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Because it was getting dark so early now, Ryan Starnes always made it a point to call home if he was going to be late. His parents knew he was responsible and they trusted him, but his mother sometimes worried. So he usually kept some change in his pocket for the phone at school in case he needed to let them know not to expect him.
But football practice had run late because Coach Latham had made them do windsprints up and down the field until he was satisfied about their level of hustle, and by the time everyone was out of the showers the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon. Favoring a slight stitch in his side, Ryan moved across the parking lot towards the pay phone and hoped his mom wasn't going to bitch him out. Not his fault the coach made them run until his leg muscles felt like Jello that refused to set. At least he'd been able to get and keep a place on the team, despite the trouble he'd been in before the move. But without the crowd of losers he'd been hanging around with in Boston, his life had gotten a whole lot better. His parents still kept a much closer eye on him than they did on Denise, but he guessed that was fair. Denise hadn't been the one who was getting high all the time, after all.
The teenager put his backpack down and dug into his jeans pocket for some quarters. He was eighteen now, due to graduate this year after being held back due to discipline and behavorial problems. That had been the drugs too, the drugs and the fact that Mom and Dad had been fighting a lot. Ryan had turned to pot out of rebellion, then moved on to skipping school and mouthing off to his teachers when he did bother to attend. When his parents started counselling, the fights had abated, and even after the move things seemed much smoother between them. New state, new jobs, new life. Ryan was happy again.
Happy...if a little secretive.
It wasn't that he meant to keep secrets from his parents, because keeping secrets had been the cause of his troubles before. But there was no way he could tell them about Ms. Anderson, and no way he really even wanted to. He'd noticed the new teacher the first she'd shown up at school, and the first time they'd had sex the top of his head had nearly come off. He might still be at the gangly stage, still a little awkward, but he had more hormoes than he knew what to do with, and Ms. Anderson...Laura...had been helping him take full advantage of them. He felt like he might be in love.
He was just about to punch in his home number when he heard footsteps approach, and he ducked further into the kiosk to get out of the chilly night air. "Phone's busted," a female voice drawled, and Ryan turned slightly to look over his shoulder. "I tried it earlier to call a friend, couldn't even get a dial tone. You'd think in an expensive joint like this they'd be able to keep stuff workin'. Guess not."
He'd seen her before, he realized. She worked for the school, doing...something, he wasn't sure what. Possibly she was part of the maintenance staff, at least if her workpants and white T shirt were anything to go by. Ryan checked the phone to discover that it was indeed out of order, and he clunked the reciever back into the cradle with a muttered curse. Great, now he was really going to be in for it. He should have called earlier, from inside the building or something. If he got grounded, he'd have to miss his friend Kyle's birthday party next weekend. "Shit."
"Runnin' late?" "My dad's going to kill me. I'm supposed to call if I'm going to miss dinner, and its already dark. I hate daylight savings time." He gestured at the darkened sky, and the woman looked up as if surprised to find that the sun was no longer in sight. "Huh," she said, then shrugged one shoulder. "Which way's home? I gotta head back to the city, I could give you a lift if'n you'd like."
Ryan immeidately opened his mouth to accept, but wouldn't it only get worse if, on top of everything else, he got into a car with a stranger? Yeah, he was eighteen now, and yeah he was in good shape from all the exercise and football, but his mother was a cop and seemed to be suspicious of everything and everyone. And what kind of word was "if'n", anyway? "Um, that might not..."
"I don't bite, kid." The woman looked amused, and Ryan dropped his gaze. Since he'd met Laura, he thought he'd started to learn a thing or two about women, but maybe he needed more practice with her. So painfully uncool... It probably didn't help that the stranger was closer to his mother's age, and she seemed to be almost flirting with him. It made his stomach feel weird, like he was a little kid watching a sex movie. He coughed, looked at the uncooperative phone, blew out a breath. "All right. I'll have to give you directions. We don't live in the city, we live out in one of the subdivisons."
"Good deal. But mind the passenger door, you need to slam it hard to get it to stay shut." He nodded, and the two of them began the short trek to where a hulk of a car waited. He pulled the door closed with such force that he felt the impact all the way up his arm, then conscientously fastened his seat belt. "Oh, um, my name's Ryan."
"Hi, Ryan," said the woman who was his mother's age. "I'm Grace. Pleasure to meet you."
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