Bubba: Coach didn’t have much of
a choice.
Jake: No complaints here. 3
weeks out is enough for me.
Later…
Frankie: Hey, sorry, was in the shower
Ian: That’s what Jake said.
Frankie: What’s up?
Ian: Think you could listen to a song?
Frankie: …
…
…
Ian: It’s okay if you can’t.
Frankie: … I can listen. I’ve always
listened.
Ian: Thank you. Sending.
Frankie: It might be tmrw, is that cool?
Ian: When you can.
Frankie: Got it. Is it for audition?
Ian: No, I sent those already.
You saved me with those.
This is for you.
Frankie: …
…
…
Ian: Night, F. Sleep well.
Chapter Eighteen
What Are You Willing to Lose?
“So,” Rachel said, ignoring the guys as she dragged a chair over and slid into the narrow space between me and Coop. “Tomorrow…we need a plan.”
With a roll of his eyes, Coop scooted over, and I grinned. Jake stared at Rachel like she’d sprouted a second head, but Archie just groaned and sank down in his own chair. None of them really liked Rachel and they wouldn’t pretend otherwise, but they also hadn’t been complaining about her at all over the last few days as she made excuses to drop by our table most mornings.
Ian didn’t react either way; he just took a drink of his coffee and studied us. He’d been stealing looks at me since Jake, Coop, and I got here. What he hadn’t asked was had I listened to the song he sent me the night before.
For now, I focused on Rachel. “I have a plan. Marsha made an appointment for me to get my hair and makeup done.”
“And I got us mani/pedis lined up,” Cheryl announced as she dragged a chair over to join us. With a sigh, Jake kicked his chair out and moved over to sit on the other side of the table next to Ian.
“What time are we picking you up?” Cheryl said. “And you should bring your dress and everything, we’ll all get ready together, and then Bubba can pick you up. Wait…you got a limo, right? If not, I’m sure Mitch won’t mind, and then we could all go together…”
Panic flowered in my gut. I hadn’t actually told Cheryl that Ian wasn’t taking me.
“Actually,” Rachel said. “We can’t all get ready together. Mani/pedis are in the morning, then Frankie’s hair and makeup is later in the day, and we’re going to a different place.”
“Aww,” Cheryl pouted, but I could have kissed Rachel, and she winked at me. “Well, Rach, who are you taking? Or are they taking you? You could double with us?”
“I’d sooner drink drain cleaner than ride with Mitch,” Rachel told her. “Besides, I’ll pick my own date up, thanks.”
With a real pout, Cheryl propped her chin on her fist. “Fine, what about after party?” She scanned the guys and fixed on Ian. “What are yours and Frankie’s post dance plans?”
The silence hit the table like a lead balloon, not that Cheryl noticed. For his part, Ian shrugged and said, “We made other plans.” Relief swarmed me. He could have called out the fact he wasn’t taking me. He could have said any number of things.
But he had my back. After Cheryl flicked her fingers at him like she could erase his comment and latched her focus on Jake, I mouthed ‘thank you’ to him, and he gave me the barest nod.
“What about you Jake? Who are you taking?”
“Going stag,” Jake said easily. “We’re not making any plans. Just going to do what we feel like doing.”
Next to me, Rachel snorted and I elbowed her, so she gave me teasing grin.
“Oh, I hate you all,” Cheryl complained, then leaned her head against my shoulder. “You could change his mind right? Or theirs? This is our last Homecoming! The last one we’ll celebrate all together. We need to make it memorable.”
Guilt clawed at me because it fell right in line with my desire to do all the things senior year. Not that my version of all the things had gone anywhere in the vicinity of what I’d hoped for. In fact, if there were a GPS program for what I’d wanted the year to be, I was pretty sure it rerouted to some alternate routes without letting me know ahead of time.
A flick of a look toward Archie, then Coop, and finally Jake and Ian earned me three slight headshakes and one faintly worried look. Then again, Coop only gave me the head’s up this morning that Ian wanted to ride with us. But he and Jake both said it was up to me. Considering they probably ran it by Archie—a part of me would die to be a fly on the wall of those conversations, even if the rest of me would likely die if I was a fly on the wall—I appreciated the fact they solicited my input.
“We’ll see,” I told Cheryl finally, and Archie made a choking noise.
“Don’t die, asshat, you’ll ruin our weekend plans,” Rachel deadpanned. “Well, not mine.”
Flipping her off, Archie took another drink of his coffee. “Are we almost done with the estrogen portion of the morning? We want our Frankie back.”
“You boys get her every damn day, you need to learn to share.” Rachel smirked, then nudged me. “I’ll text you the mani/pedi time and place. Why don’t you meet us so someone can’t hold you hostage?”
“I’m not going to hold her hostage,” Cheryl argued. “I just want to do it all right. And you two should get to the dance early so we can get pictures, too. Not just the couple pictures, but all of us girls.”
“We’ll get pictures,” I promised. “Whether we’re early or not, unless you think Mitch isn’t going to let you get off the dance floor.”
Cheryl grinned. “Maybe I won’t let him get off the dance floor, think about that!” Despite her protests, she rose and followed Rachel, pausing to say, “Don’t be late!”
