It was crazy. Archie handed over my coffee and gave me a long look. And I could read it in his eyes; he was already planning out how he would invite me to prom. The nerves took flight and I shook my head. What was I doing? I’d made out with Coop the night before and we both got off. I slept with Jake the night before that and we made out with a whole lot less clothes and a lot more touching. I was going to homecoming and prom with the two guys I’d made out with the least, even if I had Ian’s kisses imprinted on my brain, and I’d been fantasizing about Archie.
I hadn’t made out with Archie at all. The noise level in the cafeteria rose, but Ian’s grin remained bright as he packed away his guitar. “Surprised?”
Hiding behind my coffee, I said, “You have no idea. I thought it would be something with cookies or balloons.” Not that I really had any idea. A shout went up across the cafeteria as a girl opened a box of donuts and laughed as she said yes. “Something like that.”
Ian twisted to watch, then made a face as he faced us again. “Nah, I wanted something you could remember. We do donuts a lot.”
With a snort, Jake said, “You like fritters, not sure how to work that into an invitation.”
“Don’t get the jitters, these are just your fritters—and an invitation to homecoming…” Archie drawled then toasted me with his coffee cup. “Something like that?”
Well… “Yeah?”
“No,” Archie said with a shake of his head. “Needs more splash and whole lot more color. Ian did good. I salute you, as that will be a hard act to follow.”
Coop snickered. “Yeah, definitely, but I reserve the right to dance with you at homecoming.”
“Me, too.” Jake added.
“Why not? You need to dance at least once each with the rest of us,” Archie said.
“Heads up,” Coop said softly. “Incoming.”
Still trying to get my heart under control and the dopey grin off my face, I unwrapped my breakfast sandwich, but at Coop’s warning, I glanced up along with everyone else.
“Shit,” Jake swore, and Archie made a face.
Ian frowned, then twisted as Sharon and Maria made a beeline toward us. It was hard to miss the glare on Sharon’s face or the way she stared at me. They weren’t alone. Patty trailed a half-step behind them.
“Boys,” Maria greeted before she looked at me. “Hey, Frankie.”
“Hey,” I said, then took a bite. Yep, not sure I wanted to be a part of this conversation. Sharon slid her hand onto Ian’s shoulder, and he shifted to the side to glance at her, effectively removing his shoulder from his grasp. Without a word, he nudged his chair over, so they had more room.
Her mouth tightened and then she folded her arms.
“Anyway,” Maria said, lingering. “Wanted to come say good morning. We rarely see you guys anymore.”
“You’ll see us the game tonight,” Jake offered. “We’ll be the guys on the field.”
Coop snickered and I kicked him under the table. He grinned at me.
“You’re funny,” Patty said, her tone anything but amused as she pulled a chair over and sat next to Archie. “Hi, Archie.”
“Patty,” he said, eyeing her. The earlier amusement in his expression had vanished.
“Don’t you have something to ask me?” She tilted her head.
“Nope,” he said without batting an eyelash. When she frowned, he took a sip of coffee and then deliberately looked over to where I was eating. “When you’re done, Frankie, I need to go over the notes from Monday again.”
Washing down the mouthful and doing my best to ignore the rising tension around me, I said, “Can do. Good thing I have Gov stuff with me today.”
“Of course you do,” Patty said. “You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t prepared to do everyone’s homework. That free ride ends soon, you know.”
“Excuse you?” Of all of them, Coop was the last one I expected to suddenly sound hostile. “If you’re going to fart from your mouth, you could at least do us the courtesy of covering it. No one here needs to smell your stench.”
My mouth wasn’t the only one hanging open; Patty gaped and then glared at Archie. “Are you really going to let your friend talk to me like that?”
“Not only do I plan to let him,” Archie said in that dry, droll, and deceptive tone he engaged when he was about to slam someone. “But I encourage it. If you’re done, you can go. No one invited you over here.”
