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It was from Bubba’s birthday, all of the guys with their various girlfriends and a message that said,Fair warning, homecoming info goes live next week, and these girls are ticked that they haven’t been asked yet.
“What the hell is that?” Coop said, leaning over my shoulder. I had to pull my phone away before he could take it and I closed the message. “Why is she sending you that?”
“A picture from the party?” I shrugged. “No idea.” Yes, that was a lie. Cheryl was a pretty decent sort. Rachel had been kind of bitchy—more harsh than bitchy— about it, but Sharon, Patty, and Maria were a lot bitchier. If they hadn’t been asked out, they were probably going to start making noise in the guys’ direction. The warning could have been for them or for me.
Sharon hated me. While the feeling wasn’t mutual; I wouldn’t be in a hurry to cross the street to put her out if she was on fire. Maria wasn’t much better. We had been friends PJ—pre-Jake. AJ—after Jake—she turned into someone I didn’t know. Which made no sense. I got it, the guys were cute, and they were my friends, but Sharon and Maria were supposed to have been my friends, too.
Oddly enough, Rachel and I had been balanced on a knife’s edge of love/hate for years, so we got along exactly the same. Where the doors had once been open to me, wandering from group to group, they’d begun to close. I didn’t know why and, sometimes, I wasn’t sure I cared.
We were down to 176 school days left to getting out of this joint and I had enough on my plate.
“Yeah, but why send it to you?” Coop frowned at me.
Okay.I paused and faced him. “Don’t play dumb.”
He blinked.
“I mean it. Don’t play dumb. It’s insulting to both of us. The picture wasn’t a news flash. I actually showed up at that party—remember?”
At his slow nod, I switched the Instagram app and opened it. First picture on the list, and I didn’t have to look, was Coop with Laura. I didn’t know where it was taken, and I didn’t much care about the tags. I didn’t follow Laura on IG, I followed Coop.
At the image, Coop compressed his lips then looked up at me. I tabbed to the next one, it was Archie looking pretty sharp as he walked in with a stack of coffees and Patty had tagged him. She’d even added #boyfriendMaterial.
There were more, and the guys were always there. All of them, tagged by other people. Oh, I got tagged, too. Usually in a group photo with the guys and always #TheBoys. Again. It was fine. At least I showed up in pictures now. In the past, I’d always been a faint presence in the background, but I excelled at not standing out. Preferred it.
Coop sighed. “For what it’s worth, that’s an old picture.”
“For what it’s worth, I don’t care—except that you seem to want to lie to me about it for some reason. Coop, date Laura, don’t date her. But don’t date her and then pretend you aren’t. That’s…rude as fuck.” The harsh language dragged his attention up. I cussed. When appropriate. Working at Mason’s, I’d had to school myself to watch my language. “Don’t treat her shitty or like a thing.” That would make me lose respect for him faster than anything.
“I don’t even know if I want to date her.”
My phone buzzed and Archie’s text showed up in all caps.
WHERE THE HELL R U 2?”
He always seemed to lose words when he got mad.
Had flat tire. Just got here. Be in cafe in a sec.
Meeting Coop’s gaze, I said, “Then you should figure that out. Leading her on? That’s as crappy as lying to your friends.”
“We are still friends, right?” The intensity in his eyes pinned me in place. “After whatever this summer was? We’re still friends?”
“Yes, Coop,” I said with a sigh. “We are. I may not always like the things you guys choose to do, but…we’ve been friends for years. I’m still your friend. I’d like to think you guys are still mine, and it’s not just about telling me what to do.”
He frowned. “When do we tell you what to do?”
My phone buzzed and so did his.
Shut up and get in here.The message was from Jake to him, and on my phone, Bubba had textedNeed us to come get you?
Coop made a face. “What a bunch of pushy bastards.”
I laughed. “I seem to recall someonedraggingme to the cafeteria and lunch on Monday.”
With a shrug, Coop said, “Didn’t say I wasn’t one…” On the way to the cafeteria though, he said, “I really don’t know about Laura.”
“Then figure it out,” I told him. Not that I had much in the way of advice to offer him.
