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I deserved the startled look. I was kind of bouncing from subject to subject. “That was what they were talking about when they came in. The note on my essay prompt—it was Laura. Apparently, she was suspended today. I need to tell Coop.” Scrubbing my hands over my face, I groaned. “But now I need to read.”
“Hey.” Jake caught one of my hands. “I’ll tell Coop. You read that chapter, and I’ll quiz you at the end? I’ll read it again, too.”
“You’re not the one who screwed up your test.”
“Well, I am the one who is part of the distracting,” he said. “So let me help? And note, I’m not asking if you’re going to wear that shirt tomorrow.”
“Thank you, and I don’t know. I don’t know if everything hasn’t gotten complicated, and tomorrow—yeah.” Bad meatloaf for dinner.
Yay.
As promised, he let me read, but I just couldn’t focus on the passages. My brain kept tracking back to the conversation in the bathroom, to the notes, and now to the letters. Mr. Thorns had made me smile the last couple of weeks, but with all the drama, did I really need to drag him into it?
It wasn’t really fair to the guys, either.
Five minutes before the bell, I gave up and just packed away my books.
“We’re going to fix this,” Jake said quietly, and I chuckled.
Everything had been spiraling. “I have to fix me. Applications open in a week. I can’t afford for my GPA to slip.”
“It won’t.”
“You have a lot of faith in me.”
“I know you,” he reminded me as the bell rang, and then snagged my backpack before I could. “I know just how smart you are. You can do this.”
The pep talk helped, some. So did finding Archie and Coop waiting for me at Archie’s car. Ian was there, too. It was a good reminder. They were on my side.
I ended up filling Archie and Coop in on the ride home. They were both irritated about Laura, but Coop also seemed confused, and I felt bad being the one to tell him. Sharon didn’t surprise them, but we’d all pretty much assumed she’d done the photos. The car thing still remained a mystery. One we weren’t solving today.
Thankfully, Mom wasn’t home when we got there. While her earlier message had said she’d be home Friday, there was the smallest amount of dread she’d be waiting for me. Right now, she was the last person I wanted to see.
Guilt assailed me the moment that thought took root. Unsurprisingly, the guys all showed up at Mason’s with Archie and Coop following me, even after I turned down the ride. I needed the time in my car.
Cranking the music up as I drove helped chase away some of the bleaker thoughts.
Work. Then home to study. Then sleep. I needed to get my grades up and keep them there. No more excuses.
Staying focused at work was harder than it sounded. Normally, I just let the work distract me, but I found myself studying every teenage face that came in. Were they ones that covered my car in condoms? If Laura was the one who left the note on my essay, I’d bet money Sharon left the one in my locker. Though the guys didn’t recognize the writing, it wasn’t like I made a point of studying her penmanship.
When the girl herself showed up, I put on my big girl panties and waited on her, Maria, and their friends. I kept moving, even with the guys congregating in the corner after Jake and Ian got done with football. By the end of shift I was so tired, all I wanted to do was go home and crash. But I had at least two hours of homework to do, including getting some reading done for lit.
If this weekend was at all like the last one, I’d do nothing but fall further behind. Not acceptable.
The guys were waiting by my car when I came out. “Hey…” What was wrong?
“We’ve been talking,” Archie began without preamble. Those words didn’t always bode well. “Today worked, right?”
“You mean the escort from class to class?” I shrugged. “Yeah, it was fine. A little unfair to all of you having to come find me, but yeah, it was good.”
“No notes in the locker?” Coop pressed. “Well, except for the wannabe boyfriend.”
Ian smacked Coop against the chest with the back of his hand.
“Hey, it’s a legit description,” Coop argued.
“No, no other notes.”
