Sometime during that week I met my Dad for the last time before he went back to Chicago.

It was good to see him, but somehow we both knew that things were going to be different. It wasn't the divorce that had changed things irrevocably between us, it was the fact that the main guy in my life was no longer my Daddy.

I watched him go feeling like it was the true end of an era. Any thoughts that the divorce might not be permanent were dashed. I also began to realize for the first time that if I had to choose between seeing Ace or going to college, I'd rather be with Ace.

Sorry, Dad, I thought to myself. I had no intention of being his third wheel.

"I...um..." I stammered over the phone. Kenny Carmody had called on Thursday night and until he did, I almost had forgotten about him. There was an unspoken agreement between Ace and me. It was just the two of us, unless I was much mistaken, and there wasn't any room for people like Kenny, or Betty, or anyone else.

But with my mother hovering only inches behind me and without a decent excuse about why to turn him down, I desperately bit my lip.

"Sure. A movie tomorrow would be nice." I ended up saying. My mother gave a pleased smile as I squeezed the phone in absolute misery. I never felt right about the idea of being alone with Kenny, and now the feeling was double. The worst part of it was wasting precious time that could have been spent with Ace.

"Great, Marley. Maybe we can get a bite to eat before the movie. Pick you up at 5?" Kenny asked. My mother nodded like it was her telephone conversation and not mine.

"Okay. See you then." I said numbly. I hung up the phone wondering what I was going to tell Ace. I didn't want to screw up whatever it was we had, but going on a date with another guy seemed like a surefire way to do it.

"Marley, this is wonderful! Kenneth must really like you to go to all this trouble." Mom said. I couldn't understand why, though. We'd only had one awkward conversation in Jane's kitchen at 4am on a Saturday morning. It wasn't love at first sight, though I knew my mother would not accept any other explanation.

"And you trust me going to the drive-in by myself? With a boy? Unsupervised?" I asked, trying to hammer in the facts. Mom was nonplussed.

"Oh, please. If all those years at that convent didn't make you a mature young lady, then nothing will." She said.

"It wasn't a convent, woman!" I exclaimed. My mother's eyes crinkled as she laughed and she put her hand on my shoulder. I hadn't even gotten "the talk" yet, so I knew she was probably feeling very certain that neither Kenny nor I would have any big aspirations for this first date.

"Kenneth is a nice boy. You're a nice girl. I think both of you can be trusted, sweetheart." Mom told me. There was something wistful in her eyes and I knew she was getting more worked up over this date than I was. Maybe that was the problem.

"You have no idea, Mom. I'm a raging cannon of desire." I said. I had no idea how my face looked, but my mother burst into another fit of laughter at my declaration.

I was trying to tell her anything to get her to want to come with us, to chaperone us. It would have been a hell of a lot easier to explain to Ace that I saw Kenny with my mother in tow.

"I know you're nervous, honey, but there's nothing to be nervous about. I'm sure Kenneth is just a gentleman. Just try to relax and have a wonderful time." Mom pulled me into one of her motherly hugs of suffocation while I wondered how she could be so sure that Kenny was a gentleman.

If there was one thing Ace taught me about guys, it's that wolves aren't the exception. They're the rule.

I sat down in my usual seat in US History, just behind Mr. Carter's desk. Frankie Dodd had been accustomed to sitting behind me, but this week Ace had made it very clear that he was entitled to sit behind me for as long as he pleased.

Ace slipped into Frankie's old seat and I immediately felt the warmth in my cheeks rise. Ace always made me feel like every time seeing him was the very first time. I swallowed a lovestruck grin and reminded myself that I needed to tell Ace what my plans were that night.

"How's the paper coming, Marley?" Frankie sat to the desk beside me and avoided the dirty looks Ace was giving him. I sighed.

"It's slow going, Frankie. I'm sorry." I admitted. Every time Ace and I got together it always seemed like other things took precedent over getting the paper done. Whether it was talking or...not talking.

"That's okay. I was wondering if you wanted any help with it. You could come over to my house if you wanted." Frankie asked. Frankie wasn't a small guy by any means, being on the football team and all. He was tall and well-defined, with broad-shoulders, and all that. But Ace was Ace, and Frankie must have been pretty gutsy or absolutely oblivious to have asked me over to his house in front of Ace.

