A/N: I like this chapter and I dont know why. Anyways i am going to try and take advantage of my surge of energy. ciao for now

Chapter 9: Nobody Knows

"Shhh!" Allison whispered to Andrew as she guided him into the house. She had taken hold of his hand as was leading him to the stairway. All she could think to do was to run straight into her room and remain there for the rest of the night. At least this way she would avoid all of her mother's questions.

It seemed they were going to make it. They were halfway up the stairs when a voice called from below "Allison is that you?"

Annoyed, Allison responded, "Yes mother, it is," and under her breath said, "Curse her mutant hearing." She waited as the sound of her mother's footsteps made their way from the kitchen to the hallway.

Mrs. Reynolds emerged with a kitchen towel in her hands. Allison could see that she was still in her work clothes; a white apron was tied around the front of her pant suit. To an outsider, Mrs. Reynolds would have seemed innocent enough but Allison knew what was lurking behind her plastic smile. She could see the wheels in her mother's head turning as she looked from Allison to Andrew, the smile never fading from her face, it was almost maniacal.

"Well Allison, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" she said in the same sing song voice Allison had grown to despise.

It was anger that kept Allison from saying anything for a full thirty seconds. She stood at the foot of the stairs staring at the woman before her well aware of the little act she was putting on. Mrs. Reynolds was trying to pretend as if she actually had an interest in her daughter's life. All Allison wanted to do was tell her how pathetic she was and run out the front door. Sensing the ensuing danger it was Andrew who took the first action.

"Hello, Mrs. Reynolds," he held at his hand which she took eagerly. "My name is Andrew Clark. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Mrs. Reynolds smiled pleasantly at the young man standing before her. Allison could see the way her mothers eyes scanned the letterman jacket. And with a final look at his handsome face she broke out into another grin.

"Well," she added. "It is nice that Allison has finally brought you by." She looked over at Allison who was still glaring at her. If looks could kill her mother would have hit the floor the moment she walked out of the kitchen. "Now I insist you stay for dinner."

Andrew responded with a yes before Allison could send him a look of pleading. The last thing she wanted to do was spend an hour at her mother's mercy. The idea of having a conversation over pot roast was not as inviting as it sounded. Taking hold of Andrew's free hand she led the way to her bedroom. Once inside she wasted no time letting him know what she was thinking.

"What the hell was that all about?" she asked her voice rising with every word.

"What do you mean?" he said his voice riddled with concern.

"You know what I'm talking about," Allison responded not affected by his genuine look of innocence. "What was that? You were playing all nice with my mother kissing her ass knowing exactly how I feel about her."

"Oh, you're getting mad at me for being nice? Is that it?" he was beginning to get angry. "I didn't think it would be to smart to act like a jerk with your mother. I mean, come on. What would she have thought?"

Allison looked at him. She realized that they were still standing in the middle of her room. Reaching out to Andrew, she jerked her bag from his shoulder and threw it on her desk. "Who cares what she thinks?"

"It can't be that bad," he said as he sat on the corner of her bed. "She even invited me to stay."

Allison laughed. She laughed at the absurdity of what Andrew had just said. "Do you think she asked you to stay cause she wanted to be friendly?" she asked. "Come on Andrew don't you see what this is? She's just doing it so she can ask you all sorts of ridiculous questions and make a fool out of me! You're not staying," she said. It wasn't a request she knew that Andrew staying for dinner would be bad news.

"What?" he said half laughing, almost as if he thought her comment a joke. "Come on Allison, it can't be that bad?"

"It's just that," Allison said defeated. "Well, nobody knows what its like."

"Let's just try to get some work done," he told her. It was clear the he was trying to avoid an argument.

They sat in silence doing there work. Allison was staring down at her chemistry homework and realized that she was too angry to do any of it. Of all the people in the world, she thought Andrew would be the one to understand her. After all that she had told him at the library did he actually believe that she would want him to have dinner with her mom? They had been going out for a few weeks now and she had not even mentioned him to her parents. The way she saw it, it was none of their business. And now Andrew had screwed things up.

While she was pretending to do her work she could feel his constant stares on the back of her neck. He obviously wanted to make sure she wasn't angry but Allison didn't want to give him the satisfaction of finding out. When her mother finally called them down for dinner they had not spoken a single word.

On the way down the hall Andrew grabbed a hold of Allison's hand and pulled her to a stop. "Hey" he said, his eyes searching hers. "Are you alright?"

