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Ryan and I will have to face Trent again when we testify. I take a deep breath to calm myself.
“Did you talk to Mom?” I ask.
He shakes his head and I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m not sure how I feel about my mom at all. Six years. My mom is going to prison for six years and I’m the one who put her there.
“You did the right thing, kid. ”
“I know,” I say softly. I do know, but it doesn’t mean that it sucks any less. The doorbell rings and the dread starts to fade.
Ryan’s here.
A good-natured smile settles on Scott’s face.
“And Prince Charming awaits. ”
“Hey, Scott?”
He motions for me to continue.
“How could you keep the heroin to yourself?
I mean, that’s a pretty big secret. I know that you wanted something to blackmail me with, but it was heroin. ”
Scott scratches behind his ear. “I was in the process of hiring private detectives to find you when your aunt called. When I got to the police station, there was no way you were going home with anyone but me. One look at your mom and I knew things were bad. ”
He sighs. “She was so jumpy around the cops that I figured she was hiding something. I would have said anything I had to in order to keep you. But I never used the word heroin with you or your mom and I never went into your mom’s apartment. I guessed that she had a secret and I bluffed. ”
And I sort of feel like an idiot. A happy idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. “Well played. ”
He smirks. “I think so. ”
AT THE TWO-MINUTE WARNING, my hands begin to sweat, including the one in the cast.
Indian summer in Kentucky has a strange way of making November feel like July. As we walk to the open field behind the scoreboard, Ryan holds my hand and he doesn’t seem to care it’s cold and wet. People yell and scream from the bleachers and the announcer informs the crowd that our team is at the first and ten—whatever the hell that means.
The other couples nominated for homecoming court stand closer to the lamppost, but I hesitate farther back and Ryan plays along.
“Gwen won’t bother you,” he says.
“I know. ” He’s right. She won’t. Since Ryan and I returned to school, she’s been less than her normal stuck-up self, quiet and withdrawn.
She apologized to both me and Ryan. I accepted it, but it doesn’t mean I have to like her or be near her. Perfectly groomed, Gwen stands off to the side of the group. I sort of feel bad for her. Guilt is a horrible emotion. I should know.
“We could go talk to Carly and Brent,” Ryan teases. “She’s a big fan of yours. ”
I roll my eyes. “Carly and I were paired as lab partners today. ”
“See, best friends already. Lacy will be pissed someone is encroaching on her territory. ”
“That’s exactly what’s going to happen,” I say sarcastically.
“Carly’s nice. ”
“She’s chipper. ”
“Same thing. ”
“Nice is nice. Chipper is annoying. ”