“If you’re not done,” Jake volunteered with a very unfriendly smirk. “You can still go. No one wants you here.”
“Hey,” Maria said. “We can be nice.”
“Not from where I’m sitting,” Archie told her, then looked at Patty. “You definitely need to be somewhere else while we’re still being polite.”
A part of me felt like saying the guys should dial it down. This—this happened when they were done with girls. Based on what they’d said, there’d definitely been some sex—oral or otherwise. Much as I’d already shared with Jake, at least, and now this. I’d had a front row seat to it too many times. They didn’t do the big drama, and I’d seen them be harsh, but this was cold. Uncaring. It was difficult enough because I felt for the girls. These guys were really great when they were interested, but they could shut it off just as easily.
That was part of what worried me about this whole dating thing.
Patty stood abruptly. “You’re a dick.”
“So I’ve been told,” Archie said and he’d already turned away from her. Flushed and eyes flashing, Patty glared at me. I swore she was about to cry, but she turned on her heel and marched away.
“Way to go,” Maria commented. “Do you have to be an epic asshole?”
“No,” Archie told her, not missing a beat. “I’m a dick, didn’t you hear?”
I winced and Sharon snorted. “Maybe that’s why you’re untouchable, Frankie. Because whatever you caught hanging out with these guys no one else wants.” Then she was gone just as Ian jerked around. A part of me was grateful. I really didn’t want to hear what Ian might have retaliated with. For a beat, Maria was left standing there alone.
We locked eyes and she shook her head, then raised her hands and backed off. “I’ll see you later, Frankie,” she said, ignoring the others.
“Not if she sees you first,” Jake muttered. For some reason, that made me uncomfortable. It didn’t help that with their exit, the quiet around us seemed louder for some reason. The fact we had a lot of eyes pointed our direction didn’t help, either. They’d all liked their respective girls, right up until they hadn’t.
“Ignore them, Frankie,” Coop said, his manner all relaxed again—like his Mr. Hyde hadn’t made an appearance. “Oh, that reminds me, are we getting together after the game tonight?”
“That was the plan, I thought,” Ian said tilting his head. When I glanced up, he studied me almost searchingly, and I found a smile. I was fine. I just hated it when the breakups got messy and people got hurt.
They’d shown up because it was homecoming and they all expected to be asked. The guys hadn’t been gentle about their dismissive rejections. Though, to be fair, they hadn’t been rude until the girls started it.
“We’ll see,” Archie said, his expression relaxing but there was a wariness in his eyes when I caught him looking at me. “Frankie and I have plans and we’re not cutting them short.”
I raised my eyebrows.
“I’d like not to cut them short,” he amended. “So, we’ll see.”
Ian frowned. “Yeah okay… text if you’re not going to make it?” The last he directed at me.
“Why don’t we text if we can?” Archie suggested. “That way if you don’t hear from us…”
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I shifted upward to pull it out, bumping Jake’s leg with mine. Mom’s name was on the screen, and I held up a finger to the guys. “I’ll be right back.” Then hit answer as I stood.
“Hey, Mom,” I said as I walked away.
“Hey, Arch,” Coop was saying. “Ab
out tomorrow night…”
“Frankie,” my mom greeted me with a sigh. “You’re not going to like this.”
“You’re not coming home tonight.” The fact she hadn’t shown up at all or called since her “quick” trip had been kind of telling. I headed for the edge of the cafeteria, away from people so I didn’t have to listen.
“No,” she admitted. “This is taking more than I thought it would and…I feel like I need to be here.”
Not that I knew where here was.
“Okay. You planning on coming home sometime in the next week?”
“Of course I am,” she snapped. “I just thought you shouldn’t be looking for me this weekend. I know you have to work, but I’ll transfer money to your account in case we needed groceries.”
Yeah, because why would she know what we had? “I think we need cat food, but I can check when I get home. Maybe milk.” More because it had expired than I’d used it.
“That’s good, I’ll send over a hundred. If you spend more, just tell me.”
