for Mary Anne, of course."
Mary Anne felt her cheeks turning red. "Can we not talk about that ever again? Seriously, I have to tutor Howie tomorrow afternoon. I still don't know how I'm going to face him." She covered her face with her hands.
Abby laughed. "You'll be fine Mary Anne, it's happened to all of us. Right Dawn?"
Mary Anne saw her sister turn a shade of red that matched hers. She guessed that Abby didn't know about Dawn's incident with Sunny.
"Right. It's not a big deal," Dawn affirmed, mostly for her own sake.
Abby ran her hands through her hair and made a face. "I'm going to go take a shower. Do you mind if I borrow some more of you pajamas Dawn?"
"That's fine."
"Thanks."
Abby bounced up the stairs, full of energy, as usual. This left Dawn and Mary Anne alone for the first time in days. The air between them felt heavy, and they both didn't say anything for a few moments.
"Have you called Sunny yet?" Mary Anne asked. She didn't know how much time she would have alone with Dawn before Abby came back, and she didn't want to waste time with pleasantries. She really wanted to know what was going on, and she was starting to suspect that being blunt was the only way that she would figure that out.
"No, I don't know what to say," Dawn replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I think it might be best to forget about it."
"You can't just forget about your best friend," Mary Anne countered. She needed an ally in this situation. "What does Maggie say about this?"
"I haven't called her since last week. It's too hard to keep tack of them. We're on completely different coasts."
"Just like it was too difficult to keep in touch with me when you were in California." Mary Anne thought to herself. She was beginning to see that Dawn only kept the friendships that were convenient to her at the time. It explained a lot.
"I guess it's your choice," Mary Anne responded. Her patience with Dawn was wearing thin. "But I still think you should keep in touch with both of them. You never know what could happen if you don't."
"I'm sure it will be fine," Dawn replied, dismissively. "I need to go work on some homework, for serious. I haven't even looked at my books this weekend.
"Well then what were you and Abby doing all day? Mary Anne asked, even though she was pretty sure that she already knew.
"Never you mind, sister dear. I'd hate for Kristy Thomas to find out, and somehow manage to spoil all the fun. Again."
"What is the matter with you? We hung out with Kristy last weekend, and you got alone with her just fine."
"Abby has shown me the error of my ways," Dawn replied. "Maybe someday I will enlighten you as well."
"Don't bother," Mary Anne replied, walking out of the kitchen. She was tired of Dawn's holier than thou attitude.
Walking up the stairs, Mary Anne could tell that Dawn was a few steps behind her. Both girls retreated into their rooms without saying a word to each other.
Flopping herself onto the bed, Mary Anne let out a huge sigh. A few weeks ago, she had had no one, and had been so incredibly lonely. Now her life was bursting with people, at least in comparison, but it was so incredibly complicated. She wasn't sure which situation she preferred.
Tigger hopped onto the bed, and nuzzled her face, looking for attention. Mary Anne pet him absent mindedly, her mind still focused on the events of the weekend. She still wasn't exactly sure of how she felt about everything that had happened last night. She told herself that it wasn't that big a deal. She wasn't disappointed with herself, anyway, but she certainly wasn't proud either. She was somewhat amazed at how easy it had been to do something that she had always been so hesitant of. And she was even more amazed that she felt no different at all after doing so. She wondered if any of her other major adolescent experiences would end up turning out this way.
The shower turned off, and she heard Abby changing in the bathroom. She couldn't help wonder if there was something at home that Abby was avoiding. Perhaps there was a reason why she had latched on to Dawn so quickly.
As soon as the thoughts came to her mind, she dismissed them, thinking of Abby's mom in her New York apartment, and Anna spending all of her time with Bart Taylor. Mary Anne wasn't too fond of Abby at the moment, but she certainly knew what it felt like to be alone in a house where a family was supposed to reside. Thinking of this, Mary Anne resolved to be more tolerant of Abby. If she was going to be spending all of her time with Dawn, they should all be able to get along.
Mary Anne turned off her beside lamp, and forced herself under the covers, despite the fact that she wasn't wearing her pajamas and she hadn't brushed her teeth. Suddenly she felt too tired to do anything. She figured that last night was catching up to her. Or maybe it was her new lifestyle that as tiring her out. What ever the reason, Mary Anne soon feel into a dreamless sleep.