~* Mending Fences *~ “Hey Smith!” I heard Jason calling. Allison, Nicole and I were halfway to the gym, but stopped and immediately turned back as he approached us. “I want to talk to you a second , in private?” He scowled at my ‘bodyguards’. I nodded to my friends. “It’s okay guys.” Nicole reluctantly let go of my arm, and I moved to follow Jason away from them. He stopped just out of earshot and turned back to me. I couldn’t quite read his emotions. He seemed distressed, and more than a little upset though. “What the hell is up with you?” he demanded, careful to keep a good foot of distance between us. “What are you talking about?” I asked flatly. “I know you went to the Principal today, and I know it was about me, and now suddenly I get a little private note from Rochelle wanting to see me in his office. I thought we were through!”

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Author's Note:
Sorry, STILL no party. I promise that's coming next chapter, and it's worth the wait, but with some important plot elements moving forward this chapter I didn't want to overload this chapter too heavily ;-)

As an aside you may want to have a box of tissues handy for this one. I've been having trouble sleeping lately. Weird, freakish, and downright DISTURBING nightmares have kept me awake lately, but as terrifying and 'wrong' as they are, they've been fodder for my waking world's inspiration :-D
~Zoe

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It had been awhile since the four of us could get together for a sleepover, so when Allison suggested it following the Girl Scout meeting, we of course leapt at the idea. We covered quite a lot of ground during the meeting, with Maria providing some surprising advice on how exactly to even approach Mrs. Beaumont without upsetting her.

After much discussion, I found myself elected the spokesgirl for the endeavor, but I’d have Maria with me in case Jason became involved. He seemed to be a completely different person around her, so I felt safer knowing she’d be there. For the walk-a-thon itself we elected to wait until the first Friday in November both to give ourselves time to acquire sponsors throughout the community, as well as to give those of us involved in planning and decorating for Nicole’s party time to recover.

“Robin, are you okay?” Nicole nudged my shoulder gently. Apparently I’d been staring off into space again, but her gentle touch brought me back to reality. She sat down beside me on the sofa in the Jones’ game room. Jennifer and Allison set their pool sticks aside and approached as well, Jennifer adding.

“You’ve been kind of quiet all day. What’s wrong?”

At first I didn’t answer. I really didn’t like or want to talk about it, but I knew I’d have to tell the others eventually. “It’s my nightmares again,” I whined. “I didn’t get much sleep last night because of them.”

Allison frowned, taking my hand and kneeling in front of me, even as Nicole nuzzled closer, trying to comfort me. Given the nature of my latest nightly encounter, it brought me very little comfort. “Was it… him again?”

“No. This was much worse, and more terrifying. I think that fight with Maria the other day messed with my head.”

Jennifer sat down on the other side now, facing me, with her leg tucked up beneath her. She placed a comforting hand on my shoulder as she asked, “What do you mean?”

I glanced at Nicole, biting my lip. I shifted my gaze downward, not really looking at Allison so much as the ground beside her. “I-it was about Nikki and me. I… I dreamed that we had this huge fight and broke up.” That wasn’t the half of it. The words ‘I hate you’ were used.

I could feel tears welling up, and instinctively turned to Nicole. It almost seemed she knew I was about to turn to her because the moment I did, I felt her arms around me, holding me close. I lost myself in her shoulder, as her fingers ran slowly over my back.

“Shh, it’s okay,” she whispered, trying to comfort me. “Robin we’ve never had a fight. You know that.”

“I know,” I sobbed quietly, “That’s just it. That’s why the dream scared me so bad. I couldn’t even get back to sleep afterward. I never thought I’d have problems with Maria either. I trusted her, and she just … totally blew up on me. It’s got me wondering how fragile…”

Jennifer leaned over to squeeze my shoulder lightly as she responded, “Robin… Friends argue. The four of us are kind of weird in that regard, yeah. It’s because we’ve ALL been through something that’s changed us and made us more open and respectful toward each other.

