No sooner had the lavender Lexus backed down the driveway than Chloe was out the door and down the stairs. She smiled at her father, hopefully reassuring him he was doing the right thing. He shrugged, but she saw the relief flood his face.
Chloe knew Brett would be at the football field. It was Saturday. Saturday meant football. Racing across the school's front lawn, she heard the final whistle along with the echo of cheers from the bleachers. By the time she reached the field, all the players were in the locker room.
"Rats," Chloe muttered. "I missed him." She retreated to the front hallway and chewed on her knuckles, waiting.
A few minutes later players began to emerge from the gym, hauling duffel bags and meeting with their friends and families. Chloe stood on her tiptoes, straining to catch sight of Brett.
Finally she spotted him sauntering down the hall next to Turk. The question flashed through her mind: What if my mother was right? What if he's given up on me? What if he's meeting somebody else? Somebody new.
Brett stopped to talk to one of the cheerleaders. Chloe felt a shiver of fear slither down her spine. A minute later Brett left Turk with the cheerleader and headed Chloe's way.
She watched anxiously as he jockeyed his duffel over his shoulder and trundled toward her, head down. I don't know whether I'm going to burst into laughter or tears, she thought. She nearly bit through her knuckle.
He glanced up suddenly and saw her. His pace slowed almost to a stop, then he began to trot. The trot turned into a sprint. In front of the trophy case he dropped his duffel and grabbed her shoulders.
She smiled up at him. "I'm baa-aack."
Chloe's life returned to normal, as normal as it could be, considering. There were changes; love always brings change. Now they were officially a couple. Brett and Chloe. Chloe and Brett. They ate lunch together three, sometimes four times a week, while Muriel held down the ARC table. They had a standing date after school, either at Cal's Tex Mex or the library where Brett could play video games while Chloe read. Muriel said she didn't mind walking home alone, although Chloe felt a little pang of guilt every time she saw Muriel leaving by herself.
Football was Brett's consuming passion. Chloe didn't exactly share his fervor, but she did try. The Aspen Grove Cougars were winning, going to the playoffs, and she couldn't help getting swept up in the spirit of victory. So what if she was sandwiched between the spirit squad and the band at the games? So what if she was beginning to recite the school cheers in her sleep? So what if Brett asked her to wear jeans to the games instead of her East Indian wrap? Maybe love means never having to say you're sari.
To spend more time with Brett, Chloe cut back on her hours at the animal shelter, too. Only temporarily, she told herself, until football season is over.
"A love slave, that's what she called me." Chloe told Brett as he walked her to the animal shelter on Sunday afternoon. Chloe clucked, remembering her latest curt conversation with Muriel.
Brett smiled down on Chloe. "I like the sound of that."
The snow crunched under their feet. "I don't understand her," Chloe continued. "I'm just as committed as I've always been to the movement. Okay, so she didn't want to work the ARC table by herself. Why does that make it my fault the whole thing was abandoned? I'm still the voice of youth at the legislative committee hearing, even though she's writing the whole speech." Chloe huffed. "Oh, that doesn't bother me, but she accused you of possessing me. She said you're making me compromise my principles. I don't see you choking any cheeseburgers down me." She looked up at him. "Do you think I'm an arm ornament?"
"A what?"
"You know. Someone with no identity. A decoration. An extension of somebody else."
He laughed. "That's definitely not you, Chloe. I think of you more as . . . a hood ornament."
She slugged him in the arm. "And while we're on the subject of principles, have you been thinking about what I asked you? You know, becoming a vegetarian?" She arched an eyebrow at him.
He sighed. "Let's not get into that again."
"Do you enjoy eating animal corpses?"
He wrinkled his nose. "That's gross."
"It is gross. That's the whole point. Think about the dead flesh and chemicals you're putting into your body."
"I didn't think you had any complaints about my body."
Chloe blushed. "You know what I mean."
He took her mittened hand. She felt her conviction waning fast. "Think about the animals, Brett," she said quickly. "Six billion are slaughtered every year for food, and that's just in the U.S. Did you know that if everyone became a vegetarian we'd have four tons of grain for every starving person in the world?"
He released her hand. "Do you and Muriel sit around and memorize wikipedia, or what? Look, Chloe. I respect your beliefs, I really do. But don't force them on me, okay? Besides, I can't give up meat. I'm an athlete. We need meat for protein."
"No, you don't," Chloe's voice regained confidence as she scooted around to face him. "You can get all the protein you need from peanut butter, broccoli, soybeans, lentils. In fact, there's more protein in seaweed than there is in beef."
He smacked his lips. "Oh, yum. Pass the algae."
She smiled smugly. She had an argument he couldn't refute. "I've been doing some research. Did you know Prince Fielder is a vegetarian?"
He widened his eyes at her. "The baseball player?"
"And Tony Gonzalez."
"The tight end?"
"I guess. Although he's not a strict vegetarian anymore. He eats chicken and fish. But Murray Rose, an Australian, won three Olympic gold medals in swimming when he was only seventeen, and he was a vegetarian. And Bill Pearl was a four-time Mr. Universe weightlifter—"
Brett held up his hand. "Enough. Don't push me. I'll think about it, okay?" He shook his head. Then he smiled, reached up and yanked her beret down over her eyes. He took off and she chased him all the way to the shelter.
"I'll pick you up at five," Brett said, leaning over to kiss Chloe. "Want to go out tonight? Turk's back with Lyssya, and he thought we might all go for pizza. You know, for old times' sake."
"Gee, sorry," Chloe said. "I have a book report to write." For next month, she added to herself. "Plus, I promised Muriel—"
"That you'd read your Sports Illustrateds together?"
She laughed. Just then the door to the shelter flew open and Nicole Medina came charging out. "Chloe, I'm so glad you're here," she said, out of breath. "There's no one else working today and I need you at the desk. I just got an emergency call."
"What is it?" Chloe asked. She hoisted her bag over her shoulder.
"It's those religious fanatics who took over the church up past the mall. We got an anonymous phone tip they're planning to sacrifice a lamb at their service today."
"What!" Chloe's stomach knotted. "You can't go up there alone, Nicole. I'm coming with you."
"No, you're not," Brett said, gripping her arm. "The weirdos in those religious cults are totally wacko. If you interfere there's no telling what they'll do."
Chloe tried to wrench away, but he held firm. "Brett, they're going to kill a lamb. A little lamb for heaven's sake."
He looked from Chloe to Nicole and back to Chloe. "I'm coming with you," he said.
Nicole turned the closed sign over and locked the shelter door. "Come on then. My truck's over here."