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“The Instagram thing was,” Ian said quietly. “The note more or less says it is, since they want to make you think we did something objectionable.”
“Or maybe whoever it is has no idea that we have tried to be honest,” Coop said. “Even when it hurts.”
“The car thing,” Jake said finally, “crossed a major line. The rest of this is shit, but the car thing. They’re taking their anger out on you. They want to make you hurt, and that’s not okay.”
“No,” Archie agreed. “It’s not.”
“That said, we’ll put our heads together,” Ian said. “We’ll figure this out.”
Propping my chin on my hand, I chewed on my bottom lip. “I’m really wishing I’d sucked it up and gotten in your faces last spring at the moment.”
“Me too,” came from four different mouths at once with such vehemence, I had to laugh.
One by one, they cracked up along with me. The levity lasted until we got to the car and my phone buzzed. A photo popped up on the screen, and I nearly groaned because I did not want to deal with another slam from someone anonymous.
Only it wasn’t from someone anonymous.
I stopped walking abruptly, and Ian gripped my hips when he nearly plowed into me. “Hey…”
The image on the screen was a woman’s hand with an engagement ring on, and it was from my mom.
The message said,Be home tomorrow. Be free, you’re having dinner with Eddie and me.
Oh, I was going to be sick.
Chapter Nineteen
Vicious Little Voices
The silence in the car back to school weighed on me. It had to weigh on Archie, too. His only reaction to the picture and the message was a snort. “Since it’s my date night, I’m going with you.”
Honestly? I wasn’t going to say no. I didn’t want to face our parents on this subject.
“Keep us in the loop,” Coop said, the sympathy tangling with worry in his eyes adding to the cramps in my gut. Jake and I walked to Study Hall together, signed in, then diverted to the library. My desire to study was almost nil.
But if I didn’t, I would fall even further behind. The card Madame had given me burned in my back pocket. Jake didn’t try to give me comforting words, instead, he hooked an ankle around mine or pressed his thigh against me. When he claimed one of my hands to hold, I gripped so tight, I worried I would leave nail indentions.
He didn’t complain once.
After study hall, he walked me to sixth and promised to pick me up before we had to go to Mr. G’s. I barely noticed anything in my TA period, I was too busy turning the last few days over in my mind. Every thought churned like a sour pill dissolving in my brain.
Bad meatloaf.
Archie.
Jake.
Instagram.
Archie’s mom.
Ian.
The note on my essay.
The letters from Mr. Thorns.
Coop.
