The following day, at school, I realized I forgot there was a test going on. In class, we were studying for a bit until it was time. I was spacing out. Mrs. Mason noticed something was wrong. I couldn't focus on a test.
Later, on my way to lunch, I could hear my name going to the principal's office. I went there.
"Is there something I did?" I asked.
"No, but we would like to talk to you," said the principal.
"Um, okay," I said.
"I can tell something is bugging you," said Mrs. Mason.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
She gave me the test graded a F.
"I noticed you were spacing out," said Mrs. Mason.
I was a bit embarrassed because she's one of my favorite teachers.
"Whatever it is, you can talk to me," said the teacher.
That was when I opened up and told her everything. "Then, I realized that I totally forgot there was a test."
"No worries," said Mrs. Mason.
"It's okay to be angry at yourself to let things happen," said Mr. Gomez.
"I don't know how to bring it to April," I said.
"She's lucky to have a friend like you," said Mrs. Mason.
"I wish I would've known that the guys were bad," I said.
She gave me great advice on how to talk to April. At lunch, I managed to go over to her.
"Did you knew Andy is on drugs?" I asked.
"He is?" asked April.
"He tried to get me to start doing it, but I said no," I replied. "Rick and Jack started doing that to me, too."
"Wow," said April.
"Dad knows about these things and he's glad I didn't go for it," I said.
"I had no idea," said April.
"I was telling you these things because I care," I said.
"I get that, but I'm the one who is in the relationship," said April.
"So you're saying you don't care?" I asked.
"That's not what I was...," started April
"Forget for what I said," I cut off as I walked off.
April wanted Kayla and Kaylee to take her side, but they didn't want to.
"We are sorry, but we hope that you do realize that we care about you. We are trying to help you," said Kayla.
After school, I collected the mail and noticed a phone bill. I opened it and noticed it wasn't too bad. I barely text anyone except for my friends or Logan. I went to my purse and noticed my wallet was missing. I panicked when I saw that.
"Oh, no," I said to myself.
I know I didn't drop it anywhere. I bet it was Rick who did that. How could I not noticed that yesterday when I found weeds in my purse? I ran out of there going next door.
"What's going on with Mary Anne?" asked Kayla.
"Something is not right," said Kaylee.
They came out on the porch.
"Mary Anne? Are you okay? You're out of wind," said Kaylee.
"Let's sit on the porch," said Kayla.
I sat down as I told them about what happened.
"What?" asked Kaylee.
"I knew who it was," I said.
"They are jerks," said Kayla. "I knew they were trouble from day one."
"I don't know what to do for money," I said.
"You should tell him. He had always helped you before when you're stuck," said Kaylee.
"I know," I said.
"I could hear your heart beating a mile a minute. I'm concerned you could get stressed because of them," said Kayla.
"All because of what's happening, I had a hard time focusing on my test and I learned I failed. Mrs. Mason knew what was bothering me. She was concerned. She said I was right to be worried about April," I said.
"She's great for that," said Kaylee.
"She gave me advice on how to talk to April, but that didn't go well," I said.
"We heard about it. She wanted us to take her side, but we said no way," said Kayla.
"We added we all care about her, including you," said Kaylee.
"At least you were smart to tell me what was going on," I said.
"I know," said Kayla. "And, you didn't ignore it like she did."
"Dad reminded me of something I didn't think of. They wouldn't force me to do anything if they were my friends," I said.
"Honestly, he's right," said Kaylee.
"Glad you see the red flags," I said.
"I just hope April notices it, too," said Kaylee.
"I wish I should've known better," I said.
"Don't blame yourself, you just didn't know," said Kayla.
"I told him I'm not looking forward seeing them tonight," I said.
"We'd come, but we have to watch our siblings. Mom is working late," said Kaylee. "We don't have anyone until after 4 pm, so you came at a good time."
I wasn't looking forward doing that alone, either.
"But you can tell us about it," added Kayla.
