Chapter Two
Throwing together her clothes for the trip to Idaho, Anne finally gave in and went to see her stepfather.
He was doing that creepy boogie thing to a seventies song when she found him locating spare shirts, tapping drumbeats in the air.
"Dad," she said, then realized the radio was too loud. "Hey Dad!"
He turned the radio down a few notches and, thank God, stopped the boogie.
"Whazzup?" he asked, trying to sound snazzy or whatever his issue was. She glared at him.
"The expulsion thing. I kind of changed a few things when I was at the school so I wouldn't have a juvenile record."
He gave her a raised eyebrow. She sighed.
"It was that kid, Tommy Wesnick. He knows that you're the only parent I've got, and you're not my real dad. Being of limited imagination himself, and that fueled by his big brother's Playboy magazines, he said I had to be Daddy's little whore."
"Ah."
"Exactly. So instead of punching him like that kid from Alexandria East, I set him up to look like he set the explosion next to the cafeteria. Which backfired a bit, since I'm expelled and he isn't. But that was the plan."
He turned the radio down so far she could barely discern Diana Ross crooning. "First and foremost, I'm proud of you for sticking to your story instead of caving to those people. I take it they didn't help? The teachers?"
"I believe they share the same opinion as Tommy Wesnick."
"So you defended yourself. Also a good thing. Please don't defend yourself with deadly force unless absolutely necessary in future, okay?"
"Got it."
"And no offense, but I couldn't really do that with you anyway, because you look like Samantha."
"No points, Pops. That'll make you look weirder. Creeps me out thinking about it."
"Me too."
"So back to the original story, where Mother Anonymous dropped me here and disappeared into the wild blue yonder, right?"
"That's all I've told Scully."
"She'll have it figured out in about two days, you know."
"Probably. She did rewrite Einstein."
"Can you buy me enough cigarettes to last the trip? So Scully doesn't see?"
He flashed a grin. "Trying to impress Little Miss?"
"Shut up," she wadded his socks and tossed them at him, missile style. " I'll be smoking in corners and showers for however long we're out there, I want a special supply. Which you owe me, since I make edible food."
"I thought that was the only way to survive my idea of food."
"If it was about survival, I wouldn't give you any."
"Ouch," he commented, pretending to reel from the slap. "By the way, Scully doesn't like planes."
"Did you get me a seat next to her?"
"Yep."
She blew a raspberry at him.