No Time for Horses by Shannon Kennedy

hefty chunk.”
    “How?” I asked. I pulled out a chair and sat
down, giving her a steady once-over. She wasn’t wearing her casino
uniform, no surprise. Instead, she’d opted for a white dress with a
red belt, cosmetics, and it looked like she’d taken time to get a
manicure. She and Rick were on the same page of trying to make the
other person suffer. Weren’t they supposed to be the adults?
    I folded my hands on the table and focused on
sounding as mature as possible. Somebody needed to be an adult in
this room, and it sure wasn’t the two of them. “Switching cheer
squads means new uniforms and those are pricy. Pioneer has
different colors, and when I called at lunch, the coach said she
would walk on hot coals to have me. I don’t even have to try out.
She’ll shuffle the flyers around so I have a top slot. She says
they’re on a different schedule so I can easily run for election to
the student council when I’m enrolled there, and the National Honor
Society doesn’t give a whoop and a holler where I attend
classes.”
    “I didn’t know you were a cheerleader,
Vicky.” This time it was the counselor. Petite, plump, with her
white hair in a bun, Ingrid O’Hara looked like a grandma from an
old-time TV ad, especially in a light blue polyester pantsuit from
the seventies. “Didn’t your pregnancy interfere with that?”
    “What?” My jaw just about hit the big wooden
table. I stared at her, feeling like the old lady just
witch-slapped me. “I’m not pregnant. I’ve never been pregnant.
Hello! What’s going on here? Are you insane?”
    “Chrissy.” The elderly woman glanced around
the table, a frown deepening the lines on her wrinkled face. “Isn’t
it time to get everything out on the table instead of ignoring the
proverbial elephant in the middle of the room? The real reason
Vicky needs to go to the alternative school is that she can have
her daughter with her. You and Rick have done a good job trying to
help her, Gretchen, but there comes a point when it’s no longer
help, but enabling.”
    “Whoa! Hold on there!” I jumped up. The chair
fell over behind me. “Chrissy isn’t my baby. She’s my sister. Okay,
my half-sister, since Rick is making a big deal of not being my
father.”
    He gave me a long-suffering look like I was
picking on him along with everyone else. “That wasn’t personal,
Vicky. It’s just the money. I can barely afford to pay three
hundred dollars for each of my five kids every month. I care about
you. I just can’t pay for you too.”
    “Yeah, right. So, that’s why you walked out
on my sixteenth birthday?” Sarcasm dripped from each word. Well, at
least I hoped it did. Better to sound pissed than heartbroken. “You
didn’t want to give me a present? And I’m not Robin. I didn’t ask
for a classic sports car. All I wanted was a cake I didn’t have to
make, ice cream that I didn’t have to buy, and a gift certificate
for a few riding lessons.”
    “I didn’t know that you separated on Vicky’s
birthday.” Ingrid O’Hara wrote something down. “Did she do
something wrong, Gretchen? Is that why you were trying to punish
her, Rick?”
    “Hello!” I just about yelled it. “I’m in the
room. Will you ask me? I didn’t do anything. I never do
anything except clean and cook and babysit their kids. I finished
my freshman year with a 4.0 last June, and I will keep my GPA again
this semester because my teachers are freaking amazing. They bust
their butts to help me. It’s more than I get from these drama
divas.”
    “Really? You mean Chrissy actually isn’t your
child?” Ingrid turned to eyeball my mother and stepdad again. “A
little clarity, please. Who are the baby’s parents?”
    “Did you even hear me say that I’m not her
mother?” I planted my fists on my hips. “I’ve never had sex. If I
was Catholic, I’d undoubtedly become a nun. I’m so never
having kids, being a mom, or running a household. It totally sucks!
When I have my own