Playing with Fire by Melody Carlson

this guy a break.
    “Yes, I warned him that we get a lot of rain,” says Mom.
    “It's too gloomy for some people,” I say as I head to the kitchen to drop off my glass.
    “I'm looking forward to it,” he says as I come back through.
    Then I tell him it was nice to meet him and excuse myself to go upstairs. As I leave, I think I see a wave of relief washing over my mom's face. Well, what did she expect me to do? Welcome him with open arms? Give him the keys to the castle? At least I didn't tell the poor guy about Zachary's drug problems or how I get visions from God or how old Mom really is. Honestly, it could've gone much, much worse.
    On Monday morning Amanda's sweet-sixteen party is the hot topic at school. I'm not sure if Amanda is as pleased as she thought she'd be, since I heard her parents grounded her for an undetermined amount of time. But to be fair, I think they should ground themselves as well. I mean, what kind of parents throw a huge party like that for high-school kids and then take off? What were they thinking? As it turns out, some kids really did get into trouble. A lot of the alcohol and substance charges will probably stick. It sounds like a fair number of kids will probably be taking mandatory diversion classes—where the system teaches them about the effects of alcohol abuse. Unfortunately, I suspect that some of the hard-core users got away without being arrested. But that's probably the way it usually goes.
    “How'd the test go on Saturday?” I ask Garrett inchem class. Of course, I'm talking about the drug test, but for his sake I'm trying to be discreet.
    He gives me a totally blank look.
    “You know…” I lower my voice. “At the police station.”
    He rolls his eyes. “I didn't go in.”
    “Why not?”
    He shrugs. “Why should I have to prove my innocence? Let them prove that I'm guilty first.”
    “But it could've gotten you off, Garrett. Olivia and I bothdid the test.”
    He looks surprised. “Why?”
    “Because we wanted the charges dropped.”
    Then the bell rings, and Mr. Dynell begins to lecture. As I listen to Dynell, I can't help but fume at Garrett. Why didn't he go in and take that stupid test? It would've been so easy. I glare at him, but he's not looking at me. And suddenly I start to wonder if he might've had a reason not to go in. Maybe he really does have a drug problem and knew he'd flunk that test.
    I try to block worries about Garrett from my mind as I attempt to understand what Dynell is saying about dimensional analysis—like I even get it.
    But really, what's the point in obsessing over Garrett and his problems? It's not like I can do anything about it anyway. And thinking about him not taking that test only frustrates me. Who needs the stress? So I decide to just put all this crud behind me. Oh, sure, I'll pray for Garrett. And I'll be his friend and lab partner. But when it comes to his personal life, he's on his own. Well, unless he asks for my help, that is. Otherwise, I'm going to focus on my own life for a change.
    By Wednesday, the charges for both Olivia and mehave been dropped. Of course, that's not the case with Garrett. Still, he doesn't seem terribly concerned. So I continue to put it out of my mind as well. Besides, Zach comes home tomorrow, and I want to put my energy into making his homecoming special.
    Mom and I talked to him on the phone Tuesday night, and he sounded so happy, so positive about his future and seeing his family again. I can't wait to see him. Mom started crying when she was talking to him. I guess he said some really touching things, and then he had both of us on the line and sincerely apologized to us, asking us to forgive him and promising to make things right for himself and for us. We both reassured him that we've forgiven him and just want to move on. We all want to return to a “normal” life again.
    After school on Thursday, Olivia comes over to help decorate our house for our little homecoming party. It looks a little