“Yeah, but you took her to the spring dance.”
He sighed, but didn’t look away. “Yeah, I did. It was kind of so we would both have someone to go with.” He made a little click of sound and grimaced. “You stopped talking to us right around then. Got super busy and stuff. Maria was around…”
“So in other words, you asked her out because I was gone?”
“Well, when you put it like that,” he sounded vaguely disgusted. “Why are you asking?”
“Something I heard Sharon say in the bathroom.”
His eyes narrowed. “What did she say?”
“Why she’s pissed at me.” I flipped the book to the first chapter I needed to review. “She and Maria didn’t know I was in there.” Usually, I’d defend Sharon. I’d felt bad for her.
Kind of didn’t anymore.
“She didn’t do my car, or at least, that was what she said to Maria. Wish she’d done it because apparently, me seeing it was hilarious to her, and she’s not even as mad that Ian asked me to Homecoming. She’s pissed I came back after finally going away.”
“Yeah well, fuck her.” Vehemence punched up the last word.
“I’ll pass.”
He gawked for a moment, then a grin split his face as he laughed. “There she is—there’s my baby girl.”
I pressed a finger to his lips and shook my head. “Not at school, remember?”
Snorting, he stood and dragged his desk closer so he could sit next to me. “Yeah, yeah. I even know why for the rule, just not a fan, especially when you’re hurting.”
“I’m mad.”
“What else did she say?”
I filled him in on the rest, including the mysterious whatever Maria might say to him that would change his mind. A part of me was testing him. I recognized it. I trusted Jake.
“I have no idea what she’s talking about,” he said. “And before you ask, no it has nothing to do with the news I don’t want to jinx yet.”
“Sorry,” I said with a wince. “Trying to not ask is actually harder than you might think.”
“Considering I’m sitting here not opening that letter because I want to know what it is, I totally get it.” He put his hand over mine. “I mean it, Frankie. I don’t know what they were talking about. More, I don’t care. I’m right where I want to be. So, maybe they did get one thing right. I’m the ass that probably wouldn’t have tried the dating thing with her if you’d still been there. But I was… I was pissed off that you just blew all of us off. Then wondering why I was still so hung up on someone who didn’t see me.”
That wasn’t unfair.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I really didn’t know.”
“We know,” he said. “And we were not exactly the best about showing it either. But we’re here now, we’re making it work.”
We were.
“And Sharon hates my guts.”
“Not defending her anymore?”
I touched my tongue to my upper lip before I shook my head. “No.”
Then because he kept glancing at it, I slit the letter open.
Not even sure where to begin this note. The last few days have been terrible for you. I did leave a note on the car yesterday, but I don’t think anything in it can be used against you. If someone does, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.
I’d like to try and meet you again if you’re up for it. I know last Saturday was bad, and this week hasn’t improved much. If you want to, just wear a red shirt tomorrow. Cheesy, I know, but I think you could use a friend, and I’d like to be that friend.
“He wants to be your friend,” Jake said slowly, the words grinding out between his teeth.
“So it seems… and in the interests of being honest, I’d had half an idea to write my own note and leave it on the car for him. To see if we could take a step back from these anonymous missives and meet.”
“You did?” Wariness crept into his expression.
“I was going to, but I didn’t, and I’m kind of glad I didn’t since that would have been yesterday with my car.” In all of it… “I forgot to tell you about Laura.” I put the note down. Maybe I should tell Coop first.
“What about Laura?”
I deserved the startled look. I was kind of bouncing from subject to subject. “That was what they were talking about when they came in. The note on my essay prompt—it was Laura. Apparently, she was suspended today. I need to tell Coop.” Scrubbing my hands over my face, I groaned. “But now I need to read.”
“Hey.” Jake caught one of my hands. “I’ll tell Coop. You read that chapter, and I’ll quiz you at the end? I’ll read it again, too.”
“You’re not the one who screwed up your test.”
“Well, I am the one who is part of the distracting,” he said. “So let me help? And note, I’m not asking if you’re going to wear that shirt tomorrow.”
“Thank you, and I don’t know. I don’t know if everything hasn’t gotten complicated, and tomorrow—yeah.” Bad meatloaf for dinner.
Yay.
As promised, he let me read, but I just couldn’t focus on the passages. My brain kept tracking back to the conversation in the bathroom, to the notes, and now to the letters. Mr. Thorns had made me smile the last couple of weeks, but with all the drama, did I really need to drag him into it?
It wasn’t really fair to the guys, either.
Five minutes before the bell, I gave up and just packed away my books.
“We’re going to fix this,” Jake said quietly, and I chuckled.
Everything had been spiraling. “I have to fix me. Applications open in a week. I can’t afford for my GPA to slip.”
“It won’t.”
“You have a lot of faith in me.”
“I know you,” he reminded me as the bell rang, and then snagged my backpack before I could. “I know just how smart you are. You can do this.”
The pep talk helped, some. So did finding Archie and Coop waiting for me at Archie’s car. Ian was there, too. It was a good reminder. They were on my side.
