IM Session
ChknCoop: Well, you’re finally back online.
Gloryhg: I had some reading to do. What’re you bothering me for?
ChknCoop: Just checking in to see how things went tonight.
Gloryhg: You were there. They went great.
ChknCoop: And it was totally Wheaties’ idea. Of course, I’m working on the lunch thang – proving to be a bit more of a wrangle, but we’ll get there.
Gloryhg: Sounds good. I appreciate the efforts. Listen, I’ve still got a lot of the education initiative to go over before tomorrow’s meeting with the Senate committee. See you tomorrow.
Out on the West Coast, late in the afternoon at an exclusive all-girls high school in Pasadena, Jodi Wheatly sat on the edge of a planter next to the school’s pick up zone with her best friend Tiffany Sheppledorf.
Jodi, at age 14, was on the cusp of blossoming into as rare a beauty as her Aunt Sharon – a fact that numerous relatives remarked upon with appalling regularity. They both had the same blonde hair and brown eyes and basically the same retiring temperament and intense intellect, although while Sharon excelled in languages and diplomacy, Jodi much preferred math and science. Tiffany had Jodi’s slim build, but also had lots of dark curly hair that she wore long. Both wore braces. Both were identified gifted, with Tiffany shooting to become a Renaissance woman, equally well-versed in the humanities, arts and sciences.
Jodi’s older sister Toby stood nearby, surrounded by a gaggle of her girlfriends. The pitch and loudness were at full teenage high. Toby, at 16, had shed her braces, had shed glasses in favor of contact lenses, had brown hair and blue eyes and a tendency toward a more revealing wardrobe than modest. Athletic and outgoing, some were surprised to find that she and Jodi were related.
Toby and her friends were chattering about who was sleeping with whom, who liked whom, who should like whom and why it was all a gross injustice. Jodi just glared down the driveway.
“At least Mr. Perkins said we could be lab partners for the project,” Tiffany said softly.
“You don’t want to do all the work again, do you?”
“I’m glad about that, Tif, it’s just…” Jodi winced as one of the girls screeched about something. “I don’t know how Toby stands it.”
“Everybody looking at her, having to be the center of attention all the time.” Jodi shook her head. “Ms. Wallace had to ask me about Aunt Sharon. Thank God, she didn’t say anything in front of the class.”
“Well, it is kinda cool having an aunt working in the White House.”
“Totally not. It’s almost as bad as having a rock star for a dad. Dude, if anybody finds out, it’ll be so embarrassing. Everyone will be asking me for the president’s autograph. I’ll bet Aunt Sharon never even sees him.”
“Oh, come on. Most of those kids are far too shallow to care about the president.”
Jodi glared at Tiffany. “Except this isn’t just any president. It’s super young, super cute, super single Mark Jerguessen. Even Toby knew who he was.”
“Dude. You’ve got a point.” Tiffany sighed.
Jodi groaned and checked her cell phone for the time. “Toby, what time did you say Mom was coming?”
“She’ll get here.” Toby rolled her eyes and turned back to her friends.
“You didn’t even text her, did you?” Jodi’s jaw dropped in anger, although she knew she should have expected Toby to forget. “You were supposed to text her when cheerleading practice was over. Mom’s gonna be so pissed at you.”
“She knows when practice is over. Get over it.”
“Never mind. I’ll do it.” Jodi slumped as she thumbed the characters into her phone and nodded at Tiffany.. “You’d better text your mom. We are going to be so late.”
Tiffany shrugged. “Mom’s not going to be home. She pulled a night class for the next term.”
Tiffany lived alone with her mother, a history professor at the local university, in a house across the street from where Jodi, Toby and their mother, Cameron Dykstra, lived. Cameron owned a music store in the arts district near the university.
“Mom’s on her way.” Jodi sighed. “She sounds pissed already. I swear, Toby’s torquing her off on purpose.”
“You think?” Tiffany grinned. “Wanna eat at my place?”
“Oh, like I want to eat at mine. Toby and Mom are going to be fighting all night.”
“Maybe then your mom won’t remember my mom’s not home.”
Jodi’s phone chirped and she looked at the screen. “I’m guessing she already remembered. She says you’re having dinner with us.”
Tiffany shrugged. “Well, if your mom and Toby are fighting, we can surf the Congressional Quarterly site without her knowing.”
“I can’t..” Jodi grimaced. “She’s got it blocked and the last time I hacked around it, she made me promise not to.”
“We’ll use my laptop. That way, you’re not hacking around her block and I’ve got the emergency screen with the Jonas Brothers site on it. That way she’ll think we’re being nice and normal.”
“Dude.” sighed Jodi, feeling only slightly less miserable.
