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Plenty to stay, too.
“That obvious, huh?” And humiliating.
“Maybe not to everyone,” Rachel said, then shrugged. “But you haven’t been happy all evening, and you weren’t at work this afternoon.”
“Took a half-day.” Not totally a lie. Marsha had sent me home early, so technically a half-day.
“Resting up for the party you’re not enjoying?”
I shrugged and walked over to one of the benches. Sitting, I went to rub a hand over my face, but remembered I’d actually tried to look nice tonight, so stopped. “I’m just tired.”
Also not a lie. I was exhausted.
“Then go home,” Rachel said, sitting next to me and stretching her legs out. “You’re not having fun, and you’re tired. No one says you have to stay.”
No, they didn’t. I pulled my phone out of my pocket. There were a couple of messages on the screen. One from Archie, and the other from Jake.
Jake:Do not just take off.
Archie:If you need a break, go inside and make yourself comfortable. Party not allowed in there.
Make myself comfortable. I cleared away the messages and checked the time.
Ten more minutes.
Then I could figure out where to go. Maybe take myself to a movie, if I stayed out late enough, I could get in after Mom went to bed. All at once, that reality blanketed me again and I wanted to be sick. I just didn’t get it. Why would Mom have an affair with a married guy? I wanted her to be happy…
“Frankie,” Rachel’s voice jerked me out of the reverie.
Oh. Shit.
“Sorry.” The frown practically echoed in her voice. “Did you forget I was here?”
“Yes—no. Sorry, I’m just distracted.” I set the phone down on the bench next to me so I could just hit it to check the time.
“I can see that.” The dry tone helped. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Yes, I did. But I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it. Rachel and I weren’t that close. We kind of had been back in middle school, sorta. But not really. “Not right now,” I said slowly. “But thanks for asking.”
Sitting out here meant I had a break from the guys, but it also meant I wasn’t where Mr. Thorns could find me. I had to stop calling him by that name. Maybe I should just go.
“I think I’m going to go…”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” I glanced at her and found her watching me with a look of genuine concern. “Thanks for wanting to talk, but I’m—I’m in a mood, and I’m tired.”
“It’s okay. You all right to drive?”
I’d had the wine and the beer an hour ago. The distance and buzzy feeling were gone. If I’d really had them at all. They’d helped with the shock, but that wasn’t saying much. “I should be fine, just need to figure out where I want to go.”
It was too early to go home. If Mom was there—no way she would be asleep. Then again, I could drive by. If her car wasn’t there… maybe she and Archie’s dad went to a hotel or something.
“Home?” Rachel asked, and I couldn’t help it, the thread of questioning curiosity in her voice tugged at me. “Or… we could go grab food, if you’re hungry. I think the guys had snacks at the party. But I haven’t eaten today.”
“You didn’t eat at Mason’s?” Didn’t she say she went by?
“I grabbed a shake,” she said, shifting and smoothing the hair back behind her ears. “It was packed, and I didn’t want to wait for a table.”
