Dana returns home for spring break. The town hasn't changed noticeably, but by the end of her visit, her relationship with her mother has. And not in ways she'd ever expected. Then it's back to school, where she resumes her relationship with Randy at the earliest opportunity. Zoe witnesses some of it, and documents it for posterity.
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
"So, are we ever going to meet Zoe?"
"What do you mean?" Dana asked.
Dana sat with her parents and two of her siblings at the kitchen table. Terry had greeted her on her way out the door for a date. Dana's late start meant that she didn't get home until after dark, and after dinner. She'd called before she left to warn her mother she'd be late, so she wouldn't work herself into a tizzy imagining Dana dead in a ditch somewhere.
"You two seem very close," her mother said. "You spent a week visiting her family over Christmas. I thought you might invite her to visit this week."
"Oh." Dana sipped her iced tea. "I thought about it, but Zoe and Bobby already had plans for spring break. Maybe I'll invite her to visit one weekend, or during the summer."
"That would be nice. We'd like to meet her," her mother said.
"Bobby, that's Zoe's boyfriend, right?" her dad asked.
"Yeah. They both live in Arlington, but they never met until last semester."
"What about you?" her father asked. "Are you dating anyone?"
Dana ate a bite of the omelet her mother had made her to buy herself a few moments to marshall her thoughts, and hoped she wasn't blushing.
"Yeah," she admitted. "Sort of. His name's Randy."
"Oooh, tell us all about him," her sister Nancy demanded. "What's he look like? Is he another nerd?"
"No," Dana told her, scowling. "He's not a nerd. He does like video games, though."
"Cool!" ten year-old Aaron piped up. "What games?" He rattled off half a dozen game titles Dana was only vaguely familiar with.
The interrogation went on for some time, and Dana was surprised to discover that she was willing to talk about him. Not about the sex, of course. But simply admitting to the relationship, and to her attraction to him, was more than she'd have been capable of a year ago.
"I like him," she said, going even further, admitting to a vulnerability she'd once have kept to herself. "But I don't know how long it will last. We don't really have that much in common." Wow. Zoe's openness had rubbed off on her.
Her father just nodded, watching her closely. Dana had the feeling that she wasn't the only one to notice her uncharacteristic openness.
"Well, if it's meant to be, it'll work out," her mother said.
The conversation moved on. Dana told them about her classes, other friends and acquaintances, and life on campus. Her mother caught her up with the goings-on in town, and among family friends and neighbors. Aaron grew bored with the conversation and left the table to go watch television.
Nancy followed up by telling her all the gossip from school. All of it. Dana's parents excused themselves, hugging her and telling her how glad they were to have her home. She was happy to see them as well.
Dana smiled and endured Nancy's monologue, most of the names only vaguely familiar to her at best. She was amazed by how well-connected Nancy was. Dana hadn't been that plugged-in when she was a senior, much less at fourteen. Of course, Terry and Nancy had always been more extroverted than she was.
Eventually the tsunami of words trickled to a halt. While Nancy was talking, Dana had had an idea. "Nancy, do you know of anyone whose family has a set of weights?"
"Weights?"
Dana nodded. "Barbells and plates, or dumbbells. A bench. A squat rack would be great, but beggars can't be choosers."
Nancy wrinkled her nose. "Why do you want to know that?"
"I've been doing strength training for the last couple of months, and I don't want to take a week off while I'm here. I don't want to lose ground."
"Ew," Nancy said, suspicions apparently confirmed. "Are you gonna get big muscles?"
"No!" Dana said. She'd had the same concerns initially, but first Randy and then Mr. Blaine, the gym owner, had explained how and why that wouldn't happen.
Nancy shrugged. "I don't know anybody who does. But I can ask around."
"I'd appreciate it." Dana yawned. It was early, not even eleven yet, but she was tired. She was still recovering from her night of debauchery and a four-hour drive. "I'm going to bed," she told Nancy. "Good night."
She went into the basement family room to say goodnight to her parents, who were watching television. "I'm heading off to bed," Dana told them.
"Are you going to church with us in the morning?" her mother asked.