"We got it covered." Ace said without missing a beat.

"I'm asking Marley." Frankie said in a rare show of defiance. I gaped at him in shock. Frankie was the nice guy, a real peacemaker type.

"And I'm telling you to rethink it, pal." Ace said smoothly, in that quiet, lethal way. I was flattered at Ace's protectiveness, and a part of me absolutely adored him for it, but another part of me was extremely indignant. Frankie was another exception to the rule and I hated that Ace was trying to bully him on my behalf.

"It's fine, Ace. And thanks for offering to help, Frankie, but I just need to sit down and get it done." I said, turning around and waiting for the blessed bell to ring. If someone had told me last year that I'd be in the middle of a love quadrangle, I would have laughed my ass off. But life is weird and stupid and I've never been able to make heads or tails of it for anything.

After school I waited patiently by the curb for Ace to pick me up, as he had been doing that entire week. We were settling into a nice routine together and I hated to think just how sour our conversation would go once I told him about Kenny.

Maybe I'd have to get used to my old routine of walking home.

Ace pulled up a minute later and held the door open for me with a half-smile. Come to think of it, there was more than one thing I needed to confess. God help me but I wanted to start doing the right thing.

I settled into the car beside Ace, my back ramrod straight from nervousness. Ace glanced over at me and laughed a bit.

"Something on your mind, Doll?" He teased. I took a deep breath.

"I'm going to the movies with Kenny tonight." I said. I waited for a big blowup, the fireworks, the yelling, everything. But Ace stayed quiet. Maybe he hadn't heard.

"I said I'm going-"

"I heard what you said. And you're not fucking going." Ace told me calmly, pulling the cigarette from behind his ear and placing it between his lips.

"What am I supposed to do? If I cancel again, my mom will kill me." I said. Surely Ace could understand I was in between a rock and a hard place on this one.

"Should have figured that out before you agreed to go with him." Ace replied. My mouth popped open and I realized that I would have preferred a shouting match over this. I don't know what I wanted, but maybe it would have been nice to have a little sympathy. I knew just looking at Ace that sympathy was a foreign concept in this case.

"I had no choice." I said lamely. Maybe I did have a choice. Was I really so afraid of my own mother? I hadn't even considered telling her that I was dating Ace, and I figured that this was probably the root of the whole thing. Ace must have thought I was ashamed of him.

"One time I told you I had no choice. You didn't believe me then, and I don't believe you now." Ace said. He had me there.

The two of us sat quietly as he drove me home, and I wondered why I hadn't even thought about telling my mom about Ace. It wouldn't have been any wonder if Ace felt insulted. I was such a hypocrite.

"I'm sorry." I said, my tongue feeling very heavy in my mouth. It was hard knowing I'd done something wrong, really wrong, to someone I loved.

Ace remained silent the rest of the way to my house and I felt extremely guilty. As soon as he pulled up near my driveway he gave a quick nod to see me off. No argument, no "don't go with him," no protests of any kind. He was ready to let me out of the car without question.

It broke my heart for several reasons. And I hadn't even confessed the big thing yet. I had gone behind his back and went to "The Emporium Galorium," selling my soul to his Uncle Reggie for a replacement baseball.

"Listen, you have every right to be mad. I'm mad at me, too. Tell me what you want me to do, Ace, and I'll do it." I said. I was poised to leave the car if I didn't get a response, but I was desperately hoping I would.

Ace fiddled with his cigarette and didn't say anything. I got out of the car and left, wondering what the hell I should have done in the first place.

"You can borrow my lipstick, tonight, if you want, honey." Mom said. I was examining myself in the bathroom mirror not long after I got out of Ace's car. I wanted to get a good look at a real jerk.

"Nah, that's okay, Mom." I said. A feeling of nausea and fear was rumbling low in my belly, and I could see my hands shaking in the mirror.

"Mom?" I asked. My mother was running her fingers through my hair, probably trying to think of ways to dress it up for the date.

"Mm?" She murmured.

"After tonight I'm going to tell Kenny I don't want to see him anymore." I said. My mother doubled-back as if I'd just told her that I worshiped Satan. Her eyes had never been so wide and terrifying.