“I watched Kelly’s transition with Ally, and you and Ally have the Raggedy Man incident. Nikki has her … troubled past, and that’s not even counting you almost losing your Mom. We love each other in a way most people would never understand, and we’re closer friends because of all we’ve been through separately and together.”

That was one of the things I loved about Jennifer. Ninety-nine percent of the time, she passed herself off as a normal teenager, but when you needed advice or perspective, she was the one to turn to. She leaned closer to hug me, continuing. “You should be happy. I wish I felt as sure about my relationship with Josh as you and Nikki seem to feel about each other.”

Allison added dryly, but grinned, “Don’t forget I’m not even allowed to date yet.”

Nicole smiled as she pulled back, in an attempt to get me to look at her. She reached up and brushed a few strands of hair from my face, stroking my cheek lightly in the process. “Robin, I don’t know what our future holds. I don’t know if we’ll always be together or whatever, but what I do know is that right now, I’m crazy about you. You’re all I can think about. Before I met you, I knew I liked girls, but you were the first girl that I ever felt truly attracted to, even before I knew anything about you.”

I timidly stared back at her for a moment into those gorgeous brown pools, and the feelings from our first meeting came surging to the forefront like a torrent. The moment our eyes met, I knew I wanted to be with her. I managed to smile as I threw my arms around her more tightly, squeezing her close as I sobbed. “I’m sorry Nikki.”

“Don’t be,” she whispered into my ear as she held me. I just wanted to cry, to just let out all the tension I’d been bottling up over the past few days.

“Everyone expects so much of me, and with how Sensei Rogers reacted to the family secret and these nightmares, I guess it was inevitable that my mind would turn them in on me like this. I… haven’t had a good night’s sleep in a week, but last night was the worst.”

Jennifer frowned. “That sounds serious, but I think I can help, if you’re willing to trust me; you too Nikki.”

Nicole immediately nodded. “Sure, Jen: if it’ll help Robin I’ll do whatever it takes.”

I smiled, leaning in to kiss Nicole’s cheek just below her ear. “Thank you… All of you. I’d be so lost without you guys some days.”

Allison stood and walked around behind the sofa, where she leaned forward to hug the three of us at once. “That’s what friends are for. I’ll go get the sleeping bags. Jen, you do whatever it is you have to do. Tomorrow’s a school night so Mom wants lights out by ten.”

Jennifer smiled as she stood. “Right; first, you two go get into your pajamas. I’ll just change down here. You need to be comfortable for this.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked as I hesitantly untangled myself from Nicole to stand. She smiled knowingly at me.

“The ancient Hawai’ians believed that by invoking the Menehune and offering your heartfelt prayers that you could invoke their protection to ward off evil spirits. Tonight you will sleep like the Island Princess.”

Nicole and I, though we of course used separate bathrooms to do so, left upstairs to change. I had bought a new long-sleeved white silk pajama set that I’d been saving for a special occasion like tonight, and Nicole had brought a ridiculously oversized t-shirt and sweats. We found Jennifer dressed in a short-sleeved flannel night gown, sitting cross-legged on the floor. She reached a hand up, patting the sofa gently for us to sit.

A few seconds later, three sleeping bags came sailing down the stairs, crashing into the bottom wall with a dull thud, with Allison close behind in her Barbie-pink shorts and camisole. “Sorry! They slipped,” she offered with a giggle.

Jennifer laughed. “It’s fine. I haven’t started yet anyway. Oh, I knew I forgot something. Wait here a second.”

As Allison unfurled the sleeping bags, Jennifer rushed upstairs. Nicole pulled me closer, and whispered as she slowly stroked my hair. “Feel any better?”

“Yeah. Sometimes it’s just nice to cry for absolutely no reason,” I mumbled sheepishly.

She giggled. “Yeah, it is. Just don’t tell anybody I agreed with you. I DO have a rep to maintain.”

