Free Don't Bet On Love by Sheri Cobb South

reached for my shoes, glad of an excuse to hide my face from Gary before my expression gave me away. A good sport, he’d called me. I didn’t want to be a good sport. I wanted to be the girl Gary loved—but Gary loved Colette Carroll.
     
     
    CHAPTER NINE
     
    The rest of the evening seemed sort of anti climact i c after all we'd been through. Officer Cummings unlocked the door and led us back to where the sergeant sat, talking to our parents. Gary claimed his wallet as if he were being reunited with a long-lost friend, then presented his driver’s license to the ser geant. He studied it for a moment, then looked at Gary intently, as if he weren’t quite convinced that the bespectacled, shaggy- haired boy in the photo and the boy standing in front o f him were one and the same. Fi nally satisfied, he returned the driver’s li cense to Gary and tore up the tickets, just as he had promised. Then Gary left with his parents, and I left with mine.
    I was quiet during the drive home, but my mind was racing with thoughts of Gary and me—and Colette. The minute Gary had kissed me, I knew I couldn’t go on coaching him and then just turn him over to Colette. I would have to tell Mark that from now on Gary was on his own—even if it meant telling Mom and Dad about the speeding ticket. Funny, but that didn’t seem nearly as big a deal as it had just a few hours earlier. I guess going to jail has that effect on a person.
    It was after eleven o’clock when we finally got back home. I was exhausted and my feet still hurt, but I was determined to settle the whole thing before I went to bed. I followed Mom upstairs to my parents’ bedroom and tapped lightly on the open door.
    “ Mom, can we talk? ” I asked timidly.
    “ Of course, honey, ” she answered. “ But the sergeant explained everything, and your father and I understand that you and Gary weren’t to blame. In fact, we think you both handled the situation with a lot of maturity. ”
    “ Thanks, Mom, ” I said, coming into the room. “ I’m glad you understand. But—well, to tell you the truth, this wasn’t my first brush with the law. ”
    Mom’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. “ Oh? What do you mean? ”
    I sat down on the edge of the bed, then began hesitantly to tell my sto r y. “ A while ago—last month, to be exac t—I got a ticket for speeding. I wasn’t going all that fast, but I knew you and Dad would have probably grounded me, so—well, I decided not to tell you. Mark loaned me the money to pay the fine, and I’ve been paying him back out of my allowance every week. ”
    “ I see, ” Mom said thoughtfully. “ So what made you decide to tell me now? ”
    “ Well, because Mark wanted me to help Gary get a date with Colette Carroll—she’s this gorgeous girl at school, and Gary is prime-time in love with her, ” I said, although the words almost choked me. “ Anyway, I didn’t want to do it, but Mark threatened to tell you and Dad about the ticket. So all this time I’ve been helping Gary get ready to ask Colette to go to the prom with him. But I can’t do i t anymore because he—I mean, I— but he doesn’t … ”
    I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I buried my face in my hands and burst into tears. Mom put her arms around me and held me close.
    “ I think I can guess the rest, ” she said gently. “ I’m afraid I can’t do anything about you and Gary, but tomorrow I’ll pay off your debt to Mark, and you can make the rest of your payments to me. But I’m going to have to t ake your car keys for a while.”
    “ I know, ” I sniffed. “ You might as well ground me on prom night, too. I won’t be going anyway. ”
    “ The prom is still a month away, ” Mom said. “ A lot can happen in that time. Who knows? You might get an invitation from somebody you like even better than Gary. ”
    “ No, I don’t think so, ” I said sadly, rising slowly from the bed. “ ’Night, Mom. ”
    “ Good night, dear. And I hope