Maddy tilts her head as she replies, “And what? Eat a frozen meal? Come with us. It’ll give you an opportunity to help Jamie with the last of her math homework.”
I huff, rolling my eyes. “Oh, yay.”
Milo’s Adam’s apple bobs as he looks at me. “Is that okay?”
I look away and wave him over. “Yes, because we all know I won’t finish it without you looking over my shoulder.”
Aunt Maddy links an arm with me and asks Milo, “Are you okay with helping her out more? I know it’s over the hour we discussed, but she’s behind in everything.”
“It’s fine,” Milo replies. “I need to finish my homework anyway, and I won’t say no to Chinese food.”
“What will you have?” David pipes in. “I’m ordering while Maddy and Jamie head home.”
“Kung Pao chicken,” Milo replies. “Thanks.”
David mumbles a laugh. “Same as Maddy’s usual.”
“I can’t get enough of it,” Maddy gushes.
“Aunt Maddy, can we go home?” I whine. “I need to get out of this uniform.”
Maddy giggles and holds my arm tighter. “Okay, let’s go. Milo, hop in the car with us. David, we’ll see you soon.”
The three of us move toward Aunt Maddy’s car. I take the front passenger seat as Milo moves to the back without comment.
“I can’t believe Kai didn’t show up,” Maddy says, pulling out of her parking space. “That kid is such a scatterbrain.”
“Maybe he’d show up if he were picking up Jamie,” Milo says, leaning forward in the backseat. “But I’m not surprised he forgot about me.”
Maddy nudges me as she waits at the parking lot exit for a safe moment to pull out. “Have you heard from him? I want to know what his excuse is.”
I lift my phone and check if there are any texts from Kai.
“Maybe he’s out with his girlfriend,” Milo jokes.
I lower the phone, turn between mine and Maddy’s seats, and glare at him. Milo’s eyes widen behind his frames, and he sits back in his seat. As Milo fidgets and stares out the window, I face the front and check my phone. There’s nothing. Clamminess builds between my palms and the phone. He said he was meeting up with Parker, but what if Tabitha was there? Is he only with her, or has Tabitha taken my place and hanging with all the boys? Could they replace me like that? Would they all prefer a hot girl who doesn’t stammer her words around anyone?
I drop my phone to my lap and rest my elbow against the car door with a groan.
Maddy laughs to herself. “Duh. He’s sixteen with a brand-new license and your parents aren’t home yet. He’s out on a joyride.”
“Without me,” I grumble.
“Don’t pout about it,” Maddy says as we drive through Main Street. “You need to focus and concentrate on schoolwork, not your social life.”
“So I can be as interesting as Milo?” I jab.
“Jamie,” Aunt Maddy scolds. “You should count yourself lucky to be anything like Milo. He’ll do great things with his life.”
My ears prick to Milo’s uncomfortable shifting behind us.
“And, what? I’m going to be a lifelong waitress who barely passed high school?”
“If you finish high school, you’d already have a better education than I got,” Aunt Maddy replies. “And I don’t want you aiming to be a waitress. You should be thinking about co-owning our expanding catering business.”
I sigh. “We don’t need catering. The town likes our cafe just fine.”
“We made bank on those catering jobs. This town has a lot of stuffed shirts who throw big functions. There’s so much money up for grabs if we take this opportunity and run with it.”