Behind her, Rachel made a face, and I laughed.
“So,” Coop said idly. “What time are the mani/pedis? When do you have to get your hair and makeup done?” When I glanced at him, mischief danced in his eyes. “Because we need to make sure we do all the pictures, the before, the during, the after…”
Snagging one of the donut holes from the bag, I threw it at him, and he caught it with a grin. “Thank you.”
Archie chuckled. “Though that’s a good point, what time will you be done with hair and makeup?” Then he made a face. “It’s like it’s contagious.”
“We’ll get you a training bra,” Jake told him. “We already scheduled the car to pick us up at Frankie’s at six-thirty. Don’t be a shit.”
I laughed because Archie flicked a donut hole at Jake this time, and he caught it easily, then popped it in his mouth and chewed with a smirk. Over the last week, his and Ian’s bruises had gone through a riot of shades, they were still pretty green and yellow in places, but the worst of it had begun to fade.
They’d also done two more “meetings” with Diane, and Jake said it was going well. For that, I was glad. All of us talked more—well, I talked more with Archie about our parents and the fact that he had a locksmith come change the locks on the apartment. He gave me a new set of keys, and then I divided them up—one for him, Coop, and for Jake. There was an extra that he’d probably meant for Ian, or maybe just so I had a spare. I stored it—for now.
While I hadn’t talked to Ian about the song, I’d listened to it while I went through the mail in my backpack. Coop had collected the mail the day before, and it reminded me of the letters I’d stuffed in there.
Two of them had just been standard college recruiting letters. The third one had been different. It was an offer, handwritten note included, to visit NYU and to apply. I was considered a great candidate apparently. The recruiter included the schools at the university he thought I’d enjoy and asked me to call if I’d like to schedule a visit.
NYU hadn’t been on my list. Coop had brought it up. I hadn’t told the guys ab
out it yet. Archie also made calls and got me an appointment with his attorney. He’d taken me to see him right after school on Tuesday, so I’d had to let Ian know I couldn’t hang out with him that evening.
While that relieved me of the awkwardness of trying to talk out this “just friends” state we were in, it had been hard to miss his disappointment. Mr. Wittaker was an attorney for Archie’s family. The potential for conflict of interest had given him pause, but as far as I knew, Mom hadn’t married Mr. Standish yet. They couldn’t—thankfully—get married legally. My issue was with her, not Mr. Standish—legally. I had plenty of issues with Archie’s dad, and so did he.
After consideration, Mr. Wittaker asked me to detail how often my mother had been absent in the last twelve months, and it was easier to remember when she was home versus when she wasn’t. Then he asked me a lot of hard questions, including questions about my job, rent, bills, and how did I expect to make ends meet. I told him everything, including the fact I had a scholarship. That I’d applied for others, and I had plans for college. I’d submitted my application to five schools, but only one was my top pick.
After all of that, he agreed to represent me. I signed the paperwork, and Archie gave him a check Jeremy had written for the retainer. It was a few more zeroes than I was comfortable with.
We argued all the way back to my place about it, but eventually, I agreed. Mr. Wittaker had told me the process could take a while, and that I needed to be prepared I could hit eighteen before it happened. Well, if it did, I’d still be free. The other concern was technically, her moving out constituted abandonment, and that could raise some red flags with Child Protective Services. At seventeen, it wasn’t likely they’d try to force me into the system, but we also couldn’t discount it.
So, I had Mr. Wittaker’s cell number as well as his office phone. I was to call him if anything came up. In the meanwhile, he also wanted a full accounting of any bills I had to pay, even if it was just groceries.
Since submitting my college apps ate up nearly a grand in application fees, he wanted those records, too.
“Hey,” Archie bumped my foot with his, and I blinked to find all four of them staring at me. “You good?”
“I’m good,” I assured him. “Just got a lot on my mind. Two tests today, and the big game tonight.”
“You do not have to come,” Jake told me.
“Yes, I do,” I said. “I’ll sit there and have hot dogs and nachos while Coop and Archie give me all wrong answers on what’s happening on the field. It’ll be a blast.”
“You don’t even like football,” Jake said.
“I like you.”
He grinned, and Coop chuckled. “Ha, she got you there.”
“Yes, she does.”
“I like you, too,” I reminded Ian when he’d begun to bore holes in the table with his stare. At the faint surprise on his face, I shifted my attention back to Jake. “Besides, it’s an important game for you guys.”
“It’s a really unimportant game,” Jake countered. “We’re not going to make State unless we pull a miracle out of our butts. That said, you wanna show up and root for us, I’m all for it. Just don’t get too bored.”
“She won’t,” Archie said, and tossed me the last donut hole. I actually managed to catch this one with my mouth, and they all cheered. It only took four years. But hey, a girl’s gotta have some skills, right?
“Ugh,” Coop said as he sat forward, and his chair thumped. “Incoming.”
I glanced over my shoulder, tracking Sharon and Patty’s ballistic approach. Well, maybe not ballistic. Sharon had avoided me all week, and by avoided, I meant if I was in the bathroom, she turned around and left as soon as she saw me.
Good times.
