Cindi grabs him on the way out

Matt pulled away from Cindi when she grabbed him out of the classroom. "You know, I'm really not in the mood."

She shook her head. "I want more details. It sounds like your mom's job was pretty crappy anyway, so why the sleepless look?"

"My dad left and all we have is what the three of us can earn."

"Three?"

"Me, my mom, and Karen."

"Karen is your sister, right?"

"Yeah. We don't let on at school because people are jerks and--"

{if karendance=true}"And I saw the way you danced together. So, yeah, I can see why you don't want everyone to know."

{else}"Just checking."{endif}

She won't let us drop out of school to help and all we have is the little bit I make tutoring and doing Tanya's mom's pool plus what Karen makes mucking her friend's horse stable. Not even close to what we need to pay the rent, let alone buy groceries and stuff. So she says we'll have to move back to Michigan. And believe me, we don't want that."

Cindi nodded. "Got it. I'll see what I can do to help."

Matt had to admit Cindi looked cute, her face all serious and intent, as if she really could solve all of Matt's problems.

"Don't look at me like that," she said. "I take this girlfriend thing seriously. And if you can't pay your rent, all of a sudden I'm in a long distance girlfriend which won't do either of us any good. So, if you can't fix it, it's up to me to do it."

"Come on, Cindi. Nobody is putting that kind of pressure on you."

"Nobody but me."