"If it was up to me, I'd rather stay here instead being with them," I said.
That night, I went to the diner. After dinner, Andy said, "Do you need a ride home?"
"No, I'm all set," I said.
Why did I say that? First, I could smell weeds on their clothes and second, I'm not putting myself in danger.
"Dad's going to pick me up," I said.
"Yeah, right," said Jack.
At that moment, I went to the bathroom to call him saying I was ready to get picked up. I noticed my wallet was near them, so I took it quickly.
"Hey!" Jack yelled when he saw that.
"Does this wallet have your name on it? This is mine," I said.
"No," said Rick.
"Yes, you do not take anything that doesn't belong to you," I said.
I ran out of there before he could try taking it from me. I went outside in time when Dad showed up.
"I could smell weeds on their clothes," I said. "I didn't want to tell you that on the phone in case they were nearby."
"I'm glad you called me," said Dad.
"They almost didn't believe me when I told them you were picking me up," I said.
"It's okay to say a white lie. You did it for a good reason," said Dad.
"I could not focus on the test. My grades went down because of them," I said. "My teacher was concerned about me. We had a long talk about it and gave me advice on how to handle April."
"How did that go?" asked Dad.
"Not well," I said. "I did told her about what was going on, but she didn't seem to care on what I told her. She said she's the one who's in the relationship with him."
"She said that to you?" asked Dad.
"Yes," I said. "I told her I was telling her because I care."
"Of course," said Dad. "She's wrong to ignore you."
"The next step is calling her mom and tell her," I said.
"I would," said Dad.
"She expected the girls to take her side, but they said no," I said.
"That shows them that they care about her, too," said Dad.
"She is not the same person I used to know," I said.
At home, I said, "I'm going to take a shower so I can get out of these clothes and going to call the girls."
"Okay," said Dad.
When I went to go upstairs, I noticed my wallet was empty knowing my money is still missing. Plus, it was torn up. I know it wasn't me that did it. I felt better after taking a shower and putting my nightgown. After that was done, I put them in the hamper. I looked at the clock, so I went to get the portable phone to call the girls.
"Is this a bad time?" I asked.
"No. Mom had just walked in," said Kayla.
"Oh, good. I didn't want to call in case you were still watching the kids," I said.
"No worries," said Kayla.
"I'm just glad to be home," I said.
"How did it go tonight?" I could hear Kaylee in the background.
"Let me put you on speaker," said Kayla as she did.
"That's why I was calling you girls. The guys tried to offer me a ride home, but I said no," I said. "I could smell weeds on them, so I called home for Dad to pick me up."
"You made the right move," said Kayla.
"And, they should know when you said no means it's no," said Kaylee.
"Oh, I found my wallet," I said.
"Where was it?" asked Kaylee.
"Who did you think had it?" I asked.
"I'm not surprised," said Kayla.
"One of the guys tried to give me a hard time about it," I said. "I fixed them good by asking 1) I asked if it had his name on it and 2) they don't take things that doesn't belong to them."
"Good," said Kayla.
"But my money is still missing," I said.
"I won't be surprised if they spent on drugs," said Kaylee.
"Plus, it's torn," I said.
"Wow," said Kaylee.
"I'll send you a picture of it when I'm done," I said. "I'm thinking about reporting it to the principal tomorrow at school."
"Good idea," said Kaylee.
"Was April with you?" asked Kayla.
"I didn't see her," I said.
"Maybe she opened her eyes after you told her about him," said Kaylee.
"Maybe you're right," I said. "He didn't say anything to me."
"We almost forgot to mention that he asked us to join his group, but we said no. We didn't trust them enough for me to be part of it. We prefer being with you," said Kaylee.
"You're smart to think that way," I said. "The way I look at it, I don't think I'll ever want to be part of that group anymore."
"I don't blame you," said Kayla.
"I'll just ask Dad for advice. He always help me fix any issues," I said.
After I finished talking, I took a picture of it and sent it to Kayla's phone.