Just Ask Read Online Free PDF Page A

now. “Thanks. Sorry to dump like that.”
    This is one of those times when I try to give hersome space. And I try not to get too aggravated if she acts like my life is so perfect. Mostly I know she doesn't really mean it; she's just hurting over her family's troubles. And hey, maybe she is a little jealous.
    We talk and joke some more, and Natalie's mood slowly improves. Then the table gets quiet, and Jake picks up the newspaper that's sitting at his elbow. “Did you guys see this new teen column?”
    I take in a quick breath. Just chill. Remain calm. Do not give anything away. “No, what is it?”
    “Don't you even read your dad's newspaper?” Natalie knows this embarrasses me.
    “Your dad owns the paper?” asks Cesar.
    I laugh. “No, he just acts, like it. Actually, he's the managing editor.”
    “Well, you should read this advice column.” Jake turns to the Teen Beat page and hands it to me.
    Now I can't tell, by the tone of his voice, whether he approves of it or not. But I am getting seriously unnerved as I take the newspaper and pretend to skim over the very words I wrote earlier this week. “Yeah, so?”
    “Don't you think it's funny?” he asks.
    “What do you mean?”
    “You must not have read the one about the girl who caught her uncle trying on her grandma's nightgown,” says Natalie, suppressing laughter. “Jamie's response was hilarious. She has such a great sense of humor.”
    “How do you know it's a she?” asks Cesar. “I think Jamie must be a guy.”
    “No way,” argues Natalie. “Jamie's got to be a girl.”
    And on they go arguing over Jamie's gender. In order to continue my charade, I take turns on different sides as I attempt to act unimpressed by the column in general. But it seems fairly clear that Cesar and Natalie actually like it. Jake's still not quite sure.
    “I don't know…” he says. “I think I would've told the belly-button girl to just go ahead and pierce it. I mean, it's her body. Why should her parents get to decide what she does with her own belly button anyway?”
    “Of course you'd think that.” Natalie points to the dragon climbing up his arm. “I mean, you've got a tattoo. Did your parents give you permission to do that?”
    He laughs. “Hey, they were so checked out at the time. Like they never even noticed it for about a year or so.”
    “And what did they do then?” I ask.
    He shrugs. “Nothing.” But his eyes seem sort of sad, and I suspect that he'd hoped for a bigger reaction.
    “Hey, have you heard from Chloe lately?” I ask Cesar, thinking we must be about ready for a new subject by now.
    “Not for a couple of weeks. But I think their concert tour is really tough this time. It's taking a lot out of them. It sounds like they play almost every other night.”
    “Won't they be home soon?” I ask.
    “Yeah. They're supposed to be back in school this fall.”
    “That's cool,” I say. “I felt like I was just getting to know Chloe again last spring.”
    “She's great,” says Cesar.
    Jake gives him an elbow in the ribs. “Yeah, Cesar's still hot for Chloe.”
    Cesar narrows his eyes slightly. “I am not, Jake. I just happen to think she's a cool girl. And I admire what she's doing with her life.”
    “So do I,” says Natalie. “She's really serving God with her music.”
    And suddenly the three of them are going on and on about God and Jesus, and they are definitely losing my interest. Finally, I tell Natalie that I need to get back home. It's not really true, but it gets me out of a conversation that was getting increasingly uncomfortable. I mean, Cesar and Jake are nice guys and everything, but when they get going about religion, with Natalie around, well, it turns into a lose-lose situation for me.
    And now it's time to answer another “Just Ask Jamie” letter. After sorting through some of the tougher subjects—things I don't feel quite up for tonight—I go with one that seemed pretty simple and straightforward, at least to