"What?" She said. We were both very quiet and I could hear Betsey stacking toy blocks in her room and knocking them over with audible delight. I licked my lips and repeated myself.

"Why? He's perfect for you, Marlene. Good family, decent living, handsome, all-around nice boy, and you don't want to see him anymore?" My mother's voice was extremely shrill and I struggled to feel courage thinking of Ace. I was standing up for us like I should have done in the beginning.

"We don't have anything in common, Mom. I don't like him that way. I definitely don't think I could love him, either." I admitted. My mother's nostrils flared and I braced myself.

"What in God's name does love have to do with it?" She nearly yelled. I blinked at her reflection in the mirror and it was like my entire view of my parents' marriage had been wiped clean in one sentence.

Maybe I was the fool here, but I had always assumed that my parents loved each other, and they loved me and Betsey. That's why the divorce had been so hard to take. I always thought we were happy. But come to find out...nothing was as I imagined it to be.

"It matters because...I'm in love with someone else." I said quietly. My mother sighed deeply from within, her small frame heaving from the effort. I was screwing up her plans with my feelings.

"I hate to be the one to give you this hard lesson, sweetheart, but love doesn't mean anything in our situation." Mom said. Her words were harsh, and cut me deeply, though her face and tone had softened. She wasn't trying to hurt me on purpose.

"Our situation?" I asked. My mother glanced down and pursed her lips.

"How many options do you think you have?" Mom asked me. I felt cold inside and I remembered Mr. Carter's promise to help me get into college. I thought of Ace working as a mechanic at the Camber place and weekends at the Speedway. If I managed to get a minimum wage job, how hard would the two of us have to struggle to make ends meet?

Come to think of it, Ace and I had never really talked about the future. He probably didn't want to be saddled with me anyway.

"You're a smart girl, sweetheart, and even if you went to college, I don't know how comfortably you could support yourself alone. It's a man's world, honey. It always has been. And believe me when I say that life would be so much easier with a husband." Mom said, once again running gentle fingers through my hair.

I could feel my eyes prickle with confused, angry tears. Mom was my enemy right now, but she was mostly right. And I knew deep down, however screwed up she was, she really did care and wanted what was best for me.

"It isn't about love, sweet baby. It's about making it. Surviving." Mom said, almost too soft to hear. But I heard all right.

I let my mother play with my hair and my makeup while I sat in front of the mirror and mulled over the bombshell I'd just been blessed with. I had been given a great deal to think about.

Once she was satisfied that I looked decent, she went into the other room to play with Betsey. I was left by myself and it only took about thirty seconds for me to burst into quiet tears. I cried like that for a long time until it was almost five o clock. Kenny would be waiting.

Kenny had gotten our address from his mother and promptly at 5pm, Kenny was waiting at the door with a single red rose in his hand. My mother answered him grandly, with all the appropriate social graces. She led him around the house for a quick tour while I continued to stare at my reflection in the bathroom mirror.

My eyes were puffy and my face was still a little red. I would have given anything to just retreat to my bedroom and cry for the rest of the day in perfect solitude. I didn't want to be around anyone.

My mother knocked on the bathroom door and I swallowed what was left of my sorrow. I emerged with a smile plastered on my face that my mother didn't even suspect was disingenuous. And somehow that hurt a lot worse than I imagined it would.

"Hi, Marley. You look great!" Kenny said with the right amount of enthusiasm. It was like he and my mother were creating this perfect social dance together, hitting all the right notes. When I came in, no one seemed to care that all of my notes were flat and hollow.

"You two have a wonderful time." My mother said, ushering us out of the door. Kenny offered me his arm and I mechanically took it, the two of us walking to the car. It was too perfect, like something out of a storybook. But I had been raised on Lovecraft, and while this behavior should have made me swoon, I was beginning to wonder whether Kenny was some sort of alien planning to indoctrinate me, devour me, or infect me with something insidious.

I held the rose in my lap as we drove off. I looked at it idly, noticing that the thorns had been cut off. It was unnatural, and way too perfect as well. It was a simulation of beauty rather than the real thing. I had come to know what the real thing looked like, and Ace wasn't perfect. But he was beautiful, and I loved him, thorns and all.

