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“Have a good day. I’ll text you once I’m in L.A.”
I wouldn’t hold my breath. With a nod, I turned to grasp the door, when she added, “And if you were out late because you were having sex with one of those boys, please be sure you’re being careful about it. The last thing you want is an unplanned pregnancy derailing your life.”
Ice crawled up my spine, and I damn near bit a hole in my tongue to keep from telling her to do the same thing. I didn’t slam the door, no matter how satisfying it might have been.
Coop was waiting at my car when I got there.
“Hey,” he said, pushing away from the driver’s side door. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I motioned toward the car. “We need to go. I need to review for a test this morning.” My brain was currently mush, and the chill of my mom’s words left cold in my veins.
“You sure?” He put a hand to my cheek, but I pulled away.
“Yes, I’m sure. Just tired. We were out late. Can we go?” I shoved my backpack in the back, and Coop held his hands up before he circled the car.
“Sure.”
The drive to school passed quickly, and I wasn’t really in the mood to talk. I didn’t even want to head to our table. Ian’s bike was parked in the spot next to where I usually parked. My gut tightened. The bike last night hadn’t looked like his, but I never wanted to picture him in an accident like that.
My phone had started buzzing as we headed inside. Aware of the looks Coop kept casting me, I avoided meeting his gaze. I didn’t want to talk about any of it. I wanted to focus on school. Just had to get through the next few hours, and then I could crash early tonight.
The hum of conversation in the cafeteria was on the rise as we headed through. Archie was sprawled back in a chair at our table, his feet up with his phone in his hand.
He glanced at us with a grin, but it faded. “What’s wrong?”
“I asked the same thing,” Coop said, but I just shook my head.
Sliding into a chair, I opened my backpack and pulled out my notebook. “Nothing. Just tired, and I have a test today. “
Standing, Archie nudged the coffee over to me and then moved to sit in the chair next to me while Coop took the one on the other side.
“Thank you,” I said, taking a drink of the coffee. The long, icy cold slug hit my system like a bullet. Hopefully, it would do more than the coffee I shot-gunned on the way in.
Focusing my sore-eyed gaze on my notebook, I flipped straight to French and started mentally reviewing the material. I had submitted the paper the night before, but the test would have more essay questions.
My phone buzzed again, and I dragged it out of my pocket.
A half-dozen photos of me had been tagged on Instagram. Oh, yay. I just dismissed the notification.
There were two texts from Rachel.
Rachel:You okay?
Rachel:Don’t worry about Patty. I already clapped back for you.
Patty?
“What the fuck?” Archie asked, and I caught him looking at my phone. “What’d she do?”
“I don’t know. And right now, I don’t have time to care.”
Thanks. I sent it back to Rachel, then locked the phone and put it face down and took another drink of the coffee.
“Crap,” Coop muttered, and he pushed out from his chair and circled me to sit on Archie’s other side. I spared a look for where he was showing Archie something on his phone. Yeah, no time to focus on that.
By the time Jake and Ian got there, I was over half-done with the review.
“Hey, Frankie,” Ian slid into the chair Coop had abandoned.