I ended up filling Archie and Coop in on the ride home. They were both irritated about Laura, but Coop also seemed confused, and I felt bad being the one to tell him. Sharon didn’t surprise them, but we’d all pretty much assumed she’d done the photos. The car thing still remained a mystery. One we weren’t solving today.
Thankfully, Mom wasn’t home when we got there. While her earlier message had said she’d be home Friday, there was the smallest amount of dread she’d be waiting for me. Right now, she was the last person I wanted to see.
Guilt assailed me the moment that thought took root. Unsurprisingly, the guys all showed up at Mason’s with Archie and Coop following me, even after I turned down the ride. I needed the time in my car.
Cranking the music up as I drove helped chase away some of the bleaker thoughts.
Work. Then home to study. Then sleep. I needed to get my grades up and keep them there. No more excuses.
Staying focused at work was harder than it sounded. Normally, I just let the work distract me, but I found myself studying every teenage face that came in. Were they ones that covered my car in condoms? If Laura was the one who left the note on my essay, I’d bet money Sharon left the one in my locker. Though the guys didn’t recognize the writing, it wasn’t like I made a point of studying her penmanship.
When the girl herself showed up, I put on my big girl panties and waited on her, Maria, and their friends. I kept moving, even with the guys congregating in the corner after Jake and Ian got done with football. By the end of shift I was so tired, all I wanted to do was go home and crash. But I had at least two hours of homework to do, including getting some reading done for lit.
If this weekend was at all like the last one, I’d do nothing but fall further behind. Not acceptable.
The guys were waiting by my car when I came out. “Hey…” What was wrong?
“We’ve been talking,” Archie began without preamble. Those words didn’t always bode well
. “Today worked, right?”
“You mean the escort from class to class?” I shrugged. “Yeah, it was fine. A little unfair to all of you having to come find me, but yeah, it was good.”
“No notes in the locker?” Coop pressed. “Well, except for the wannabe boyfriend.”
Ian smacked Coop against the chest with the back of his hand.
“Hey, it’s a legit description,” Coop argued.
“No, no other notes.”
“So just the thing with the girls in the bathroom, and they didn’t know you were there,” Archie confirmed.
“Yeah, we talked about this earlier. Why are we going over it again?”
“Because we think we should do that regularly. One of us will come get you and Coop, right now it’ll be me or Jake,” Archie said. “We keep your car off campus, no one messes with it.”
“And I’m working on getting a car,” Coop admitted, and I wasn’t the only one who gawked at him. “What? I have savings, I just never really needed one before.”
I wasn’t going to point out he didn’t really need one now, he always rode with me or one of the guys. “That’s great, but I can’t just be dependent on you guys for rides. I do other things.”
Not much, and arguably, four faintly skeptical expressions said the same. “Look, the only day that’s tricky is Tuesdays,” Ian offered. “I’m on my bike and I can take you, but Coop would have to ride with one of the others.”
“And we can make it work,” Archie said. “But until we figure this out, none of us want to risk you.”
“Stop,” I said waving my hands. “There’s no risking me. It’s some crappy pranks and yes, do I want to slug the guy who did that to my car? Yes, I do. But I’m not changing another part of my life for anyone.” Bad enough Mom wanted to do that for both of us. “I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. Sharon hates me. Check. Laura got suspended for taking a swipe at me. Fine. Maria apparently doesn’t hate me, so, yay me. But I have to study, I need to be focused on stuff that isn’t this.”
“We know,” Jake said quietly, hands in his pockets. “That’s why we want to make sure we can block out the noise. Your whole routine is shot.”
Yes it was.
I blew out a breath. “I appreciate everything, guys, I really do. I know you have my back, but I need to go home and focus on me for a bit. I need to get this homework done.”
“So no playdates,” Archie said, not looking at me so much as at Coop and Jake.
We hadn’t really discussed last night, and I kind of wanted to keep it that way. “If you don’t mind, and we’ll figure out dinner tomorrow?”
He made a low, disgusted noise. “We will, but I’m betting you money Edward cancels at the last minute, and we won’t have to deal with either of them.”
I really didn’t know what to feel about that. Mom engaged? Just no. “Fingers crossed.”
I got a gentle hug from each of them and a kiss from Archie and Ian, both light and affectionate. Jake just nuzzled a gentle one to my jaw, before whispering, “Sleep well, and I’m up if you need me. I can time stuff or whatever.”
Sometimes, I wondered what I’d done right because the guys did get me, even when they didn’t always seem to understand. Coop kept it light on the drive home. At the apartments, I checked Mom’s spot automatically. It was empty. One of these days, I was just going to park there and be a rebel. It wasn’t like she was using it.
Coop walked me to the door, and unlike the last three days, he didn’t pin me there for a hot, devouring kiss so much as give me a careful hug and an even sweeter kiss. “Go on inside and lock up. Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks, Coop—for everything.”
“Anytime, you know that, and I’m sorry about Laura.”
“Not your fault,” I reminded him. “Even if you were a bit of a jerk.”
“Yeah,” he said with a grimace. “I’m working on that.”