Jennifer returned with a small glass of milk. I thought I could see steam rising from the white liquid as she approached. “Don’t drink this yet. It’s piping hot, and for a reason. It has to be hot or the Menehune won’t answer. I’m supposed to use coconut, but it’s a little late for grocery shopping,” she teased. I nodded, accepting the piping hot liquid. She settled onto the floor again. Allison sat beside her, leaving just Nicole and me on the sofa.

Jennifer whispered something in what I could only guess was her mother’s native language. She made a sign with her hands that looked like a welcoming or greeting gesture, and when she finished, she nodded toward me. “Go ahead and drink it now. It should be cooled enough.” I drank down the liquid then handed it off to Allison, who smiled and set the empty glass aside as Jennifer continued. I couldn’t help feeling more relaxed already. What did she put in that?

“At Girl Scout camp I told you guys the legend of the first Hawai’ian lei, and how the Menehune protected their Island Princess as she sought to prove herself against the might of Kanaloa, sea god of death, but the story does not end so easily. You see…”

Jennifer went on to tell us the rest of the legend, or so she professed, of how the Island Princess’ trials did not end with her surfing excursion. She had proven herself to the Polynesian Queen that she was indeed worthy to succeed her, but in the process had angered dark spirits who thought her display arrogant.

As Jennifer’s tale continued, I felt my eyelids becoming heavier and heavier. I curled up next to Nicole, who wrapped me in her arms and kissed my forehead. That was the last thing I remembered. I felt something stirring next to me and opened my eyes again, to find myself on the sofa, but not quite on the sofa. Someone had draped an unzipped sleeping bag over me, and as I looked up, I realized I had been sleeping in Nicole’s arms. She smiled as she tousled my hair lightly. “Morning sleepyhead,” she yawned.

“Morning already?” I asked in surprise, despite my own yawn. She giggled quietly.

“You fell asleep during Jen’s story, and I just didn’t have the heart to wake you up.”

“What time is it?” I asked as I snuggled closer, wanting to enjoy the warmth of our united body heat beneath the makeshift blanket for just a few more seconds.

Allison giggled from somewhere behind the sofa. “It’s six o’clock. Mom’s already got breakfast almost ready. Come on up when you’re ready to eat.”

Jennifer leaned over the back of the sofa. Even at six A.M. her gorgeous brown hair still lay in seemingly perfect waves. “How did you sleep?”

I giggled as I shifted to sit up, letting Nicole up in the process. I leaned up to wrap Jennifer in a hug as best I could, which she happily returned. “I slept like a log. What was in that milk?”

“Ancient Hawai’ian secret,” she teased. “Warm milk and a bedtime story: words bring life, and words bring death, remember? Now come on. I’m hungry!” she teased, bounding right past Allison for the stairs. I slowly eased myself off the sofa, offering Nicole my hand and pulling her up into a hug.

“Nikki… I’m sorry about last ni-” I started, but she placed two fingers against my lips then kissed me lightly.

“No apologies. You’ve got a lot on your mind, and our conversation in the elevator Saturday probably didn’t help things. I’ve told you before that I’m not going anywhere.”

“Yeah… Me either,” I responded with a smile, grabbing her hand to drag her along with Allison up to breakfast.

School Monday passed relatively uneventfully as school days go. People had long stopped snickering behind my or Nicole’s backs, and neither of us had received a nasty note since the first incident. It seemed that somewhere between my showing up to school and being elected the Sophomore royal, I’d finally stopped being gossip-worthy.

I had a meeting with Principal Rochelle after lunch that I didn’t look forward to though. It seemed like every time we had to talk about something, that little vein in his forehead got just a little more pronounced. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I still felt kind of guilty. Not surprisingly, Tina Gale was waiting in the office. What was her problem anyway? Didn’t she have some dumpster to go digging through?

“Hello there,” she offered cordially as I stepped inside. I offered a timid smile as I nodded.

“Um, hi.”

“Business or pleasure?” she teased. She certainly seemed to be in a good mood today.

“Pardon?”

She laughed. “I’m sorry. That was a bad joke. I’m just waiting for Matt-I mean, Mr. Rochelle to finish up a phone conference. You look … familiar. Weren’t you in here the last time I was here?”