"What do you think?" she spat. It felt bad, being mean to Andrew, especially when she saw the hurt look that crossed his face. But she had not forgiven him and now they were making their way down to dinner with her mother.

"Andrew," her mother exclaimed as soon as they walked into the dining room. "You can take that seat right there." She pointed to a seat directly across from hers. Knowing well that her mother was not going to offer her a seat Allison sat at the head of the table.

The table was laid out with the good china, which was normally reserved for holidays and special occasions. With her arms crossed in front of her chest Allison could not find anything special about the present situation. It looked as though her mother was trying to impress Andrew. Allison even noticed that Mrs. Reynolds had changed out of her work clothes into a more formal outfit.

"I hope you like it Andrew," her mother told him. She took the glass top off of the pan in the middle of the table and revealed a whole roasted chicken. There was also a plate of mashed potatoes and asparagus for sides. Although the food looked and smelled delicious Allison could not help but feel disgusted about her mother's conduct.

"So Andrew," her mother started once they had begun eating. "What kind of sports do you play?"

Andrew was slicing up the juicy piece of chicken on his plate. Allison had hoped that the food would be awful but it wasn't. When she took a bite of her asparagus it was actually good. At least her mother was a decent cook. After taking a bite of the chicken and wiping his mouth on a napkin Andrew answered, "I wrestle Mrs. Reynolds. By the way the food is delicious."

"Oh," her mother laughed. "Thank you." She was blushing and giggling like a school girl. Allison was fighting back the urge to throw her glass of water across her mother's face, anything to rouse her out of the fantasy role that she was trying to play. "I'm sure your mother is a better cook," she added.

"If she were as good as you," Andrew offered, "I would never leave my house."

"You are so sweet," she smiled. "Now you are a senior, I suppose?"

"Yes mam," Andrew answered. He took a sip of his water and wiped his mouth yet again. "I'll be starting U.I. in the fall."

"Such ambition!" Mrs. Reynolds exclaimed. She raised the glass of red wine to her mouth and finally turned towards Allison.

"Your friend here is so charming," Mrs. Reynolds added lowering her glass. "Tell me Allison, how did you ever manage to catch him?"

The room was silent her mother turned towards Allison and waited for her response. Andrew suddenly found his food more interesting and lowered his head avoiding her eyes. Allison's face was as red as she felt inside. Her mind was swimming. Her mother was acting like a complete idiot and Andrew was deliberately trying to impress her. She had been watching the conversation transpiring before like someone would watch a tennis match. She turned from her mother to Andrew and every time they would answer each other her anger would rise. She thought they were both mad pretending as if all was peachy. As if her life was as perfect as the dinner they were having.

"What the fuck kind of question is that?" she asked her mother angrily.

"Allison," Andrew began.

"You stay out of this," she told him.

"It's okay Andrew," her mother said losing once again her sing song tone. "Allison just hasn't got proper manners."

"Shit if I do," Allison yelled. She stood up the table shaking slightly. "Since when do you care, Mother? Quit putting on a show, we all know you don't care. You don't give a rat's ass about me."

"Well I would care," her mother said looking back down at her plate. "If you weren't so shut off all of the time, honestly Allison is there a reason why you are always so strange?" Turning to Andrew she added, "Don't worry Andy we're not all like that."

It wasn't as though her mother hadn't said this to her before. It was her mother's favorite way to describe her. 'That Allison is so strange' she would tell her father. 'I don't know what to do?' The difference was that today Andrew was sitting next to her. He had remained surprisingly quiet throughout the last part of her conversation but at her mother's comment he shifted nervously in his seat.

Without looking in his direction Allison said, "I'll walk you out."

They left her mother in the dining room with three plates of unfinished dinner.

Upstairs, Andrew tried to talk to her. "Allison?" he asked quietly.

"I don't want to talk about it," she snapped. She could feel the prickle of tears in her eyes so she avoided his face. When they had gathered his things Allison made her way quickly to the front door. Outside Andrew waited for her to say goodbye but when she didn't, he simply gave her a kiss on a cheek and walked away to his truck. Allison flinched when she felt his lips on her face and her heart was pounding with rage. It was a few seconds before she noticed her father's car parked in the driveway. The engine was off and so were the lights. He had been sitting there in the dark and had just witnessed the entire scene.

A/N: dont forget your review and my juice box