“On cat food?” I mean, I got that she was focused on what she was doing. But who spent a hundred on cat food?
“I meant if we needed more. Look, I know I’m not there…” She sounded distracted and then the phone was muffled. Ugh. Was the boyfriend right there? Was that why the business trip was taking so long? “Sorry, someone was talking to me. Anyway, I know I’m not there. That’s why I’m calling. Is everything all right? How was your second week as a senior?”
“It was great,” I said, staring down the hall. “Just great.”
“Glad to hear it. All right, I have to go. I’ll text you soon?”
“Yep.” Then the phone clicked, and she was gone. I stared at my phone. The morning started off so promising. There were lots of things I could have told her, but I doubted she wanted to hear any of them. Not while she had so much to do.
“Frankie?”
Really? I glanced up to find Rachel studying me. “Hey, Rachel.” I straightened and slid the phone into my pocket.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” I lied. “I’m fine. Just heading back to the caf. You?”
“I’m okay.” She didn’t look like she believed me.
“Cool, did you get that poetry assignment figured out?”
“I did,” she said slowly, her smile reaching her hazel eyes. “Thank you again for your help.” She hesitated then stepped closer. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Yeah,” I said, maybe if I said it aloud enough it would become true. “Just distracted… really.”
“Okay. You still going to Archie’s party tomorrow?” Her hesitation disappeared a second later and she backed up a step.
“Of course she is,” Archie answered for me as he rolled up with my backpack in one hand and my coffee in the other. “Here…” He held it up and balanced the pack while I slid my arms into it. After I claimed my coffee, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “See you later, Rach,” he told her as he guided me away.
“The bell hasn’t rung yet,” I reminded him a couple of steps down the hallway.
“Yeah, I know, but Laura showed up at the table, and Maria looked like she was heading back, and I’m over the drama. Let the guys deal with them. You said I could look at your notes.”
I shook my head. Laura, huh? Was she fishing for a homecoming invite?
And why shouldn’t she? I had a date and that meant… “Archie, are you going to homecoming?”
“Can’t dance with you if I’m not there,” he reminded me.
“Huh… if you’re not asking Patty, who are you asking?”
“Don’t have to ask anyone,” he said, his voice low as we turned into the hall near our class. It was quiet and the lights hadn’t been turned on yet. With the cloud cover, it left us in shadows. Then he glanced at me. “Jealous of the idea of me taking someone else?”
“I don’t think so,” I said slowly, unwilling to commit to it fully. At least not until I had to deal with it. “It’s not like I haven’t had to watch you guys date before.”
“Uh huh,” he said slowly. “You are jealous.” He seemed enormously pleased by the idea.
Elbowing him, I glared. “I am not.”
“Hey,” he said, spreading his hands. “It’s fine. It means you like me.” The last was said with a note of wonder.
“If you didn’t think I liked you, why did you ask me to prom?” Would I ever understand boys?
“Because I didn’t want anyone else to ask you first, and I want to be the one who puts the look on your face that Bubba just did.” Archie held out his hand. “And I couldn’t wait for tonight.”
“You haven’t told me where we’re going to eat.”
“It’s a surprise. Think I can talk you into a pretty dress? You don’t have to; you can wear whatever you want.”
“Are you going like this?” I asked, motioning to his button down and shorts.
He shrugged. “I can swing by my place and change if I can talk you into dressing up.”
I didn’t have a huge wardrobe but… Mom and I were close to the same size. “I can try. I’ll look at my closet when we get home.”
“Great… now, notes?” He turned his puppy dog eyes on me and I laughed.
“Yeah, c’mon.” I led the way toward the class.
“You still bringing the French guy tomorrow night?” he asked almost conversationally as we reached our desks.
“That was my plan,” I told him, keeping my attention on my backpack. Though, I was kind of torn. Maybe I should talk to Mathieu before the party and make sure he was up for going, considering. That would be the right thing to do.