“Err, well, maybe?”

“You were the girl that came in just as he ran me out last time, weren’t you?” She paused, giving me a wry smile before I could answer, although the unease was probably evident on my face anyway. “I’m sorry you had to see that. Matt and I go way back, and I thought I could use that to find out what was really going on.”

“So what are you doing here now?” I tried to sound polite and give her the benefit of the doubt, but for a New Haven reporter, she showed up in Alpine Springs at the most inopportune times.

“Well, I wanted to apologize to him face-to-face about what happened the last time I was here. It’s been so long that I forgot what it was like to be a teenager.” She half-sighed, half-laughed as she glanced around. “If these walls could talk…”

“You went to school here?” I asked, surprised. She smiled.

“Oh yes. Matt and I even went to the senior prom together. That was a long time ago though. Strictly off the record, is it true a student was arrested for harassment and hate crimes?”

“That’s quite enough MISS Gale,” Principal Rochelle interrupted us. She and I both looked rather shocked at his sudden interruption. He scowled at her. “I thought you had let that matter drop.”

“I wasn’t- I mean, I didn’t-” she fumbled nervously. I couldn’t help myself and stood, speaking up.

“Sir, it’s okay. We were just talking about how she used to go to school here, passing the time while she waited to meet with you.”

He seemed kind of surprised at my comment, glancing between the two of us. He settled his gaze on her as he responded. “Tina, is that true?”

“Yes, I swear. I actually wanted to apologize to you about what this girl witnessed the last time. Like I was telling her, I forgot what it was like to be a teenager.” She stood and approached him, lowering her voice considerably. “I know I could have just called, but I thought an old friend deserved better. I’m sorry I tried to use your position like that.”

“How did you even find out anything was happening?”

“I have my sources, but don’t worry; it’s nothing that hack Jon Weathers at Channel Three would ever think of, so whatever you’re protecting is safe.” She leaned over to kiss his cheek, and for a moment I thought he might be blushing. It quickly passed as she turned to leave.

She paused to glance at me. “Nice talking to you.” She smiled professionally, and turned to leave. I actually felt relieved she didn’t ask my name. She had dropped the matter for now, but if she knew I was the girl she was looking for, she might not have given up so easily.

Principal Rochelle cleared his throat. “Now, was there something you needed Miss Smith?”

“Actually there is one thing. About Jason, I… want to ask you to drop the in-school restraining order, at least temporarily. A good friend of mine wants to go out with him, which could complicate things. But it’s more than that. I don’t know how much you’ve heard, but my Girl Scout troop is trying to organize a walk-a-thon, and the whole reason we’re doing so is because Jason’s mom is really sick. We want to show her that there’s always hope, so we decided as a troop to ask her to be our guest of honor for the event.

“We haven’t told anyone outside our troop about this yet because we want it to be her choice. We absolutely don’t want to ‘shame’ her into coming, so we’re handling it quietly for now.”

“I see… I still don’t understand how this relates to you wanting to lift the school board’s order though.”

“I almost lost my mom a few months ago to a car accident. I know how much that tore me up inside. Jason’s parents were already having problems even before she found out she was dying. And now he has that on top of everything else. I’m not saying Jason’s a saint, and I’m not saying I forgive him for attacking me. All I’m asking is that you help me give him another chance, to take some of the pressure off.”

The receptionist, who had been quietly typing away on something at her computer a moment earlier, smiled thoughtfully, “What she’s saying is that she wants to give him enough rope to either hang himself, or to pull himself out of his hole.”

“Yes, exactly!” I giggled a little.

Principal Rochelle breathed a slow sigh, and I had to fight to keep in a chuckle as he did that temple-rub thing he tended to do in my presence. Finally though, he nodded. “Alright… Alright. I’ll send a note along to campus security, but at the first sign of trouble, I’m holding you both responsible, understand?”

