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“What do you mean?”
“He disappeared yesterday, same as you.” She looks around to her friends. “No one’s seen him since.”
He doesn’t have his phone, either. I saw it on the ground when the Pirates tried to take me Saturday night. I think that’s what he threw at Kade’s truck.
“I spent time with my family,” I tell them. “I haven’t seen him.”
His parents were at the parade. They’d know about the fight. If there was something to worry about, we’d know by now.
“Are you okay?” Coral asks.
“Yeah.”
I’m not sure how much they saw or heard, but I’m not talking about it either way. I glance at Coral. “You know I’m getting that jacket back?”
She makes a face, and I laugh.
“Well, she looks better in it.”
But the voice wasn’t Mace’s. I turn my eyes over my shoulder, looking at Codi. “Well, look at you, using your words.”
She beams, glancing at her friends.
She talked to me.
I turn around, all of us heading into class. I’m fine if I never get the jacket back as long as I can see her in it once.
“Essays, please,” Mr. Bastien calls out as we enter.
I dig into the satchel, pulling out two pieces of crisp paper stapled together. I don’t often have homework done on time, but I got a sudden burst of energy after we got home from the air show last night. I wanted to walk back in this school with some paint on my nails and my book report done like I hadn’t missed a step.
“You know,” I say, setting my essay down on the pile, “most teachers in the digital age ask us to submit assignments online. Saves trees.”
He picks up the stack, sifting through. “Any idea how many more hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen your motorcycle pumps out than my car?”
I turn away. “Whatever.”
I hear him snort behind me as I walk to my seat.
Sliding in my chair, I drop my bag to the floor.
“Did you see Kade Caruthers’s post?” Mace whispers next to me.
I dig out the class text that we’ve been discussing. “No.”
“He’s having a pool party this week,” she tells me. “Both teams and their dates are invited.”
“No fights allowed.” Coral leans over my shoulder. “He promised.”
Well, I’m not going to be Kade’s bait to get Hunter there. That’s what the party is really about.
But I look out the window as the bell rings and the football team runs outside, a quick jolt to my nerves when I still don’t see Hunter. Farrow is there. His guys too. They laugh and joke in the parking lot as they make their way to the field, and I start to worry. Like I think I’ll never see him again.
Bastien comes around the front of his desk and sits on the edge. “So…” He gives a tight smile. “The parade was fun.”
A round of laughter goes off, everyone who wasn’t there at least hearing about the fight by this point.
“Oh, come on, the kids will remember that one, at least,” a guy in the back calls out.