“Good,” Archie said, and I glanced at him. Surprise rippled through me, but he just smiled. “I told you, I want to meet him.”
Yeah. I should definitely talk to Mathieu ahead of time. Shaking that off, I dug out my notebook and handed it over.
“Thank you,” Archie said curling his fingers over mine. “Tonight?”
“You and me, I know.”
“Yeah, but if you want to go see everyone else, we can. I just wanted to give us some free time to do whatever we wanted.”
My stomach tightened and tingles went over my scalp as he kept holding my hand. “Sounds like a plan.”
His smile grew wider. “Excellent.” Then with a huff he flipped my notebook open and stared at the notes. “This stuff? Not so much.”
With a grin, I sipped my coffee and tried to pretend I wasn’t studying Archie. This guy? The warm, funny one with the wry sense of humor and the wicked playfulness? This was the guy I liked. That cold one in the cafeteria who shut Patty down so mercilessly along with Coop and even Jake?
Yeah, those weren’t my favorites.
I’d already talked to Jake about what would happen if I ever became one of those girls. He insisted it wouldn’t happen, but maybe I should talk to all of the guys about it.
It was one thing to be untouchable.
I don’t think I could stand it if I became invisible.
Chapter Twenty-One
Friday nights are for fun, too
Ian walked me to French again. Mathieu smiled when he saw us, his expression relaxed and without a trace of discomfort or irritation. His reaction relieved me and at the same time threatened to plunge me into another vat of guilt. With a squeeze of my fingers, Ian gave Mathieu a look then promised to meet me at lunch.
When I faced Mathieu again, he still smiled. “I heard he asked you to homecoming.”
“He did,” I admitted. “Mathieu…”
“Your boyfriends are stepping up,” he commented, but his beautiful accent made the words even more lyrical. My boyfriends. “It is about time. If half of what I have heard is true, it is more than time.”
Heat scorched my ears. I didn’t want to think about what stories he’d heard. “About tomorrow night…”
“You wish to remain only friends, yes?”
I nodded slowly. “I had a really good time with you on Sunday.” B
eyond good. Sunday changed everything. Had it really only been five days earlier?
“But you do not wish a dalliance.” Who used words like that? His eyes were kind. “And the party tomorrow evening?”
“I invited you,” I promised him. “I’d still like to take you, but it’s okay if you want to say no, considering.”
“Friends can go to parties together, yes?”
“Yes. They can.”
“Then we shall go as friends and have fun.”
That was that. By the time I slid into my desk, I felt a lot better about the whole thing. It hadn’t been fair to let him think one thing. If his reaction was anything to go by, he didn’t mind at all, and I trusted him at his word. We’d have a good time at the party and, hopefully, he’d get to know more people. After it was over, I’d let the guys know.
Did I want to wait until after?
Yeah. I did. After. If I told them before, there would be a chance they’d give me hell about taking him in the first place. After was just better, because all four of them in the same place when it was a party, and I would probably make a fool out of myself without something to distract me.
Decided, I focused on my classes. The incident with the girls and my mom’s call had diminished some of my joy at Ian’s invite. Thankfully, it had also eased some of my embarrassment. A couple of the girls in French told me they’d seen the ask and they were impressed.
Weirdly, I caught more people nodding to me or talking to me. Maybe I was imagining it, but I didn’t usually hang out with the others. My circle of friends had narrowed over the years until those four pretty much dominated it. Cheryl caught up with me as I ducked into the bathroom between French and AP Lit.
“Oh my god,” she said, her voice an excited squeal even as I shut myself into a stall. “I got the caf this morning just in time to hear Bubba sing to you. That’s so cool.”
It was. “It was…something else.” Awkward as hell to talk about in the bathroom, though. It wasn’t that I hadn’t heard dozens of these conversations, they’d just rarely involved me. Not really. Not since sophomore year, and even then they’d been on the decline.
Rules and Roses: Untouchable Book One Page 28