“Bubba,” Patty said after dismissing me with a look. I didn’t really care. Sharon’s eyes narrowed on me briefly, and then she fixed her attention on Bubba.
“What?” he asked, his tone dead neutral.
“We need to have one more meeting for the parade tomorrow—”
“Nope.”
“I wasn’t asking you,” Patty said. “I’m telling you. One last meeting to go over everything…”
“I got that, and I’m still saying nope. I have two big tests today and a game tonight. I’m not spending my lunch hour listening to you two haggle over whether a float should pause for two seconds or five as they first come out, or if the band should alternate their pace, or if we should redecorate the car when the decorations are already done. If you want to do that—knock yourselves out. I did what Coach asked, and I’ve got other things to do.”
“So,” Jake said, slinging an arm over Ian’s shoulders. “You two can move along now. Buh bye.”
Patty’s whole expression tightened. “You do realize this is our very last Homecoming…”
“Can’t get here soon enough so it’s over and done with,” Ian muttered, and switched his attention to me. A frown tightened his brow. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I know.” Despite the rest of it, that I did know. He’d meant it when he asked me. The care he’d taken with the ask revealed that, even if nothing else did. Maybe we weren’t going as a date anymore, but that part I had no trouble believing. He just wanted to be out of the planning committee, and since they’d met at lunch every single day this week, I couldn’t blame him.
Sharon almost vibrated with the urge to say something, but I just waited and sipped my coffee. With a scoff, she pivoted on her heel and marched away.
“If this goes wrong, I’m not at all averse to throwing you under the bus,” Patty stated coolly. “This parade is important to everyone.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Ian told her, and then she threw her hands up and followed after Sharon.
“Wow,” Coop said. “It’s about time you cut the cord there, Bubba.”
“Yeah, bite me,” Ian said, rubbing his face and then wincing as if he’d half-forgotten the still fading bruises. “I couldn’t take another minute of those discussions. I could feel my brain cells dying.”
A giggle escaped me as Archie snorted, and even Coop started laughing.
“Well,” Jake said with genuine sympathy. “Let’s hope that’s the end of your brain damage.”
They shared a look that I didn’t try to interpret as I gathered my stuff. The bell would ring any minute. I was ready for Friday to be over, and we’d barely gotten started.
The guys still walked me between classes, even Ian. He walked me to French every day after calculus. Only today, he kept brushing my arm with his. Part of it might be the test we’d just had. I had a headache after it just from the sheer number of problems.
“You okay?” I asked when he bumped me for the third time. He wasn’t a careless kind of guy, so either he wasn’t paying attention or he wanted my attention.
Which ever it was, we were almost to French.
“Did Coop talk to you?”
“He talks to me everyday.” About a lot of things.
“About Homecoming tomorrow.”
Ah. Whether I minded if Ian rode with us. One thing that had stood out in all of this, the guys had their own opinions, but they weren’t trying to get me to agree or disagree. Ultimately, Archie said as he summed it up, the final decision was mine.
We were all going together. No “official” date, but unofficially, they were all going to be the date. We’d even do a group picture.
A part of me wanted to tell Ian no, he should come separately. That had been what he wanted, after all. To not make me choose. Yet, here I was, having to choose.
Friends.
We were friends.
“Of course you can,” I told him lightly. “The guys know all the details. But, it’s our last Homecoming so—yeah, I’m okay if you ride with us. We should go.” It had always been the five of us, and if the guys could hold onto their friendship with Ian, I had to encourage it. I didn’t want to lose him either, even if it was all so strained now.
“You sure?” He paused us a
couple of feet from the door and tugged me over to the lockers. The warmth of his fingers on my arm sent a shiver through me. “It’s okay to tell me no.”
I snorted. “Thanks for your permission, I know it’s okay. You also said we’re going to be friends.”
He winced and then let me go. “I really cannot seem to not stick my foot in my mouth where you’re concerned.” The frustration in his voice pulled a reluctant smile from me.
“Well, at least you know you’re flexible.”
Chuckling, he grinned at me. “Thank you for that mental image.”
“You’re welcome. Now go away, I have class and so do you.”
His grin widened a fraction, and one of the rocks in my gut eased off. It was probably the most normal conversation we’d had since he’d walked out of my apartment two weeks earlier.
I let Coop know when I got to lit, and he studied me for a beat before he said, “Okay.”
The weirdest part about the shifting dynamics between all of us, my relationship with Coop seemed the least affected. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was a hell of a kisser and I adored making out with him. When he spent the night, which he’d done twice since his birthday, he proved to have a hedonistic side I’d never expected. Yet, we were always laughing and teasing.
At the end of the day, he was still Coop. Jake and Archie were in their own ways very possessive. Archie had a tendency to just take over and try to solve a problem, Jake got protective. While they’d always been like that, it magnified now.
Honestly, I was grateful for all of them. I hadn’t spoken to Mom since she left, and I didn’t want to. As he’d stated, Archie’s dad had his assistant send me their new address and the details on the fancy new car he’d purchased.
They’d even enclosed attached photos of the car and what would be my room.
I deleted the email. Then undeleted it.
Keys and Kisses: Untouchable Book Three Page 25