A/N: I'm glad that I'm finally in a rut of inspiration for this story.

Disclaimer: Like Sammy Keyes is mine? I wish, because it would be really cool if I had made up her character, but alas, it belongs to Wendelin.

Replies:

writerchicky1425: Well, you're about to find out!

Ruby Maggot: Yes... I do so love to torture my readers with cliffhangers... Glad you liked it. And many things are wrong with the teacher... all of which you will eventually find out.

penguinsrock12: Thank you!

Chapter 5

"Mom!" I gasped. Now, I'm not the gasping kind, but when I saw my mother on the couch, believe me, I gasped. I hadn't expected to see her until Thanksgiving. It's not that I didn't want to see her, but I didn't want to be forced into a polite conversation about her career and have to smile and act like I was so, so happy for her.

She came forward, smiling, and hugged me. Her hair was still that disgusting bleach-blonde color for the role of Jewel, but I was getting used to it.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, dropping my stuff.

"Just taking a break. Lily said I deserved one." She was still smiling.

"Lily?"

"My new agent. Don't you remember?"

I thought for a moment, then nodded. I remembered some short phone call that included my mother saying she had found a new agent.

"How was school?" Grams asked.

I start yammering away about my school day, even though not much had happened. I guess being around my mother for the first time in a long time was making me a little nervous and uncomfortable.

After I'm done telling Grams and my mom about my day, the Lady Lana in my mother decides to surface.

My mom starts talking really fast about the joys of being an actress, how much she loves acting, how great all her co-stars are, and other Hollywood talk that I chose to ignore.

While we're making dinner, Grams is listening real intently to Mom, congratulating her on her success, and all through dinner, that's the main conversation piece. I stay real quiet while we're eating, just thinking. About my mother suddenly showing up for a visit, and why.

After I've cleared my plate I put my dishes in the sink and pick up my backpack, going off to Grams's room. And Mom and Grams are so involved in what they are talking about that they barely even notice me leave.

I dig through my backpack and take out some books. Usually you don't really get a lot of homework on the first day, and this year was no exception. I had a quick review lesson of math to do and a few sheets of information on Shakespeare to read.

And I was trying to concentrate-really, I was- on the math lesson, reviewing polynomials and other stuff we had learned last year, but Mom and Grams had moved into the living room, so I could hear them more clearly. And what they were talking about seemed really interesting...

So I kneel down by the bedroom door, stick my ear right up to it, and listen. And even though it's not a real comfortable position, after a second of listening, I know-there's no way I want to miss out on this conversation.

"...come live with me." I crouched there, silent, my mouth hanging open. Mom wanted me to come live with her? In Hollywood?

"No, Lana. No. She would hate it there and you know it! All her friends are here! Her school..." Grams trailed off.

"I miss her, okay? She's my daughter." I heard Mom say, and I couldn't help but snort. Grams had been more of a mother than my actual one. I had a vague inclination that Candi Acosta was a better mother to her kids, impossible though it may seem.

"And what would she do, there by herself while you were off working? You know that the minute she got there, you would be all happy to see her, and then you would get too caught up in your acting career to care for her!" Grams barely ever got worked up about stuff but she was definitely upset about this.

"She's my daughter! You don't have any say over what I do with my own child!" Mom's voice was getting louder, and I was wondering what the neighbors were thinking. I hadn't had that much to do with Mrs Wedgewood since the whole ordeal with Pepe the Peeing Machine, but she always bragged about her excellent hearing.

"When have you ever acted like a mother to her? You should have seen her when you first left her here, crying herself to sleep, hoping every day that you would call! She was heartbroken! She's finally gotten over it, and gotten used to her life here, and I will not let you take her away!"

I couldn't stand it anymore. I walked out. Both of them looked up at me in surprise, as if they had been expecting me to not hear. Mom had been crying, I could tell-her mascara had stained her cheeks.

"I'm not going to Hollywood. I'm not. This is my home, Mom. You decided to leave me here, and I am staying. If you decide to come back, fine. But I'm not leaving with you." I couldn't remember ever hearing myself sound so mature and controlled. But my insides seemed like they were jumping all over each other and I was shaking, badly.

"Samantha..." She started crying all over again. She slumped onto the couch and buried her face in her hands. And I felt bad, but what could I do? Apologize? Say, Gee, Mom, sorry I don't want to go with you to Hollywood and take care of myself while you become a movie star?

Grams came over and hugged me tight to her, whispering in my ear.

"I won't let her make you miserable again, Samantha, I promise."

"I'm gonna go over to Hudson's, okay, Grams? I don't think I can stay her after that..."

She nodded, so I stuffed a change of clothes into my backpack and headed for the fire escape.

As I head up the walkway I can see him sitting there, sipping his glass of iced tea. When he sees me, he jumps up and smiles. "Sammy! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

I flop down into my chair as he pours me some tea. "Blame my mom."

His eyebrows shoot way up. "She's in town? Since when?"

"Today. She just showed up and now she wants to take me back to Hollywood with her." I sip some tea and stare at the sky.

"Well... that's certainly a surprise."

"Yeah. I told her no way. And you would've been proud of me. I sounded really mature."

"Hmm... well..." He says, then stops.

I look over at him, wondering what's going on in his head. It doesn't take long for him to tell me.

"Look at it this way, Sammy. Your mom had to give you up in order to-"

I interrupt him. "Had? Had? She didn't have to do anything. She didn't want to be a mother any more, she wanted to be a star, so she dumps me with Grams and runs off. No one was holding a gun to her head and making her do it."

He cringes at my outburst but doesn't say anything about it. "Nevertheless, it was a tough decision for her. To give her child to someone else-even temporarily-that can't be very pleasant, can it? And there she is in Hollywood, without any family. Of course she would get lonely."

I grunt. "Yeah, right. She's got friends. She goes to parties."

"Nothing beats family, child. All I'm saying is, you really should think about how your mom is feeling about this."

"Are you saying I should just leave with her?"

"No, of course not! Just keep an open mind."

I let out a great big sigh. "Okay. For your sake. Hey, can I stay the night? Mom's home crying, and really, I don't want to deal with her."

"You're always welcome, Sammy. So, how was the first day of school?"

I start telling him about Mrs Martin, and he just sits there and nods until I'm finished. And while he's thinking it over, I'm staring down at my high-tops, wondering what is going on with her. Like, whose dog was she carrying? Who was she visiting? Why is she so weird? And I just knew-I had to find out.

A/N: Well... this chapter... I tinkered with it a lot, and I could probably make it better but I really really don't want to work on it any more. If I work on one chapter for too long, I get bored with it and eventually I just make it worse. So... I probably could have done the conversations better, but like I said, I'm tired of working on it. I definitely don't think this is my best chapter, and I KNOW there are far better chapters rattling around in my brain.

By the way, thank you to everyone who reviewed Fire In The Sky! I LOVE that little ficlet of mine, so I'm glad that you do too. I'll probably end up doing some more little one-shots like that one in the future.