“Yes sir,” I responded. I would have to wait until after school to let Maria know, so for now I simply got a hall pass from the receptionist and headed to my next class.

“Hey Smith!” I heard Jason calling. Allison, Nicole and I were halfway to the gym, but stopped and immediately turned back as he approached us. “I want to talk to you a second , in private?” He scowled at my ‘bodyguards’.

I nodded to my friends. “It’s okay guys.” Nicole reluctantly let go of my arm, and I moved to follow Jason away from them. He stopped just out of earshot and turned back to me. I couldn’t quite read his emotions. He seemed distressed, and more than a little upset though.

“What the hell is up with you?” he demanded, careful to keep a good foot of distance between us.

“What are you talking about?” I asked flatly.

“I know you went to the Principal today, and I know it was about me, and now suddenly I get a little private note from Rochelle wanting to see me in his office. I thought we were through!”

“Jason, I went to talk to Principal Rochelle because I wanted to ask him to lift the restraining order the school board put in place,” I offered gently in response.

His eyes widened just a little, and he took another step back. “You… what?”

“Yeah. Surprised me too. Look, Maria likes you. I know you’re angry with me about what happened that first day, and I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. That should never have happened because I should never have reacted the way I did. Ask Maria about the Raggedy Man. She knows the whole story. I don’t expect you to understand, or to care for that matter, but it’ll help put things into perspective about why I reacted like that.”

Rather than respond, he slowly turned away from me and started walking. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Maria standing there. She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back. “Ally just told me a second ago. I don’t know how to thank you.”

I smiled a little as we turned to rejoin Allison and Nicole. “I told you before, I’m trying to help. I want to believe that he’s shown you a side of himself that I haven’t seen. That’s why I told him to ask you about the raggedy man. It wouldn’t be the same coming from me.”

“You’re sure I can tell him? That was some pretty private stuff.”

“I’m sure. I trust you, ‘chica’.” I teased, giving her a light squeeze. She smiled brightly at that. “Now come on. We need to get changed for practice before the guys show up and get the good court.”

I spent Monday (following basketball practice) and Tuesday evenings putting the finishing touches on my Aria Blade costume, which was a good thing because Wednesday evening we needed to be at Nicole’s house to help decorate. As Nicole drove us closer, I felt a sudden surge of déjá  vu. A white convertible sports car passed us on the road, and the blonde-haired driver, along with the redhead and two brunettes in the backseat, all waved at us. They were the same women that were at the concession stand!

I craned my neck to watch them pass. Nicole giggled. “Um, you okay?”

“… Yeah. Was that… Nah. Couldn’t be.”

Nicole just grinned as we drove on to her house. We spent the better part of Wednesday evening decorating the formal dining room Nicole affectionately referred to as the ‘ball room’, and not just simple streamers and fake cobwebs. Nicole’s dad spared little expense. We tried to be frugal though, cutting corners where we could, but Halloween just isn’t Halloween without a big, scary-looking monster in the corner that looks like it might come alive at any moment and tear you apart! Granted it was only a rental.

Late Thursday evening, after dropping Jennifer off at her house, we pulled into Allison’s driveway. Sensei Rogers’ car sat parked in the street in front of my house, and I found myself just staring at it or several seconds.

“Hey… Are you okay?” Allison nudged me gently to get my attention. I nodded slowly as I turned back to her and Nicole. “Yeah. I guess he finally has an answer. I’m just not sure I’m ready to find out what it is yet.”

Nicole gave me a reassuring hug as she answered, “We can go over with you if you want.”

I nodded nervously, and hand-in-hand with Nicole and Allison, we walked over to my house. As I pushed the door open, I could hear laughter from both Mom and Margie. This was a good sign at least. Mom called from the living room, “Robin, is that you dear?”

I hesitantly poked my head around the corner, quickly flanked by my two friends. Sensei Rogers stood from his seat to approach me. He didn’t so much smile at me as that he didn’t stop smiling when he approached, placing his hands on my shoulders. “Robin, I’m glad you’re here. There’s something I need to tell you.”