Without realizing it, I was crying again. Kenny was staring blissfully ahead and I knew what kind of life I would lead if I married Kenny, or someone like him. Marrying someone for all the wrong reasons.

We'd never ask one another how we were feeling inside, or whether we were happy. And maybe one day I'd get left behind to raise my children alone.

"Kenny, I have something to say." I told him. We were headed toward Lewiston and presumably a favorite restaurant of his. Kenny glanced over at me with a casual smile that was stifling in its generic glory.

"What's that, Marley?" He asked. He hadn't noticed I was crying, or if he had, he wasn't about to be the first to mention it. I hated that.

"I don't think I can go through with this." I said. My eyes were a little blurry and I struggled to keep my words calm.

"You don't feel well?" Kenny asked. I felt like laughing but it would have come out awfully bitter.

"No, I don't. I have someone else I'm involved with. I'm sorry I didn't mention it sooner." I said. Kenny's placid expression didn't really change much, as if he wasn't that surprised by my admission. It struck me that Kenny probably didn't like me in that way either, but he was playing the exact same game my mother was playing. It just seemed like we should be together, that we were perfect on paper rather than in practice.

"I figured as much. The whole 'faking sick' thing last week was a little dicey. Why else would you make that up unless you had another date or something?" Kenny smirked. He was no idiot, but I didn't like the way that he knew the truth and had decided not to confront me about it. Like he didn't care that I was lying to him.

"Yeah, I did. And I don't feel right about going on this date. I'm so sorry, Kenny." I admitted.

"I think we're both doing this because of our moms, right? It's no big deal." He said. I couldn't tell if he was relieved or annoyed, and it was probably because he was neither. It was all the same to Kenny.

What the hell was I doing, anyway? I knew where I was supposed to be, and it wasn't here.

"We have two choices, I guess. Maybe three. We could go on the date to please our respective parents and then once it's over, that'll be the end of it. Or I could drop you back home." Kenny suggested. I swallowed hard.

"And choice number three?" I asked, somewhat warily. Kenny smiled and gave a half-shrug.

"I could drop you off somewhere and we could say we went on the date." Kenny said. It was the best thing I'd heard all day. I nodded emphatically.

I was let off back in Castle Rock and I began to walk.

I knew exactly where I was going. I had been to his house so many times by now it was second nature. I could have walked it in the dark.

I made it there a little after six and I knew no one was home.

I hadn't met Ace's father yet, and Ace's car wasn't there, either. For a split second I worried that maybe Ace was going to get me back by going on a date with Betty Malenfant for the evening. It was probably exactly what I deserved. I would just have to get over it.

I walked up to the porch and sat on the steps, waiting patiently for Ace to come back. I must have fallen asleep because before I realized it, someone was rubbing my arm and I opened my eyes to see Ace sitting beside me.

I must have looked suitably devastated and contrite, because Ace didn't look that mad anymore.

"Where's Kenny?" He asked, gently teasing.

"I couldn't do it. I don't care what happens to me." I said. I couldn't shake what my mother had said to me before I left. It was echoing within me.

Ace leaned over to me and kissed me gently, cupping the side of my face with his hand.

"I know." Ace said, pulling away slowly. I looked down into my lap guiltily, knowing I shouldn't have even gotten myself into this mess at all.

"I'm an asshole. I really screwed up this time. You don't deserve that." I said. Ace scoffed and started to grin at me.

"I don't care." He said. His eyes felt like they penetrated my body and soul. It was beautiful and unnerving at the same time.

"I care. You deserve better." I insisted. Ace rolled his eyes at me and I honestly didn't know how to take it.

"I want you. Maybe because I love you." Ace said. It was the first time he'd said it, even though I sometimes knew he felt that way. But hearing it made my heart soar and my heart began breaking an all-time speed record.

"I want you, too." I said. My cheeks were flaming hot and I realized I'd just confirmed something completely major. I really wanted him.

I placed my hand on his chest and tried to steady my nerves. I started to kiss his neck, using the very tip of my tongue along the way. Ace grabbed my arms and pulled me against him, kissing me hard.

I'd just opened Pandora's Box.