AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not yet.” I did eat with the guys pretty regularly, but… as evidenced, they didn’t always eat with me. “Want to grab something tomorrow?” Crap. “It’s your birthday, I should…”
“No, no. Don’t cancel your plans. Trust me, the cake…” He did the chef’s kiss thing again and beamed. “Perfection. I took a picture of it for Maman. She was very impressed. Yes, I would like to have lunch tomorrow—it is Tuesday so Tacos?” His cheerful grin made me laugh, and I glanced down the stairs and the back at him. “Or burgers?”
“You’re on.” Then I had to go. He gave me a little wave before turning to his next class. I sighed as I descended the stairs.
“Hey,” Coop said from right next to me, and I nearly leapt out of my skin. It was only shock locking my jaw shut that kept me from squealing out loud. A low chuckle escaped him, and he looped an arm over my shoulder. I almost punched him.
“You scared the crap out of me,” I complained even as he squeezed my shoulders and rubbed my arm.
“Well, that’s what happens when you walk and dream at the same time. You were a million miles away.”
“Not quite that far,” I said. The adrenaline had me hopping.
He chuckled. “Tell me we didn’t have an assignment over the weekend.”
“Nope, journaling starts this week.”
He made a face, and I couldn’t blame him. On the other hand, I actually had something to write about so, that might not be too bad. As I slid into my desk, I checked my phone. Still no Archie.
“Have you heard from Arch?”
He gave a shrug, which wasn’t really an answer. Class kind of dragged. Archie could have been sick, but I’d texted him on Sunday about after school and coffee. He and Jake had both seemed fine then. Worry for Archie nibbled at me all the way through class. Afterward, I headed for the parking lot, Coop in tow.
“Where’s the fire?” he asked.
“Lunch,” I reminded him, and he frowned.
“We’re going out?”
I slid to a stop. “Yeah. Talked to Bubba this morning about going to get subs.”
“Huh,” Coop said, almost but not quite smiling. “Did he? Cool. I could eat subs.”
“Right?”
The guys were really being weird. I should have yelled at them over the summer and let them get the weird out before school started. I headed for Jake’s car, figuring that was where they would be, but Jake caught us in the hallway.
“Hey, where are you two off to?”
Okay. It was official. We’d crossed from weird to downright strange. “Let me guess? Bubba didn’t tell you about lunch either?” It was an easy enough mistake.
Jake shot a look at Coop then at me. “Guess not. Where we going?”
“Subs.”
“I’ll text Bubba, and tell him we’ll meet him there.”
“Didn’t he ride with you?”
“Nope, brought his own ride for a change,” he said over his shoulder, but he muttered. “Now I know why.”
When I glanced at Coop, he just gave me a helpless shrug. Whatever. I was starving.
Jake opened the front passenger door and waved me into his car. Coop took the backseat and sat in the middle.
“Have you heard from Archie?”
Jake had been stuck at football practice that morning, too.