I tilted my head back to look at him. Something seemed different. In my nervousness, I hadn’t noticed until now that he’d finally shaved his beard! He gently guided me toward the sofa where he sat me down, then sat beside me, facing me. “Both as your Sensei, and as a friend of your mother’s, I wanted to apologize for taking so long to talk to you about all this.

“The truth is, I had a little trouble even believing this could be true. Your sister showed me pictures of you from when you were younger tonight, and even then, I had trouble believing it. I never had any difficulty accepting that you are a bright, compassionate young lady. I had trouble believing you could have ever been anything but.” He smiled gently.

I couldn’t help myself, leaning over to wrap him in a warm hug. “So, does that mean…?” I asked. I could already feel tears welling up for the second time this week. He smiled and nodded. “Your spirit defines who you are. Your ‘secret’ is safe.”

Mom stood and approached, bending down to hug me next. “Ash cancelled his night class tonight so he could take us to dinner.”

“Really? You guys didn’t have to wait for me though.”

He smiled as he nodded. “I know, but we wanted to extend the offer to you just the same.”

“Maybe I can take a rain check? We finished building a makeshift stage tonight, but every muscle in my body aches for my trouble.” I giggled. “I think I’m just going to go up to my room and get some sleep.”

“Oh, that reminds me, how have you been sleeping?” Sensei Rogers asked, concerned. I grinned at that, and I could practically see the relief swell to the surface in his features when I did.

“My friend Jen worked a little Hawai’ian magic on me. Some warm milk, a bedtime story, and a good, hard cry, not necessarily in that order. I’ve been sleeping a lot better since.”

Of course, I left out the part about falling asleep in Nicole’s arms. I knew they wouldn’t understand our relationship. Mom might, but Sensei Rogers just didn’t know Nicole the way we did, and why something like that really was completely innocent, if completely romantic too! After hugging my friends, and giving Nicole a good night kiss, I slipped off up to my bedroom for the night.

Friday afternoon was the day I had been dreading all week. I decided to wear a white, flower-patterned ankle-length skirt with a sky blue top to at least present a semi-formal appearance that day because that afternoon would be when I’d meet with Mrs. Beaumont.

The white paint had begun to crack, showing its age, and the lawn looked like it hadn’t been mowed in awhile, to say nothing of the leaves piling up. I could almost tangibly feel the sense of hopelessness that hung over the house.

“Hey, chica, you ready?” Maria asked as she approached. In sharp contrast, she’d worn a simple t-shirt and jeans, but she wasn’t on bad terms with Jason either: at least, I hadn’t heard anything more of how he took the Raggedy Man saga, and I certainly wasn’t going to ask.

“Yeah, but I’m a little nervous.”

“Re-lax. You said she knows you right? So it won’t be a problem! C’mon,” she gently wrapped her hand around mine, pulling me along. After ascending the stonework steps, we approached the curtained glass door, and Maria stepped closer to ring the door bell.

Jason opened the door, smiling a little at seeing Maria. “Maria, hey, um…” he paused, glancing at me. “Er…”

Maria giggled. “Relax babe. She’s here to talk to your mom. Is she home?”

“Uh, yeah. But what’s this about?”

Maria glanced at me, then back at Jason, “Girl Scout business.” She lowered her voice and stepped closer. I could barely make out what she said, but it was something about wanting to help. He frowned, but reluctantly stepped back, waving us in.

“Mom’s resting in the living room through there. Go on in.” I watched as the two of them disappeared into the kitchen. I wondered, as I made my way through the small house, how many times Maria had been here before. She had given me the address after all.

The interior, especially the living room, looked surprisingly well-kept despite outside appearances. I found Mrs. Beaumont sitting in an easy chair under a floor lamp by the fireplace, a large, old photo album spread across her lap.

“Mrs. Beaumont?” I asked quietly. She smiled as she glanced up at me.