Another light kiss, and then I let myself in. I closed the door and locked it before leaning back and closing my eyes. The cramps coupled with the headache I currently nursed and my sore feet didn’t make me want to do much. Shower, then I’d make a sandwich and get it done. It was only after I pushed off the door that I realized the cats hadn’t come out to greet me.
That was… weird.
The single light in the kitchen was on, I always left the one over the stove lit when I’d be getting back after dark.
There was also a light in the living room on that I hadn’t turned on before I left.
The living room was quiet otherwise, and there were no cats on the sofa. Where the hell were the cats? “Tiddles?” I called as I headed for the hallway. Of the three, he was always out to meet me.
The door to my room was closed, and in the half-light of the hallway, shadows elongating courtesy of the yellow lamp in the living room, I froze. It was like being in a horror movie.
I tugged my phone from my pocket and pulled up Coop’s contact. He was closest. But I didn’t hit connect. Maybe I shut the door on my way out? My bathroom door was closed too, and I never shut that when I left. Their litter box was in there.
As I pushed open the door to my room, the yowling of the cats immediately greeted me. Tabby raced out between my feet and straight to the bathroom door—which was closed. I pivoted and shoved that door open for her, too.
No way I shut the cats in my room.
Apprehension wrapped cool fingers around my spine as the door to my mom’s room opened and her laughter floated out. “Let me just get us a drink…”
And there she was, wearing nothing but a t-shirt and her hair was a wreck and the door was open wide enough I had a perfect view of Mr. Standish—shirtless in Mom’s bed.
I think I just threw up in my mouth.
Worse, my mom just grinned when she saw me. “Hey, baby. Sorry, keep the cats in your room tonight, okay? Eddie doesn’t like them.” She closed the door and headed for the kitchen.
Yep.
Horror movie.
Called it.
Chapter Twenty
At the Bottom Of Everything
I showered swiftly, not wanting to be out of my room longer than absolutely necessary. In fact, I didn’t even want to be in my apartment. She’d seriously brought him here. Her car hadn’t been in the lot, so he’d probably driven her. I ran a comb through my wet hair and left it to dry on its own. In my pajamas, I stuffed ear buds in and cranked up my music before leaving the bathroom.
I didn’t want to even accidentally hear anything.
So. Gross.
In the kitchen, I made a sandwich, grabbed two sodas and a bottle of water, then a bag of chips. I wanted no excuses to have to come back out. Then I horded everything into my room and even grabbed the cat’s litter box—I’d rather leave it in my bathroom, thank you very much—but if they had to be trapped with me, then I wasn’t going to make them suffer.
Instead of sitting on the bed, I hunkered down on the floor on the far side of it, using the bed as a barrier between me and the door. Then I stared down at my phone.
I’d left the guys, what? Forty minutes earlier? If that? Torn between laughter, tears, and fury was not a good place to be. I should have grabbed the damn ice cream when I was in the kitchen. I’d finished the sandwich, and the unsettled feeling wasn’t going away.
Music still cranked, I opened the text messages. My finger hovered from one to the others and back—finally, I went to the group text I had with them. It wasn’t as active, unless we were planning something or checking on morning coffee.
Me: Anyone still up?
My phone pinged in rapid succession.
Coop: Yep, finishing paper.
Ian: Just watching a movie.
Jake: Told you I would be.
Archie: Yep. Trying to debug this robot program.
Relief sang through me, they were all there.
Me: Mom is here.
Several dots appeared as though someone was typing, but I wasn’t finished.
Me: And your dad, Archie.
The dots stopped for a moment then:
Archie: You okay?
Coop: WTF? Her car wasn’t there.
Ian: What do you need?
Jake: I can be there in 15.
Coop: I can be there in 2.
A little laugh worked its way up past the knot of tension.
Me: I don’t know. I wasn’t—they’re in her room. They locked the cats in here. Still have homework. But I cannot focus.
Archie: Come here if you need to. Fuck, I can come get you.
A series of dittos followed.
As much as I wanted to say yes to all the offers—because seriously, the last place I wanted to be was here—I couldn’t.
Me: I can’t leave the cats.
Archie: Fine, then I’ll come there.
Me: I don’t know if that would help right now. Just… can someone help me get focused on this?
Ian: Hang on.
My phone rang, cutting off the music, and I hit answer. “Hey,” I said to Ian. I kept my voice low. I was pretty sure whatever they were doing, they weren’t listening to me, but I really didn’t want to find out.
“Hang on for a couple more seconds…” Then there were some beeps. “Jake’s on.” Another beep. “Archie.” Finally… “And that’s Coop.”
“Hi.”
“Hey, baby girl,” Jake said. “What do you need to get done tonight, give us a list…”
And just like that, I had backup for my fraying concentration. I gave them the list of assignments. Just talking about it helped me organize it. I dragged my laptop and backpack closer and then wrote the list down on a notecard so I could cross them off as I went.
They stayed on the phone for the next two hours, occasionally commenting, always responding if I asked a question, and helping to keep me on track. By the time I finished the last sentence on the short French paper I had to turn in the next day, the clammy, crawly feeling and sick nausea had gone away.
Changes and Chocolates: Untouchable Book Two Page 27