Free Gamer Girl by Mari Mancusi

busy for apple pancakes, can
you?"
    Mom stiffened.
"Yes, Bob. Actually I can be. And, in fact, I am. Some of us
work around here, you know."
    Ouch. I cringed
at her harsh words. It wasn't Dad's fault that he was between jobs
after his company laid him off a couple months ago, was it? And
besides, he still sent his child-support checks on time, so she had
nothing to bitch about. She really needed to at least try to be civil
to the poor guy. At least around Emily.
    "Please,
Mom?" Emily pleaded with her big impossible-to-say-no-to eyes.
"Please?"
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    "Can I
talk to you for a moment, Bob?" Mom asked, tight-lipped. Dad
nodded and followed her to the living room.
    "Now
you've done it," I remarked, handing Emily her Dora the Explorer
suitcase. "You've made them fight again."
    "They're
talking. That's different," Emily protested. "Dad's
convincing Mom to come with us for pancakes."
    I rolled my
eyes. "Give up the fantasy, girl," I suggested. "They're
never getting back together."
    Emily's face
fell and I instantly felt bad. Still, she needed a reality check. Mom
and Dad were done. She'd left him and she was never going back. And
we were stuck in this hellhole town and Grandma's house forever.
    Dad walked back
into the room with a smile on his face that didn't quite reach his
eyes. "Let's go, kids," he said, grabbing our suitcases and
pushing open the front door. I looked back to the living room and saw
Mom standing in the doorway, her lips pursed in a frown.
    Sorry Em, I thought. As much as it sucks, these two are done for good.
    After setting
my bags in the guest bedroom that Emily and I shared while we were at
Dad's, I sprawled on the bed and dug in my purse for my cell phone. I
hadn't talked to Caitlin all week. Always got her voice mail every
time I dialed and she was never on IM anymore.
    "Hello?"
my friend answered on the first ring.
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    "Hey,
Cait!"
    "Oh, my
God, Maddy, how are you? How's the new school? Does it still totally
blow? Did you make any new friends? Meet any new guys?"
    I smiled into
the phone, feeling better already. Maybe I had been imagining her
cold shoulder. Maybe things would be all right after all. We could
meet up this weekend for coffee and maybe go to the movies. . . .
    "School
still sucks. No new friends. Oh, but I got detention for punching
someone."
    "No way!
That rocks." Caitlin sounded impressed. "What'd she do?"
    "He,
actually."
    "Whoa,
girl, you punched a guy? You rock my socks!" "Yeah, well,
thanks. Mom is a bit less happy about the whole thing."
    "Heh. Your mom? I can only imagine. My mom probably would have taken me out for
pizza and ice cream to celebrate if I socked some guy for doing me
wrong."
    I laughed.
"Anyway, I'm at Dad's this weekend. What are you up to? Did you
want to come by?"
    "Uh, well,
maybe . . ."
    I frowned into
the phone. "Maybe?" I questioned. "Did you want to or
not? It's not a hard question."
    "It's
actually, well. . . I'm going snowboarding this afternoon."
    "Snowboarding?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you snowboard?"
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    "Uh, well,
I'm just learning. We've got a little club that's been going up every
weekend. It's totally fun." "Club? Who?"
    "Oh, a
bunch of us. Ashley, Dana, Shantel. You know, the gang."
    I did know.
Mainly because it used to be my gang.
    "I'd
invite you along, but there's no room in the car, you know? Too bad,
though. David's going to be there."
    Yeah, just dig
that knife a little deeper, Cait.
    "But you
should come another time. Ooh, they're here. Gotta go. Later, gator!"
Caitlin chimed, sounding way too happy about getting off the phone. I
guess I would be, too, if I had David Silverman waiting for me in the
car. But still . . .
    "Okay.
Bye." I hit the End button and dumped the phone on the table. I
didn't even know why I was surprised at this point. My friends had
clearly forgotten about me.
    I pulled out my
sketchbook. Guess I should work on my manga for the contest. After
all, the deadline was fast approaching and I still hadn't figured