Arrows by Melissa Gorzelanczyk Page B

don’t sound like yourself.”
    “I really need to talk to him.”

    She paused. “He’s not gonna get away with avoiding you. We can’t let him.”
    Mother Bear had taken my side. I smiled and shifted on the step, giving Peyton a satisfied nod. “Did he tell you I’m going to apply for the dance program at Southern Miss? We’ll still be able to see each other every weekend.”
    “Hmm. Danny loves you girls.”
    Peyton may have rolled her eyes again, but I pretended not to notice. “Hopefully I’ll get that scholarship. Danny said he would help me with my performance, but—”
    The sound of a cellophane bag being torn open rustled loudly in the background. “You’ve got savings, don’tcha?”
    I sat up, the step hard beneath me. “A little.”
    “What about your mom? Doesn’t she have some sort of college fund set up for you girls?”
    It seemed like an odd question coming from a mother who didn’t have anything like that set aside for her children.
    “I have to pay my own way.” Was she really on my side? “Hopefully Danny can help out with money this summer,” I added. Peyton nudged me, grinning.
    “He’ll be eighteen in May. It would be hard for him to keep up with his football training if he had to get a full-time job. Are you thinking you’re going to file for child support?”
    “Oh! I didn’t mean that. No. I meant he could get something part-time, you know, just to help with some of the bills, help us save.” I swallowed and focused on the group of birds clustered in the tree across the yard. They were eating some kind of seed from the pods.
    Judy bark-laughed. “He has to save up for his own college, ya know.”
    “But he already got that scholarship.”

    “A one-thousand-dollar scholarship? Really, honey, you think that’s going to cover college?”
    My heart pounded. One thousand dollars? That was all? Peyton’s mouth hitched open. I stood and clicked off speaker as I tromped down the stairs. The phone against my cheek felt sticky. “I thought…He made it sound like it was a big scholarship.” I slid my hand across the hood of my car for support. Birds chirped from the trees. “It’s only a thousand dollars?”
    “Better than nothing.”
    “Oh.” I inhaled sharply. Mama Bear’s tone was scaring me. “Then it makes even more sense for him to get a job. He could start looking for a job now, maybe find something that’s a couple of hours a week.” I could hardly believe myself. I could almost picture her nostrils splayed, a fake smile on her face. Mama Bear probably wanted to paw me dead.
    “Well, I’ll tell him you called.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Take care, okay?”
    I closed my eyes as she disconnected.
    I had to confront Danny.
    —
    “We should make a list.” Peyton rolled onto her stomach, picking through trail mix for the chocolate. It was late. She was lying on one end of the sectional, me on the other. Our heads met in the middle. The TV was the only light in the room. “A list of pros and cons. If the pros side is longer than the cons, you should stay together. If not—”
    I felt nauseated. Nell had fallen asleep hours ago, and Juliette had gone to bed. I rubbed my stomach.
    “Have you ever made a list like that for Nick?”

    “No. But I have for other guys.”
    Why did it feel so horrible, so awful, like she was more in love than me? Why did my stomach hurt?
    “I don’t think I want to break up with him.”
    “Let’s make a list.”
    She clicked the lamp on and found a piece of scrap paper. She pushed that and a pen across the cushion.
    After sighing, I started the list, pros first.
Nice
Cute
Close to his family
A good dad
Good kisser
Good friend
Hard worker
Likes having fun
    I stopped. “This is too easy.”
    “You haven’t gotten to the cons side yet.”
    I added five more things to the pros side and drew a line down the middle of the page. All right. Cons.
    And my eyes filled with tears. The words burned as I wrote. I worked my way down in slow,