“Yes?” she paused, staring at me for only a second before slamming the photo album closed, which caused me to jump. She set it aside and practically rushed across the floor to wrap me in a hug. “Oh, you’re Mrs. Smith’s daughter! … Rachel… Rebecca … Robin!”

I giggled a little. “Yes ma’am.”

“I am so, so sorry about everything,” she began as she stepped back, motioning toward the well-worn flower-patterned sofa. I moved to take a seat, leaning forward slightly as she seated herself.

“Really, there’s nothing to apologize for. Listen, there’s… there’s something really important I need to talk to you about. I talked to my mom, and she told me how sick you really are…”

Her face fell, but she nodded gently. “I suppose it was inevitable that she’d have told you.” She sighed to herself. “I’ve tried to be strong for Jason though. He’s just so… angry all the time.”

“It’s as hard on him as it is on you. Earlier this summer my mom was in a car accident. We used to live in San Francisco, so I had to uproot and move across the country to stay with my big sister while she was in a coma. I know how much it hurt almost losing her.

“My dad’s been gone for years, killed in an industrial accident, but he left us when I was still very little, so I didn’t have anyone else to turn to… But that’s why I’m here, now. I understand where Jason’s coming from, to a degree. I want to help before it’s too late.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking back at me with a kind of curiosity I hadn’t expected.

I smiled a little, garnering all my courage. “My girl scout troop is hosting a walk-a-thon for cancer research. We’ve been gathering sponsors this week, but we’d like very much if you would consider being our guest of honor. We want to raise awareness and put a face to it, as well as to remind people that there are treatment centers out there that can help.”

She chuckled to herself as she stood, slowly walking to the window. She peeled the curtain back, staring out across the unkempt front yard. “I’m no spokesperson, Robin. I can barely bring myself to leave this house anymore. It just hurts too much.”

“But there are people that can help you, if you’re willing to just take that first step. You don’t have to go it alone.” I stood and approached her, slipping my arms around her waist.

“Right now, you have the entire Alpine Springs Girl Scout troop unanimously behind you because I asked them to. You don’t have to do this, and we don’t want you to feel like you have to, but it would mean a lot to a lot of girls-”

“A lot of girls, and one son,” Jason mumbled from the doorway. Holding Maria’s hand, the two of them approached us. He hesitantly offered his other hand to me. “I’m… I’m sorry Robin.”

I smiled as I took his hand. “Me too. Listen… I have Kenpo tonight. My Sensei, Ashton Rogers, is a good, understanding man, and he knows how to listen. He’s also the one that taught me that defensive throw, if you’re interested in learning it.” I smiled wryly, and to my great surprise, so did he, but it didn’t last. “I… I don’t know. I could never afford it.”

“Actually, I’ve been working at the dojo on Saturdays to pay for lessons because I thought my family was hurting for money, but things are better now. I’d be happy to let someone else step into the arrangement in my place.”

The grin on Maria’s face made me giggle a little as she wrapped her arms around me. Mrs. Beaumont, who had stood there quietly watching the exchange, smiled and turned to hug her son.

Jason smiled a little as he nodded. “I guess I’ll see you tonight then,” he mumbled, trying to keep some semblance of tough, cool guy exterior. Maria glared at him for just a moment, but giggled.

As she and I stepped outside again, Mrs. Beaumont followed. “Robin,” she called after me, causing me to turn back to face her. “Tell your friends I’d be honored. And… tell them I’ll be making some phone calls soon.”

I smiled brightly as I returned to hug her. “Call my Mom. I don’t know if she told you, but she’s a registered nurse. She’ll be able to put you in touch with the right people. Here, let me give you my home number…” I fished in my purse for a pen and a scrap of paper, and after scribbling down my number, passed it to her. She glanced down at it with a smile.

As Maria and I left, I couldn’t help feeling a little bit of renewed hope. Her eyes seemed less dull than the last two times I’d encountered her. I couldn’t help wondering what she and Jason would talk about after we left though.

As we walked to the nearest bus stop, I had to hope that maybe, just maybe, we had finally started to make some small difference in their lives too.